13 Ways to Improve Employee Retention
What people want in a job these days is not about perks, it’s about possibility. Let’s look at several ways you can improve employee retention by offering them more possibility.
Today’s employees want more tangible rewards, like challenging work, skilled managers, company stability, sound ethical leadership, opportunities for growth, recognition for a job well done—and, of course, more cash.
What makes good employees leave? The biggest things that drive employees away have nothing to do with money—and everything to do with leadership.
13 Leadership Actions to Improve Employee Retention
1. Give your employees challenging projects
What people seek, above all, is a challenge. Many employees are craving inspiration—they want to work on a project or service that makes them feel they can make a difference in people’s lives or can transform a business.
A job has to be purposeful.
Choose projects that will stretch your employees skills. Being entrusted with a special project—especially a difficult one—will make their work feel more meaningful.
2. Give them a future
No one expects to stay at one company forever, but they don’t want to get laid off every three months either. It’s bad for the budget, not to mention the morale.
Burned by past experiences, employees want a clear visible path to profitability, with supportive investors and partners already in place—and a CEO who can articulate the strategy and doesn’t shrink from tough questions.
If they don’t find this, they’ll look elsewhere.
3. Be honest with them
Although many people in the workforce are fairly young, they are no longer naive. If their company is experiencing trouble, not only do they want to know about it, but they want to know about it directly from the head of the company or the business unit.
They can handle it.
Also, if they are not meeting expectations, they need to be told so they can improve.
4. Show them you care
Sharing gratitude greatly boosts employee loyalty. Build a caring culture where people make one another feel appreciated.
5. Give them a chance to become more marketable
People know that their job won’t last forever. So, what do they want? The chance to gain skills that will round out their abilities and that will make them more employable in their next job.
By giving them opportunities to improve their skills, you’ll be investing in their future.
This doesn’t mean they’ll be less loyal.
On the contrary, employees tend to stay longer at places that don’t try to fence them in or try to hold them back from learning and growing.
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6. Give and get plenty of feedback
Employees want regular, periodic reviews—they want to know that what they contribute can be measured, both from their boss and one that can be demonstrated in their next job.
From personality conflicts to feeling out of place in the corporate culture, plenty of other things can cause good employees to leave.
The best way to find out whether your employees are happy, what you can do to make their work more fulfilling, and keep employees from leaving is simple:
Just ask them.
Providing—and asking for—regular feedback encourages employees, helps them correct course quickly if they are off track, and lets them know they are valued.
It’s key for an employer to give performance reviews and to take them seriously.
7. Be approachable
If employees feel intimidated by you, then you will always be the last to hear about anything that goes wrong. This is a stressful situation that can lead employees to start looking for another job.
And, this means you should get your hands dirty! Every now and then, do that task that everyone in your department hates doing. This will generate feelings of goodwill.
8. Set clear goals
If you don’t set clear employee goals, they may not understand the big picture. Talk to them about how their own position fits into the overall scheme of things.
9. Don’t dictate the process
Allow your employees to come up with their own methods for doing their work. Micro-management is a dead-giveaway for poor leadership.
10. Keep the workload reasonable
Many job seekers and employees are thinking more than ever about work-life balance. It’s not that working hard is a problem; it’s that working hard simply to work hard is a huge problem.
Today, they no longer believe that “living to work” is worth it when your life and happiness matters most.
Allow your good employees to find their work-life balance or your employee retention rate will decrease.
Employees may be reluctant to speak up and tell you that they have too much on their plates, so check in with them about their workload regularly so they don’t get burned out.
11. Don’t be a bad boss
Good people will do good things if you allow them to do good work!
Always speak to people in a respectful tone; never allow yourself to vent your stress at them. Otherwise, you’ll have serious issues with turnover and employee retention will be a serious issue!
12. Have a solid compensation package
Cash is king! Performance incentives reign supreme. And, 4-6 weeks of vacation time is more popular than ever. (There’s that balance thing.)
Employers hoping to attract and retain good employees will need to offer more hard currency instead of paper dreams to get the talent they want.
13. Use the Predictive Index (PI) Assessment to learn your employees’ needs, drives & behaviors
According to the 2021 People Management Report, 48% of employees have thought about quitting in the past 12 months. Thankfully, contemplation doesn’t have to mean action.
Start your own Great Retention, so you can hold on to your top talent and reach your business goals.
RELATED | About The Predictive Index
Try the PI Behavioral Assessment!
One of the four forces that cause employees to disengage (and quit) is their manager. The PI Behavioral Assessment helps managers understand their employees’ unique needs and preferences—so they can tailor the way they manage and coach to get better results.
Get started here:
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Mark James, CPC is the founder and CEO of Hire Consulting Services (HCS). Established in 1999, HCS is a highly customized executive outplacement and career coaching firm for executive-level professionals.
Mark is equipped with over 25 years of experience in Executive Career Management Coaching, as well as Outplacement and Executive Search Consulting. He is the author of the three best-selling books—Keys to the C Suite: Unlock the Doors to Executive Career Path Success, The Interview Mindset: The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Your Career, and The Recruiter Mindset: The Ultimate Guide to Working with Executive Search Recruiters.
Mark uses a proven and successful strategy and structured process to fully enable his clients to conduct a professional job search campaign and with the singular goal of securing their next career opportunity in significantly less time it would take without a career coach. Clients gain a new perspective of their marketing value coupled with executing a strategic plan and closing the deal on their new role in their next job.
My boss is actively looking for the top employee retention consultants with a focus on boosting employee happiness and retention inside the business. They are interested in expert advice to put into practice successful techniques that build a happy work environment and encourage employee commitment over the long term because they understand how important it is to keep valuable personnel. As you mentioned, a lot of job seekers and workers are considering work-life balance more than before. Working hard is not the issue; rather, working hard just for the sake of working hard is a major issue.