Today, employees have begun to leave their companies in droves for a variety of reasons ranging from desiring more flexible work options to feeling undervalued. As a result, organizational leaders have increasingly been tasked with increasing employee retention rates.
For leaders looking to implement changes in their organizations to ensure that employees aren’t leaving, it can help to have some guidance. Being aware of some key ways to improve employee retention can make the process easier and more accessible to implement.
Here are five ways leaders can improve employee retention.
1) Provide Upskilling Opportunities
Upskilling is a trend that has become increasingly popular among organizational leaders across various industries. Put simply, upskilling is the practice of instilling employees with new skills that make them more valuable employees. Typically, the skills employers provide their employees with opportunities to learn are in-demand skills that increase an employee’s value.
Upskilling employees benefits companies in a number of ways including improving employee retention. Employees are more likely to stay at companies that provide them with upskilling opportunities for a number of reasons. One reason is that it shows employees that a company values them. Other reasons include a good company culture that is developed as a result of upskilling and the possibility of promotions as a result of learning new skills.
Organizations struggling with retention can reverse their streak by implementing upskilling opportunities that allow employees to become more well-rounded and valuable. Depending on one’s company, upskilling can take many different forms. It may require employees to take two weeks off to attend a bootcamp or it may be taking an hour away from every workday for a month to attend classes.
Whichever methods a company chooses to utilize, employee upskilling is a sure way to increase employee retention and instill employees with a greater sense of loyalty to their employer.
2) Celebrate Employees and Their Achievements
No matter what industry one works in, it never feels good to feel like one’s accomplishments and sacrifices are going unnoticed. In fact, these feelings may even lead employees to quit and search for new career opportunities elsewhere. This being the case, it’s important that organizational leaders make it a point to celebrate employees periodically.
Making employees feel appreciated is a key part of boosting employee retention rates and cultivating a culture of experienced employees who have grown with one’s company. As such, it makes sense that celebrating employees is a perfect place to start improving employee retention rates and giving employees a bigger incentive to stick around.
Celebrating employees can take many different forms. It can be through providing outstanding employees with bonuses, highlighting certain people in memos and meetings, or planning a corporate event. However one goes about it, celebrating employees will make them feel more valued and, as a result, more inclined to stay and grow with one’s company.
3) Cultivate Outstanding Company Culture
Today, many employees cite company culture as a significant factor in their career choices. Given the increased importance of company culture, organizational leaders looking to improve employee retention rates must make a concerted effort to craft amazing company culture that both attracts talent and keeps employees engaged.
In essence, company culture is the culmination of a company’s values and practices. However, company culture also includes how it feels to work at an organization and the feelings one gets from interacting with others while working. While many organizational leaders may not put much thought or effort into cultivating their company’s culture, it’s become an important aspect of crafting an experience that keeps employees loyal to their company.
If one is having difficulty determining where to start improving company culture, it can help to appoint an individual or team to be in charge of this task. Whether it’s someone who is already an employee or a consultant who specializes in cultivating great company culture, having someone dedicated to the task is vital for effective results. However one chooses to go about making it happen, cultivating an outstanding company culture is a great way to increase employee retention rates.
4) Offer Flexible Work Options
In the past, remote work options were a rare offering that few employees had the opportunity to experience. These days, however, this is no longer the case. Remote work has become a normalized part of many companies and employees are now more inclined to pursue jobs that offer flexible work options in one way or another.
Increasing employee retention will be a rather difficult task if one’s company doesn’t offer any flexible work options. Accordingly, introducing flexible work options is an important way to increase employee retention and make one’s company more attractive to potential candidates.
While remote work may not be conducive for some industries, there are other options that companies may offer. These options can include four-day work weeks or other flexible options. However one chooses to do so, it’s important to have some flexible work options least one loses an increasing number of employees to other companies who do.
5) Offer Reasonable Wages
Though this may seem obvious, many companies are losing valuable employees due to the fact that they are offering low wages. Today, the market is more inundated with employers than ever, and offering low wages is no longer an option. Given this fact, it’s important to consistently review the salaries that one’s company is offering and ensure that they meet industry standards.
Even if one’s company has the most amazing company culture and consistently celebrates its employees, that won’t be enough to retain employees if they’re receiving a low wage. While increasing salaries may seem like a costly undertaking, the truth is that the hiring and training process are even more costly. Accordingly, keeping employees happy with reasonable wages is, in actuality, a small price to pay for high rates of employee retention.
For those unsure of how their wages compare to competitors, it can help to do some research. If one finds that the salaries that one’s company is offering employees are significantly lower than other companies in the same field, then it’s probably time to address this problem.
The better one’s employees are paid, the easier it will be to retain talent and avoid the hiring process and all of the costs associated with it.
Improving Employee Retention Is Within Reach
No matter what industry one’s company is in, improving employee retention rates is well within reach. By providing upskilling opportunities, celebrating employees, cultivating outstanding company culture, offering flexible work options, and offering reasonable wages, any company can effectively boost employee retention rates and instill workers with a sense of loyalty.
Though the task may seem daunting when first beginning, following these critical steps makes retaining employees an easy task that is attainable for any organizational leader.
