Is staff retention being given enough attention?

This guide outlines why staff retention is important for business success, and the keys to improve it.

In order for businesses to be truly successful, they need to be focused on the satisfaction of their employees. Due to how much competition is out there, employees don’t feel as though they are stuck within one particular company. This means, if they aren’t happy, they’re going to start looking for employment elsewhere.

Employee retention might not seem like an important thing to focus on. However, when you take into account the costs of hiring and training new employees, as well as the disruption to the business, you start to realize just how crucial it really is to retain employees.

Key factors in staff retention

Here, we’ll look at why staff retention should be a main focus for businesses today, and the best ways to improve it.

Why is staff retention important?

As a business, your employees are your most valuable asset. They are the backbone of the company and without them the business simply wouldn’t be able to operate. So, if your employees are frequently leaving, it’s going to potentially cause a lot of disruption to the business.

Employee turnover can also be extremely costly. There’s the cost of hiring new employees, training them up and then providing continued training. You may also have a period of time where the role is unfulfilled, costing the business in terms of production. A high staff turnover can also impact the morale in the workplace, which in turn will also impact your bottom line.

Could career development be key?

One of the key thing’s employees want in the workplace is the opportunity to progress. In numerous surveys carried out in recent years, it has been discovered that training is one of the major things’ employees want. So, offering career development opportunities is definitely going to help in your employee retention efforts. By providing ongoing training, it can boost employee confidence and motivation. This also benefits your business as they will also be a lot more productive.

Invest in internal marketing campaigns

Internal marketing is a marketing strategy for staff retention focused on employees. Its main objective is to synchronize and motivate people in the search for great results. With a good internal marketing strategy it is also possible to retain the best professionals.

Large companies in the market make use of this method, such as Citibank, Toyota and Fiat. In the latter, a great example of internal marketing is the fact that employees are the first to perform test drives on newly launched vehicles.

To invest in this staff retention strategy, you can: create institutional videos, share good internal examples, celebrate special dates (such as birthdays), invest in motivational training and other actions that generate enthusiasm.

Improve internal communication

Internal communication is one that focuses on internal customers, or rather, the company’s own workers. With an efficient dialogue, in addition to retaining talent, the company manages to align the entire work team. For this staff retention strategy, it is necessary to engage the top of the company, that is, its leaders. If leadership does not commit to improving internal dialogue, no positive results will be achieved.

In addition, it is necessary to analyze and improve internal communication channels. Invest in new technologies to optimize dialogue, such as: intranet, corporate TV, social networks, specialized systems, mobile applications, etc.

Create a good organizational climate

The organizational climate is how employees perceive the quality of their work environment and how it influences internal behavior. It is a kind of “atmosphere” that generates different sensations, both positive and negative.

When the climate is bad, the turnover level of people grows. In addition, internal communication begins to fail, leaders may have negative attitudes, the level of rework grows and goals are not achieved.

Many things can be done to improve the climate for staff retention. You can encourage relaxed moments in the company, eliminate excessive rules of conduct, be more flexible with hours and encourage a better relationship with leadership.

Offer feedback continuously

Feedback is feedback of information. It consists of talking to someone about their performance, with the aim of motivating better behavior in the future. Good feedback is a premise for successful people management .

Some leaders fail to do this out of fear or because they don’t know how to act. In both cases there is a serious problem. When feedback is left out, employees don’t know if they’re doing things right.

To give feedback, it is necessary to plan everything that will be said, balance criticism and praise, have a direct approach and also know how to listen. In addition, you need to schedule a suitable place and time – if it is negative, never do it in public.

Create a career plan

A career plan is a program that will guide the employee’s entire growth, talking about the positions, salaries and benefits he can expect in the future. A good career plan helps to motivate and retain talent.

To start, you need to know your internal audience, identifying their main needs and interests. Imagine where employees want to be in three years, what role they would like to be in, what their salary growth expectations are, etc.

Then, it is necessary to associate this with the interests of the company, defining key activities for the professional’s growth, such as how much time he/she should have in the company, what results he/she should achieve, what skills he/she needs to develop, etc.

Develop a collaborative environment

A collaborative environment is one where all employees help each other, regardless of their position or time at the company. This environment helps to retain employees, inspire teams, increase innovation and productivity.

To create a collaborative environment for staff retention, it is necessary to encourage the exchange of ideas, improve the workspace, develop an inspiring purpose, outline internal values ​​and create clear and achievable goals, so that everyone gives their best in the pursuit.

A great tip is employee training. In them, the employee develops a presentation of an area of ​​interest and shares it with the entire team. This, in addition to increasing internal synergy, contributes to the growth of those involved.

Decentralize decision making

Extremely centralized organizations cannot keep talented people, after all, no one wants to be in a place where there is no trust and only one person makes all the decisions. If your company is like this, then change it urgently.

There are many harms to centering things too much. The company maintains a high dependence on the board, makes daily decisions without agility, the creativity of the team decreases and the number of dismissals grows.

For this not to happen, it is necessary to know how to delegate tasks and responsibilities. Let other members of the company, even at lower levels of the organizational structure, make some decisions and answer for them.

Seek more than profit

If your institution’s sole purpose is to make a profit and enrich investors, then it’s certainly not going to inspire and retain people. A company’s purpose must go far beyond profits; should benefit customers, employees and other stakeholders.

To create a purpose that inspires, it must be audacious, provide great transformations (in a group, community or on the planet) and be different from what the competition is already doing, becoming unique.

The benefits of employee wellness programs

Another thing that’s going to drastically improve employee retention, is the introduction of wellness programs. Employee wellness has become a major focus for businesses. The happier and more fulfilled your employees are, the less likely they’re going to want to leave.

You can offer numerous employee benefits such as financial help, gym memberships, healthy office snacks and a more attractive and comfortable workspace. If you’re unsure where to start, it’s a good idea to ask your employees what they feel would improve their health and wellbeing at work.

Overall, employee retention is an important factor you should focus on. While some level of staff turnover can be expected, a high level definitely needs to be addressed. The above is just some of the ways you can improve staff retention.