For any company, employee retention is important for clear reasons: when an organization retains its employees, it means the staff is dedicated and satisfied; additionally, the employees’ years of experience contribute to a well-informed and efficient staff. If you are a leader within a company, you inevitably contribute to employee retention and need to plan to retain employees who are high performing.
What are some tactics to achieve employee retention in your company?
Cultivate employee growth and development
- On an annual basis, it is a good idea for an organization to require all employees to define their goals and objectives for the year ahead. Take this opportunity to allow employees not only to map their upcoming year, but also to envision a path of growth and advancement several years down the line. This will encourage employees to think long-term at your company, and will send a message to them that they are valued in the company’s extended plan as well.
- Provide opportunities to employees to grow and develop as professionals generally. This could include dedicated training sessions or programs for business etiquette, or a weekly or monthly Lunch & Learn session on a range of topics. Employees will welcome an opportunity to learn alongside their daily work, and their skillsets will expand because of it.
Focus on staff morale
- Keeping employees happy and satisfied in their work is crucial to retaining good staff. In an earlier blog post, Boosting and Maintaining Employee Morale, we discuss three ways to promote employee morale in the workplace: create a culture of communication, foster friendliness among coworkers, and acknowledge accomplishments. For concrete examples and more on this topic, click the link above to read the post.
Encourage challenges – and reward employees accordingly
- A high-performing staff will thrive on professional challenges and great goals. The first step, then, is to hire high-calibre employees. Hiring is not a process to be approached lightly; finding excellent employees who will fit well in a company means multiple resume reviewers, seeking employees with an impressive work history or credentials, and at least two rounds of interviews for top candidates.
- Once your staff is comprised of those who are willing to accept challenges, use high goals to enable them to thrive: inspire them to bring their own ideas to the table to advance a project or reach a milestone, and expect results from their work – requiring that they measure, document, and present their success.
- In all their demonstrations of excellence, ensure that employees are acknowledged accordingly with due credit, both informally through verbal or written praise and formally through honours or salary increases at appropriate opportunities.
Warning: though employees should be challenged and often will find success within such tasks, do not overwork your employees. If staff members feel pressured to work beyond their capacity on a regular basis to meet goals, this will have the opposite effect on your retention strategy. To prevent employees from burning out, encourage maintaining a work-life balance and opportunities for wellness, both in and out of the workplace.
