A good business owner knows that their employees are the business’ most valuable resource. Unfortunately, employees leave their jobs for greener pastures all the time, and retaining them can seem difficult. If you want your company to benefit from the labor of your best and brightest, it’s vital that you start thinking about the ways that you can convince them to stay on with your company.
Employee retention strategies
Employee retention isn’t as simple as offering a bigger paycheck or loading up on perks. The business world is highly competitive and no two employees want exactly the same things. While you should certainly make sure that your compensation packages are competitive, it’s even more important that you create a workplace that will allow your best employees to thrive. If you’re concerned about retaining the top talent that brings the most to your business, you should consider enacting one of the strategies listed below.
1. Set them up for success from the start
One of the best ways to improve employee retention is to make sure that your employees are set up for success from the start. The early days of employment are incredibly important for building a rapport with your employees, especially if you want to them to stick around. Providing the proper materials to orient new hires is a must, lest they find themselves wondering exactly why they signed on with your company. Continuing on with the right training allows you to ensure that your new employees feel like part of the group instead of outsiders. You want to give new employees everything you can to ensure that they start off on the right foot.
Starting employees out with the right tools shows that you care about their success. Putting in this effort begins the relationship that you’ll continue to foster for years to come, so long as it’s done correctly. If you can provide your employees with a solid foundation, they’ll build on it with you.
2. Implement a voluntary benefits program
Simply put, benefits matter. Healthcare costs aren’t going anywhere, and even the biggest businesses are struggling to provide ones that are actually worthwhile. That’s why it’s essential to create a voluntary benefits arrangement that will allow your employees to buy into coverage without putting a significant burden on everyone involved. This helps to eliminate the common problem of having employees jump ship not due to their lack of loyalty, but because they worry about their health.
Make sure to offer things like critical illness coverage to your employees. If they want benefits, they need to know that you’re willing to offer them. If you’re willing to provide voluntary benefits, it will cut down on the possibility of your best employees leaving.
3. Scrum – Agile project management
Many different businesses have adopted scrum as a management strategy, but it also works very well as one of the best employee retention strategies. Scrum is a type of agile project management that not only gives employees more input on the direction of their projects, but more of a stake in its success. Many motivated employees find themselves leaving great jobs not just for money, but for the chance to guide projects. With the scrum method, you’ll give employees what they need to feel like their input is heard.
Using this method of employee retention can also help you retain those employees who are looking for challenges. Because the method encourages interaction and pushing boundaries, it can help your business to grow in new directions. If your employees are looking to be part of something that’s growing, they’ll love this strategy. Take some time to determine how well the agile project management strategy can work with your current business model and whether adopting it is something that will interest your employees.
4. Establish visible career pathways
One of the biggest enemies of employee retention is the future. While some employees might be quite happy working in their current positions until they retire, most want to know where the future leads. It’s vital that you help to establish internal career pathways for your employees that not only show them that there are opportunities, but also show the employees how they can get where they want to go. Employees want to know that the possibility of career growth is more than just part of the early-interview sales pitch.
It’s no longer enough to simply tell employees that you promote from within. You’ll want to establish a pipeline from front-line positions to management, showing your employees exactly where they stand and what milestones they need to hit in order to progress. While not every employee is going to make it to the top of the corporate ladder, taking the time to provide guidance and feedback will help your most promising employees stick around long enough to reach their full potential.
5. Embrace a flexible remote working policy
It’s difficult to justify keeping some of your employees in the office when their jobs could easily be done from a remote location. If you have employees who could realistically work from home and are looking for a change of scenery, offering a flexible remote work policy might be just what you need to keep them around. This can’t be offered for every position, of course, but it is in your business’ best interest to look into the possibilities.
Once you have employees working remotely, you’ll need to work to keep them in the fold. It’s important not only that you keep track of their productivity, but to stop them from the possibility of feeling alienated. Staying in contact and using appropriate work tracking tools will give you a chance to keep the kind of connection that is vital for retaining your best remote employees.
Start retaining your employees today
Let’s be honest – companies who have a great team often inspire great success. These retention strategies are a great start to maintaining a positive environment for your employees, making them want to stay in it for the long haul. There are many obvious reasons for aiming to keep your top talent: saving on time, money, and resources just to name a few. So, why wait? Start putting some of these tips into action!
About the Author
Rene Broft has not only lived in Arizona most of her life but has also had a great deal of experience in management for many years now. After graduating from Thunderbird High School and eventually Northern Arizona University in 1990, Rene began growing her business career by working at Dillard’s Department stores as an area manager and associate for 2 years. She ultimately was promoted to becoming a buyer of men’s and women’s athletic shoes as well as children’s shoes, overseeing 13 million dollars in purchases for her area per year.
