Did you know?
Facebook has the World’s longest employee retention rate with employee tenure lasting over 2 years at an average. In contrast, Uber is said to have one of the lowest employee retention rates in this category with about 1.23 years being the average employee tenure span. This data is as per Paysa, a company that reports on employee statistics.
Job-hopping is something that hasn’t spared the hotshots of technology or any other industry. A leading interviewing technology solution provider states that, 80% of business managers feel that employee retention is a major issue that companies are facing these days as 27% of employees change jobs each year, 17% are actively job-hunting, 46% are passively looking (ADP) and 35% of the employees consider giving up their current role in a year’s time (Mercer).
Due to this scary state of employee retention, around 75% of the companies are considering redesigning their hiring and employee retention processes.
Here are 8 employee retention strategies that can be a part of the HR policies to prevent people from quitting:
- Ensure that the right people are hired:
It’s said that supervisors spend a whole day in a week in managing poor performing employees and 11% of financial supervisors suggested that if they hire the wrong employees, they lose out on productivity.
Every organization would want to hire the right people to make sure it doesn’t take a toll on the finances of the company. A lot of companies have aptitude tests or pre-placement tests to understand the caliber of the to-be-hired employees. Some organizations also conduct personality tests to make sure no stone is left unturned in evaluating the candidates.
- Allot responsibilities as per employee’s interests and specializations:
An employee looks forward to attending a day’s work when the assigned duties match his/her interest. Designing milestones by incorporating employee interests and likings will go a long way as it’ll be a motivational factor for employees to come to work. They’ll appreciate efforts the organization is putting in to make sure the employees are happy to be working with the company.
- Avoid hierarchical structure and create an accessible work environment:
A lot of organizations assume that high-pressure can get the best out of the employees but sadly, that isn’t the truth. Around 80% of doctor visits happen due to stress and 80% of accidents at work also happen at high-pressure jobs. No one appreciates hierarchy.
In case there’s a hierarchical structure, most employees feel that they can easily trust their peers but not their bosses. An “open-door” company, where employees feel free to talk to the highest authority without any hesitation is where these losses are minimized and the output delivered is the maximum.
Companies, where the managers don’t put blame on the team members for things that go wrong have a positive culture which leads to some pathbreaking work.
- Appreciate good work to encourage them to stay for longer:
It’s noted in the recent times that 69% of employees say that they would work harder if their work is appreciated.
Employees come every day and contribute towards a business and that’s the reason why they need to be constantly motivated and appreciated. Managers who value their team members have much better performance results than those who don’t.
A “thank you” for a simple task finished brilliantly can boost the morale of the employees. Offering fair incentives, appraisals according to the caliber of the employee makes it clear to them that they’re valued. This reflects in their performance and in turn, improves the performance of the company.
- Performance appraisals and other perks are key to happy employees:
The employees are always eager to know whether they’re delivering according to their manager’s expectation. For them to be assured of their work, the managers need to have regular performance review meetings and constant coaching and feedback should be provided.
Create realistic goals for the employee during appraisal and strengthen the bond shared with the employees so that they work harder to achieve their goals. Having an appraisal once a year is not enough to keep the employees motivated, keep all factors in mind and try to conduct appraisals more than once a year.
- Ease employees’ work-life balance:
Due to the constant challenges that employees face day in and day out, it seems impossible for them to not think about work after leaving office. Most overworked and exhausted employees talk about work-life balance (as they don’t have it!).
Employers are not solely responsible for the employee’s work-life balance. But, they can mend their policies to make sure they support it. Offering employees flexible working hours, some paid time off (PTO) apart from the usual leaves can be exactly what the employees are looking for.
Employees pick up nuances from their managers. So, the managers need to be very careful in the way they conduct themselves while they avail PTO. If the manager sends out emails on a vacation, the message given out to the employees will be that even they’re expected to do the same.
- Come up with appropriate training programs for employee growth:
Hiring the right candidates is just work half done, it’s what comes after hiring that matters. Training the employees constantly according to the new developments in the company is what will keep them from leaving.
This is one of the most challenging employee retention strategies that would require continuous effort from the employers for arranging training at regular intervals.
If the right candidates feel they aren’t in a workplace that’s exploring their true potential, they’ll quit and leave you in a position where you’d have to look for a replacement. By having training modules in place, one can encourage the new employees to work better and deliver better.
- Cultivate Team Spirit:
This is the most powerful arrow in the employee retention strategies quiver which needs tactful management. Introduce the employees to a culture where they can share their thoughts about topics under discussion without hesitation. This will bring out different work cultures to the table and encourage them to be true to their work styles.
Create transparency about team goals, roles, and responsibilities and promote the employees to share their thoughts in every small and big decision.
Don’t forget to party with the employees on any major milestone achieved by the team member or the team. A personal achievement like a purchase of a new home should be celebrated as enthusiastically as the closure of a major deal.
Keep these pointers under check every year so that you don’t overlook parameters like salary, appraisals and other benefits.
Learn more: Employee Survey Software
