Employee retention is a challenge that most organizations face. When the employees decide to quit or resign, the HR department usually has a hard time trying to get replacements for the vacant positions. The process of looking for other new employees can be tiring, time-consuming and it costs a lot of money. Most of the employees look for companies with competitive salaries, good company cultures, and opportunities to grow in the company. Most companies are therefore changing their strategies to retain the employees they have and to attract more employees with talent. Here are some things companies are doing to retain talent.

Building an employee-focused culture

A good employee-focused culture should make an impact in everything that the employee does. This should include employee productivity, work-life balance, market growth, etc. A company can focus on these pillars to build an employee-focused culture

  1. Commitment: Everyone in the company should be able to commit to the goals, missions, and values. All the employees should understand what they mean and believe in them. They should work towards achieving all the goals and missions of the organization
  2. Communication: communication is very important in any organization. Lack of communication is the main cause of employee frustrations in many companies. The communication passed to the employees should be done on time. Communication should be clear and consistent. Communicate clearly to the employees about the goals of the company. Tell the employees about their roles and how they contribute to the company’s growth. Inform them about any good and bad news as soon as you get them. The employees of your company should be trained on how they can be better and effective communicators.
  3. Celebration: Always be proud of your employee’s achievements. If an employee made the highest sale or managed to submit a project successfully, celebrate them. Celebrate your employees when they achieve personal milestones. Create a culture of celebration in your company. This will make your employees feel more motivated, appreciated, and will hence be satisfied.

Define Roles and Responsibilities

When new employees join the company, it is good to assume that they do not know what their roles and responsibilities in the company are. A company should be able to list down the roles and responsibilities of the employees. Explain the different responsibilities that the employees will be expected to conduct during their time at the company. The responsibilities can include meeting deadlines, making sure that the work produced is of good quality, working with others in the organization to ensure that the company’s goals and missions are achieved.

Career Development

This includes availing opportunities for employee growth within the company. The growth can be promotions to maybe different departments, to the same department but given extra roles, getting special projects, and also working with others to mentor and coach them so that they can learn and grow. Career development should also include salary increments because no employee wants to have a standard salary for the rest of their stay in the company. The employees should be able to see that their efforts are recognized in the company.

Have a good working environment or climate

As a company, you should create a good working environment for your employees. You should encourage all the employees to maintain a positive attitude at work. If there are some employees, who point fingers at others and are not satisfied with their workmates, project, and workload, sit them down and let them explain why they are feeling that. Sometimes employees are just frustrated and this can change by having candid conversations. You should let your employees know that a positive environment does not just happen; a lot of work needs to be put in to achieve it.

Managers or people in higher positions in the companies can also contribute by not micromanaging the employees under them. They should also listen to the grievances and suggestions that their employees might have. They should also encourage and support their employees.

Have Mentorship programs

This is one of the best ways of retaining talent in the company. Through the mentorship programs, employees can be offered growth opportunities. They learn skills that are useful to the company and hence making them favorable when more employees are needed with such skills.

Peer mentorship programs can help employees strengthen their relationships with others leading to a more cohesive team. Mentees will feel comfortable talking to a fellow peer concerning the challenges they might be having, the fears they have, and their growth desires in the company.

You can also train your mentors for managerial positions in the company. Mentorship programs will give your mentees the practice they need in coaching and mentoring other employees in the company.

Mentorship programs can also help the employees to boost their productivity and perform their best. Most of the mentees in mentorship programs are motivated to perform their duties at a higher rate.

Involve employees in company recruiting

If your employees are happy, satisfied, and feel appreciated in the company, they will most likely help you to attract top talent. Content employees will refer others to your company. When the employees meet or know of someone whose skills and experience meet your company’s, they will most likely share with them about a vacancy that there might be. You can also have referral incentives introduced in the company. When someone introduces a potential employee to the company and gets absorbed, the company can give them rewards like cash bonuses, gift cards, or some time off.

Working remotely

With the pandemic, most companies have introduced the work remotely practice where people work from home. Your company can also take advantage and introduce this. Working remotely can be easy if done the right way. Positions in the company that can work from home can be allowed to do so.

While working from home, the company should clearly pass across the expectations of the work schedules, the productivity target, the hours the employees are supposed to put in per week. Everyone should be accountable for all the responsibilities assigned to them while working from home.

Managers should be on their toes with this model and ensure that all the employees are working and their duties are well executed. While working remotely, the managers can pay for everything a remote employee will need to do their work more effectively.

The employees will thank you for choosing this mode of work because it is safer now that there is the Covid 19 pandemic. It also saves them a lot of time that would be spent commuting from work to home. The employees are also able to save money that they would have used on transport.

Having flexible shifts

Having flexible shifts means that the employees do not have to work the normal shift hours. For most companies, the normal working hours were from 8 A.M to 5 P.M from Monday to Friday. Introducing flexible shifts has many benefits to the company like

  1. Improved work morale among the employees
  2. Increased productivity
  3. Reduced burnouts and sick cases
  4. Decreased absenteeism

Your company should clearly communicate to employees that they are expected to produce a certain amount of hours on a given day and have quality work.

Employees who introduce and permit flexible working shifts have experienced a decrease in employee turnover or resignation. This is because the employees now have a better work-life balance.

Upgrade your office equipment

An office should be a place where the employees work well. Make sure the equipment like chairs, desks; air conditioners are working well so that the employees can be comfortable if they are working from the office.

Make sure the laptops, desktops, mouse the employees are using are in good condition. If your company uses software, make sure they are updated regularly to avoid inconveniences. Have scheduled maintenance days for the machines in the company.

If working from home, make sure the employees have the needed equipment to work effectively in the comfort of their homes.

Promote within the company

One of the reasons people resign from their positions in their companies is the lack of internal growth. Have you spotted someone who has the potential to be promoted? Take the chance and promote that person. Your strong performers should know that they have a career path to promotion. You can enroll the potential employees in programs in the company and equip them with the necessary knowledge about a certain post. When the opportunity comes, do not recruit outside the company if there is potential within. This will help you retain the talent in the company.

Have competitive compensation packages

The economy keeps changing every day. The living conditions are getting higher, the fuel prices have gone up, healthcare is also expensive, school, etc. This means that employees are always looking for greener opportunities somewhere else. They want a company that will pay them better.

For you to retain your employees as a company, you need to make sure that the compensation packages you give to your employees are good. Do your research. Find out what other companies are paying their employees and if need be, make amends to your package. You can also introduce other benefits like housing allowance, medical insurance, school allowance, paid time off, and other benefits to make your package more attractive.

Employee Wellness

Many employees are experiencing burnout in their companies. When an employee gets burnout, they lack energy, have negative thoughts and emotions, and have feelings of isolation. When an employee experiences severe burnout, they sometimes opt to leave the company. This can be a big loss to the company especially if that employee was one of the best they had.

Companies should train managers to look out for signs of burnout in their employees. Giving the employees flexible working hours can help in reducing burnout. Companies should encourage their employees to take some time off work and go for a vacation or just relax at home.

Companies can have fitness lessons provided for their employees where they can take a few minutes during their work time to do some exercises. Hiring counselors and psychologists to have sessions with the employees can also help them to open up and get the counseling and advice they need.

You can also ask your employees for their feedback. They are in a better position to know the courses of burnout in the company. With the feedback you get, look for ways to improve your company.

Engage your employees

Your employees know more about what happens in the company. Be keen to listen to what they say. You can create calls and meetings where you can discuss what is happening to the company. You can also ask them for their opinions and suggestions on how you can better the company and improve your services. You will be surprised by the ideas and suggestions your employees might have. Give them a chance!

Encourage collaboration amongst your employees

The company will be successful if the teams and employees will collaborate. You should encourage employee interaction and sharing of ideas. Your employees should see such interactions as something valuable to them and the company at large. The collaboration should not only be work-based but also outside work.

Know your company’s missions and values

Share the company’s missions and values with your employees and will help you fill any position in the company. Most employees feel more engaged when their personal values match with those of the company and are more willing to work in companies that do.

Employee and talent retention is important in a company. Your careful selection of strategies will contribute to the company retaining or losing its employees. Remember, a company wants to retain as many employees as possible. You should also not forget that there will be employee turnovers. It is your responsibility to reduce them. Keep your employees satisfied using the ways above. You will be able to retain a good number of them.