It’s a sad reality, but employee turnover is a crisis for many employers, now more than ever before. Employee turnover poses a significant expense for your business. Our friends at MPloyer Advisor recently wrote that you can expect turnover to cost you nearly 20% of the annual salary for a mid-range position. We think it’s more than that in many industries.
In addition to cutting into your company’s profits and hampering overall efficiencies, the additional time spent to attract, recruit, and onboard new employees could drag on for months. Losing employees also leads to decreased productivity, quite simply because you have fewer team members to get work done. As the remaining employees get overwhelmed with more work to help make up the difference, their stress levels rise, making them far less likely to perform at their best.
So, what are the best ways to keep your team from leaving? Here are five tips that may help you keep your current employees and attract emerging talent.
1. Instead of Culture, Focus on Values
How many of your employees work remotely? Is it just one employee or is it the majority of your workforce? The fact is that retaining even one remote employee means you must reconsider how you communicate and build your company’s values. A more traditional in-office environment lends itself to creating a “company culture,” but some of those methods may not transition well when a segment of your employees is working remotely.
No matter what your current work mix is, things are changing. Depending on your industry and size, consider how to best encourage teamwork, camaraderie, and conversation that gets to the heart of your company’s core values.
Also, trying to move every element of your previous office environment online may not work. Where continuous feedback and daily touch points drove efficiency and morale before, employees may feel fatigue if the workday is a constant string of video calls. In times of transition, remember that your company’s values are what your culture is built upon. Look inward, and think creatively about ways you can reframe things to incorporate your values virtually.
2. Offer Great Employee Benefits
What’s a surefire way to ensure your employees are satisfied and make your company a place they want to stick around? Offer a competitive benefits package with a salary to match. Remember picking the right insurance advisor is key to designing the right benefits package that will attract and retain employees.
If you don’t know how your Employee Benefits plan stacks up against your competition, Hartin Dynamics can help. Let us know, and we’ll show you local/national benchmarking to help guide your plan decisions.
When it comes to wages, you don’t need to offer the absolute highest in your area, but in order to retain your top employees it should be comparable. A competitive salary allows employees to know they’re hard work is valued and appreciated. Find labor force data for your market and industry.
3. Relate and Communicate
Fostering strong interpersonal relationships and encouraging active communication is foundational to building a healthy working environment. When employees feel like they belong within a team or company, employee retention swells. When employees feel isolated or without a sense of belonging (whether working virtually or in person), they’re less likely to proactively engage.
A commitment to diversity and inclusion is another vital component in nurturing trust and safety in the workplace. Prioritize hiring strategies, team training, or HR-led functions that underscore your company’s commitment.
Specifically, company leadership should ask themselves:
- Does our company jargon, stated mission, or current practices exclude or isolate current or prospective employees?
- Do we need to introduce new hiring, training, or continuous education classes to demonstrate our commitment?
- Is everyone welcomed and encouraged to speak in meetings?
- Who are we leaving out of conversations, and how can we do better across each department or company-wide?
4. Foster Leadership to Boost Engagement
We like this Harvard Business School post which highlights the six traits that set great business leaders apart:
- They clarify the complex.
- They embrace new thinking.
- They balance confidence and humility.
- They unite employees around a mission.
- They set high standards.
- They avoid distractions.
Employees are far more likely to follow in the footsteps of company leaders, not bosses. Effective leaders can drive employee engagement by encouraging open communication and collaboration without fear of embarrassment or criticism. And engaged employees, especially those taking on leadership roles, are proven much less likely to leave.
5. Build Pride in Your Company
At the end of the day, you want your employees to be proud of the work they do and the company whose success they work hard to support. Retain and inspire employees in your company by:
- Giving back to the local community
- Organizing team-building events outside of work
- Fostering a positive work-life balance
- Donating to charities and other meaningful organizations
It doesn’t have to be hard or complex to be meaningful. Pride in working for a caring, compassionate organization goes a long way in building loyalty and relationships that your team won’t seek to replace.
We are here to help you strategize and keep your team. Let’s talk soon!
