5 Ways to Improve employee retention in the Workplace

Businesses spend millions every year to replace employees who quit. Therefore, employee retention is a top agenda for CEOs and entrepreneurs.

The longer your workers stay, the more productive they can turn out. Additionally, organizations can expect to generate a loyal workforce that is never lazy to give their hundred percent.

However, how do you improve employee retention? How can you engage your workers to achieve your business objectives?

In this blog, we will explore the concept of retention in detail. In addition, we will give you 5 pragmatic ways to boost employee retention for more returns.

What is Employee Retention?

The concept of employee retention was born from the need for talent management. The capability of employers to retain their workforce is known as employee retention.

Naturally, every organization would love to keep their employees till they retire. Unfortunately, most employees leave a company within a few days of joining.

As a result, they have to again look for and recruit to fill the vacant positions. This avoidable turnover of employees costs US businesses $1 trillion every year.

How to Retain Employees?

Every recruiter must understand that retention starts with recruitment. You have to create the best experience for your applicants starting from the interview round.

You then need to create a favorable work environment where everyone is respected. In addition, you should pay your employees fairly and on time to retain them.

Moreover, employers need to engage employees and make work more interesting or fun. This will encourage your workers to feel motivated and achieve their goals.

Most importantly, you need to understand your employees and consider them humans. You are going to lose even your most loyal worker if you consider them a work machine.

As a result, appreciate good work and make your workforce feel valued. It will go a long way to retain your employees and create a committed workforce.

Top 5 Ways to Improve Employee Retention in Your Company

Every employer understands the value of employee retention. So, here are 5 proven ways to boost your employee retention rates:

1. Provide a Great Orientation

We have already revealed that employee retention starts from recruitment. However, one stage of recruitment is more important than others to retain your employees.

Research shows companies that have a good orientation program retain their employees longer. 83% of business leaders feel structured orientation programs are vital to retaining employees.

Moreover, it can motivate your employees to work harder.

Orientation programs begin on the first day your employees join. It helps them get familiar with the company and the rest of the employees. They also get to know their roles and get set up by their employer to start working.

Orientation can go on for a few days and include activities such as:

• Meeting team members and colleagues
• A tour of the workplace and important areas
• An introduction to workplace rules and expected behaviors
• An overview of safety guidelines

Employers can use employee retention tools like Bites to orient employees. It allows you to create short videos of processes, workflows, and more.

You can create playlists and allow your employees to access them using mobiles. Bites can help you provide an excellent orientation program to improve retention.

2. Focus on All Employees

Managers have a tendency to focus on struggling employees. They want to help the below-par performers and motivate them to contribute better.

This approach is suited to improve employee performance. However, it creates the risk of leaving out the rest of your workforce.

Therefore, managers need to focus on top performers and everyone in between. It takes only a few words of appreciation to keep your best performers going. You can even pay them non-cash incentives like movie tickets to reward good work.

For poor performers, you may want to implement training and learning programs. They also work wonders to improve your employee retention. You will even find business leaders recommending training to retain employees.

You can use the employee retention app Bites to create training videos. All you need is your phone’s camera to shoot and messaging apps to share them with your teams.

3. Be Flexible with Work Schedules

The coronavirus has changed how we work. Many employees have gotten used to working from home or remotely.

As a result, many of them want to work from home for most of the days of the week.

Businesses have started realizing this need and are adopting hybrid work models. They are also allowing their employees to choose flexible working hours to align with their routine.

However, 40% of businesses are still not clear about the post-pandemic work approach. Employees of such companies feel concerned and are more likely to leave.

Therefore, it is not enough to only allow hybrid work models. You have to create clear policies and communicate them with your employees.

The combination of both is excellent for improving your employee retention.

4. Train Your Managers

Employees often quit because of their managers. As a result, you should first focus on your managers to ensure they treat your employees the right way.

Managers should also be able to communicate well with workers. They should know when to be strict and when to be casual with the workforce.

Additionally, they should lead with empathy and take cues from transformational leadership principles.

A good manager can be the secret to retaining your employees for years to come.

You can try employee retention software like Bites to create training videos for managers. You may even convert your existing content like PPTs to videos with Bites and share them with your workforce.

5. Reward Employees

Using only an employee retention platform is not enough to retain employees. You should reward your employees with benefits and perks.

In fact, they form a part of many employee retention programs. It shows you really care for your employees and look after their wellbeing.

You can offer traditional perks like retirement plans or health insurance. However, you can also get creative and try different benefits for your employees, such as:

• Gym or fitness club memberships
• Paying for vacations or time off
• Discounts at different stores or eateries
• Paid sick leaves

In addition, try to align perks and benefits with employee interests. For example, you can provide a gym membership to employees who love to stay fit.

Consequently, you can offer a paid vacation to workers who love to travel.

Employee Retention: Motivate and Engage Your Employees

Motivating and engaging your employees can help them stay for longer. You can try several ways to boost motivation and engagement like:

• Provide all the necessary tools and resources for your employees to work productively.
• Allow your workforce to learn and grow in their roles. You can also provide opportunities to advance their careers.
• Foster team spirit and encourage teamwork. It improves collaboration and helps your employees connect with each other for more engagement.
• Share feedback with your employees. Let them know what you think of their performance and any expectations.
• Grow a friendly work culture at your organization. Additionally, recruit people who fit into your culture to improve employee retention.
• Communicate with your employees frequently and listen to what they have to say. It makes them feel a part of your organization.

Final Thoughts

Employee retention is a priority for all businesses. Therefore, recruit the right people and provide a good orientation program. You should also pay your employees well and offer rewards. Additionally, appreciate good work and allow your employees to learn and grow in their careers.

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