A survey by popular job portal Monster.com reveals that a whopping 96% of the currently employed workforce is looking for a new job in 2023. The movement has been dubbed ‘the great resignation’ by the portal.
With such a staggeringly high percentage of employees wanting to leave their current employment the first chance they get, the struggle to retain top talent is tougher than ever before for companies.
In this article, we’ll take a look at how you can create a culture of retention in your company by focusing on the key aspects that make a talent stay. Read on to know more.
Creating a culture of retention: key factors in keeping your best talent
Ideally, a 90% retention rate and a 10% turnover rate are considered good for companies. But the reality of the situation is that the actual turnover rate is close to 57%. Companies are struggling to retain their top talent, hampering their work and productivity in the process.
To strengthen your retention, you first need to understand the many reasons employees leave their current companies. What constitutes the ‘better job’ that offers what you don’t? According to the popular job portal Indeed, employees jump ship for the following reasons:
- Wanting a higher salary
- Feeling unchallenged in their current role
- Wanting to feel valued in their company
- Seeking a better management relationship
- Craving a better work-life balance.
To create a culture of retention, you need to combat the above mentioned issues to keep your talent engaged with you for prolonged periods of time. Given below are some key factors that will help you retain your best talent.
1. Track individual performance to reward them
The first thing you need to focus on when trying to create a culture of retention is every single individual’s performance, engagement, and interest when working for you. A spend management software tracks employee expenditures to help you assess their overall impact on your firm’s performance.
It helps you devise a performance improvement plan at work for better overall management. Identify employees that are performing above average and reward them. Motivate them with rewards and make them feel seen and appreciated.
This directly boosts their morale and increases their engagement with your firm. When they’re valued and appreciated at their current firm and job role, they’re less likely to look for it elsewhere. This also motivates underperforming employees to do better.
Here are a few meaningful ways you can reward your employees:
- Publicly thank them — Give them a handwritten ‘Thank You’ note or a bouquet of flowers in the presence of others. Be specific — describe what they did and how it benefited the company.
- Bonus/gift card — A monetary reward is an excellent option if you are not sure what kind of a gift they would appreciate. You want your reward to be something useful for them so giving them a bonus or gift card allows them to choose how they wish to spend it.
- Paid leave — You may grant them a small or big trip, or simply a few days off allowing them to choose how they wish to spend it. This gives them a breather from work and they return with a replenished vigor.
- Ask them — Directly ask your employee how they wish to be rewarded (within a set budget, of course) for their excellent performance. Then choosing their own reward will give you better ideas for rewarding them the next time.
2. Track team performance to foster a positive culture
Once you have tabs on individual performances, take a look at how they transfer to group performances. Nurturing employees into different groups is key to the growth of a company. They should be able to work in tandem to create and deliver extraordinary projects.
Software solutions such as 15Five have been monumental in boosting team performances but they’re not everyone’s cup of tea. Here are some 15Five competitors to help you find the most suitable solution for your unique and diverse teams.
The goal is to bring your work teams together so that they engage better not just with each other, but with your company as a whole. When teams have good connections between them, they usher in a positive workflow and culture.
Employees flourish in such a work culture. They feel a sense of belonging with your company and would be more willing to continue to be with you than look for work outside, mostly because they’d have to work to build a camaraderie with a new team again if they do so.
Here are some ways to bring your work team together and foster a positive work culture:
- Make them sit together in an in-office setting and have them do video calls periodically in a remote setting. This keeps them connected at all times.
- Get feedback from team leaders and individual members about their work environment to know if there is any disruption in the workflow.
- Indulge in leisure activities periodically to keep things light. This can be an occasional movie night, group lunch, a trip to an adventure park, or a game night at the office.
- Ask them if they’d be interested in bonding exercises if they show signs of distrust among each other or less than desirable communication.
3. Communicate your long term vision to keep them motivated
Another key factor you need to focus on to retain top talent is to have a strong company vision and exercise it in everything you do. This lets your employees know that they’re part of something of value.
As times change, a good salary is not sufficient to keep an employee bound to a job. Employees seek to be a part of an inclusive environment that aspires to establish something of value in the industry it operates in.
Having a strong company vision is important to attract top talent and retain them. They would not only feel valued to be a part of something extraordinary but would also strive to add to it on their own.
It keeps them motivated and engaged for the long run. For example, L’Oréal Paris prides itself on being free of animal cruelty for over two decades. It’s an extraordinary feat to achieve, something its employees would feel proud to be associated with.
4. Offer flexibility to allow employees to find their work style
With the rise of remote working, companies offering the flexibility to work from home has become a crucial aspect of an employee’s willingness to work with them. Employees are far less tolerable to companies that offer no option to work from home.
A report by HubSpot in 2023 shows that only 8.3% of employees today prefer to work from the office.
This means that the rest of the employees either wish to work from home (63.4%) or in a hybrid model (28.3%) at best.
If you don’t offer the flexibility of working remotely, you stand to lose even the most dedicated of employees. Restructure the way you work to incorporate different ways of working. Let the employees know that they can choose however they wish to work.
Most importantly, help them establish their workstations and provide assistance from time to time to make sure they can make the most of the way they wish to work. When employees are free to work as they want, they are more engaged with their work and perform better.
Here are the key benefits of flexible working conditions:
- It improves employees’ work-life balance by allowing them to work at their own pace.
- It increases their morale, engagement, and satisfaction with their work.
- It increases trust between you and your employees as they can see that you trust them with your work.
- Employees will be more engaged with work, showing increased productivity.
- It will also allow you to save costs as employees will manage their schedules on their own.
5. Indulge in leisure to encourage genuine connections
It’s important to indulge in leisure activities at work to encourage genuine connection between your employees. When employees feel a sense of belonging to a workplace, they’re more likely to stay committed to it.
However, there needs to be a balance.
Forcing leisure activities, such as game nights or movie nights can drive employees away as they start to view them as chores. Introverted people especially don’t enjoy such activities.
Instead, introduce activities everyone can be a part of and enjoy. And conduct them as and when you feel the need instead. If you wish to do them periodically, don’t make them too frequent so that they lose their authenticity.
Make employees feel seen and reward them to keep them engaged with you
Employee retention can be a major concern for companies with severe competition in the market today. One of the most important aspects of employee retention is identifying top-performing employees and rewarding them for their hard work. Adopt the same approach with teams as well.
Showcase a strong company vision to give something to the employees to attach themselves with. And allow them the flexibility to work at their pace.
Let us know in the comments what you think are the best practices to retain and nurture talent.
Author bio
Atreyee Chowdhury is a freelance content writer with more than 10+ years of professional experience. She’s passionate about helping SMBs and enterprises achieve their content marketing goals with her carefully crafted and compelling content. She loves to read, travel, and experiment with different cuisines in her free time. You can follow her on LinkedIn.
