5 ways to reduce employee turnover to increase retention.

We all know the days of employees sticking with the same company for years are long gone. But even after COVID-19 left millions of Americans out of work and looking for jobs, retaining your top performers should still be a top priority. The hiring market may be flooded with talent, but hiring, onboarding and training new hires is still time consuming and costly. And your top performers already know your industry and your company’s policies and procedures. That means losing even one will put a serious dent in your productivity.

Here are five things you can do not only to reduce high employee turnover, but to ensure your employees are engaged in the organization — and excited to come to work every day.

Sure, the best candidate may look like the one who has the strongest skill set, or someone who's excelled in a similar role with one of your competitors, but will they fit in with your company culture from day one? Even if you’ve gone fully remote after COVID-19, your company’s culture is still intact and it affects how everyone works, communicates and collaborates. Your meetings might happen by Zoom now, but your team still needs to get along and feel cohesive.

things to consider

• Refine your recruitment strategy to focus on the candidate's cultural fit. Make sure interviews cover behavioral questions, and that a few people who will work closely with the candidate are involved in the interview process.
• Take the time to get to know the candidate and what drives their success: Why are they inspired to work for your company? How do they feel they can contribute to your organization's bottom line — and its positive workplace culture?

In today's market, it's not enough to offer what you think is a strong compensation and benefits package — improving employee retention rates means being competitive with what others in your industry are offering. 

things to consider

• Use a salary calculator to determine what the going rate is for that role in your market, and how much you'll need to budget for the open position. (You may be pleasantly surprised to see that you're already competitive!) 
• When it comes to having the right benefits package in place, you'll need to think outside the box of your standard health insurance and discounts at local gym memberships. Be sure you're staying abreast of changes in the benefits landscape — especially when it comes to issues of work/life balance, such as: 

• paid maternity leave 
• flexible work schedules
• telecommuting opportunities/remote work
• open vacation/PTO policies

Building relationships with your employees is a two-way street, so trust and believe that they're sizing up your company as a right fit for them over the long haul as much as you're scoping what value they'll bring in the days and years ahead. The time needed to make these strong relationship starts on day one, so it's puzzling as to why only 12 percent of employees agree that their organization does a good job of onboarding new hires.

things to consider

• Have a robust onboarding program in place — one that focuses not only on your company but how new employees can best add value and achieve success in their roles. This is vital to improving employee retention and engagement. 
• Engage your employees on a regular basis: Listen to their opinions and input, give them meaningful projects early on and keep those lines of communication open well after the official onboarding program ends.

Even with a competitive salary and amazing benefits in hand, an employee will only stick around for so long when their work isn't being properly valued or recognized, especially after putting in the long hours needed to bring critical projects over the finish line. 

So making everyone's contributions visible and a source of company pride is key to keeping turnover down — and employee happiness up.

things to consider

Be creative when recognizing stellar work. Popular options include: 

• quarterly awards given out for excellence
• incentive programs for employees that regularly go above and beyond the call of duty
• monthly emails (either team- or company-wide) trumpeting the recent achievements and projects your employees have delivered

Employees often leave their jobs when they're feeling stagnant because of a lack of opportunities for skill development within their organization, or because they don't see a path forward to promotion. So be sure to nip these factors in the bud early on in the employee’s tenure. 

things to consider

• Bake ongoing professional development activities and a career roadmap into your onboarding program (and beyond) to ensure employees feel confident that your company is invested in their career path and skill set development. 
• Consider hosting in-house training events or offering an annual stipend employees can use to get a new certification or learn a new software program.
• Formalize a strategy and program for internal recruitment so workers know there is a clear path to advancement. 

Staffing agencies understand your talent pain points and the ways high employee turnover affects your bottom line. And partnering with one means more than gaining access to a network of top-tier talent — it's knowing that they're here to help you navigate the waters of employee retention in today's choppy market. If you're looking for a solution for reining in high turnover at your organization, contact us today to learn how we can help.