Every business should see its employees as an investment and should look for ways to improve employee retention. When companies have high employee turnover rates and constantly have to find new skilled professionals, it can wreak havoc on long-term goals and even completely impede your success as a team. It’s estimated that when an employee unexpectedly quits, it can cost 90% to 200% annual pay.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also increased the need for employee engagement programs as remote work poses significant challenges to our sense of camaraderie in the workplace. To have a high-performing team, you need employees who are engaged and happy to work with you. But that doesn’t happen by accident. Here are four actionable steps you can take to improve employee retention.
- Talk with your team individually and as a group
According to a Salesforce poll, 86% of employees and executives cite ineffective communication as the main cause of failure. One of your key responsibilities as a leader is to create an environment that fosters learning and development, giving constructive feedback where needed, and regularly discussing your greater goals as a team. This is where your ability to communicate becomes key.
It’s best practice to have regular conversations with your employees one-on-one at least once a week. This gives them a chance to say things they might not say in a group setting, and it communicates the importance you find in their contributions. As a group, team meetings can help individual efforts to better cohere, help create a sense of teamwork and contribute to your employee retention.
In this context, we strongly recommend you to have a standard one-on-one agenda to avoid this important moment to become too transactional and purely business oriented.
- Utilize team coaching to improve your group dynamic
A group that works together — doesn’t always work well together. Team coaching is a great way to engage your employees and improve your group dynamics. With good teamwork, solutions are easier to come by and employees are less likely to feel overwhelmed or unsatisfied.
“Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” — Vince Lombardi
According to Gallup, upwards of 70% of employees are not engaged with their work. A team coach can do wonders for creating a sense of common identity and a sense of belonging. This translates into your employees’ willingness to put in the extra effort and take a personal interest in their work.
- Improve your onboarding process
Your onboarding process should prepare any new employees to fit into your company culture, take on the demands of the job, and learn any necessary skills or information to do it successfully. This can take the form of one on one mentorship from the person leaving the position or for someone more senior in the organization, or multiple conversations with existing employees planned for the new recruit to quickly build a network and grasp important cultural elements.
Also many of our clients do invest in comprehensive pre-hiring assessments not only to identify potential risks associated with the new recruit but also from a development standpoint – for the recruiting leader to know from day one how to develop and best support the new employee and maximize the chances of recruiting success.
After the onboarding process, don’t forget to follow up and make sure this person is prepared and understands your team’s goals. Their learning and development are crucial for creating long-term value to you and your company.
- Offer competitive pay and benefits
There are many ways to show employees they are valued, but competitive pay and benefits are arguably one of the best ways. It attracts the kind of talent you need to make a high-performing team, communicates a sense of respect for the value they offer, encourages employee engagement, and pushes your team to go above and beyond.
Even if you check all the boxes for creating a positive work environment, you still may lose some of your most valued employees to better offers elsewhere. However, using the above steps can greatly reduce turnover and increase employee retention.
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