How to Stop the Revolving Door and Improve Employee Retention
Do you feel like the employees at your company do not tend to stick around for an extended period of time? Does the prospect of finding a new hire for the same position you filled six months ago fill you with a sense of overwhelming dread? Do the thoughts of all the effort and paperwork required to hire someone new feel pointless because the individual will simply leave in a year? If any of these thoughts have crossed your mind in the past, it is time to take a good introspective look at your company to determine the causes of these less than ideal turnover situations.
Improving employee retention may seem like an unlikely goal to achieve, but with some shifts within the organization and time, positive change is possible. High employee turnover can make it feel as though you are stuck in a revolving door. Professionals enter the company, stay for a short time, then continue on their merry way, leaving you right back in the same spot you started: looking for new talent to fill the open position. This can be frustrating and disheartening when you believe you are hiring the ideal candidate, yet they never seem to stay and find success within the company.
While there are many factors that influence employee retention, here are just a few key concepts to focus on when you first start on this journey. This list of five suggestions is just the tip of the iceberg, but keep in mind that any changes, no matter how small they may seem, will have positive impacts moving forward.
Hire for Cultural Fit
Finding the right person that meshes well with your company culture is just as important as determining the best candidate for an open position. Creating the “right” culture means something different for every company, but keep in mind that it should be built on a foundation of respect, support, and dedication to the business objectives. Hiring professionals that feel comfortable with the company culture will be more likely to stay. For example, giving employees the freedom to be creative and not fear the potential failures that come with exploring new ideas helps them spread their wings and take pride in the work they do. Priority Bridge is here to help you more clearly determine what qualities your candidates favor in relation to those that the hiring team prioritizes. The Priority Bridge assessment report takes the guesswork out of determining if a candidate will mesh well with the company culture.
Show Genuine Appreciation
No one likes to feel they are underappreciated or forgotten. This applies to the workplace just as much as one’s personal life. Noticing the hard work employees put into their jobs makes them feel like a valued member of the team. It is crucial to only make genuine compliments though because it is painfully obvious if they are superficial or insincere. Positive reinforcement is always more beneficial than negativity. Prioritizing praise over criticism will start to build a more positive and supportive work environment. This is not to say that constructive criticism is not valuable, because it is. Employees simply need to be empowered through appreciation by management.
Provide Education & Clear Advancement Opportunities
Humans have a natural curiosity and desire to learn. Providing training and other educational opportunities has several benefits. This satisfies that natural curiosity while helping your employees to become more knowledgeable and gain skills that will have mutual benefits for the company and the individual. These educational opportunities help a company show that it truly cares and wants to invest in its employees to help them excel. Few people are content with a so-called “dead-end job”. Professionals are always thinking about how they can propel their careers to the next level. Companies should support employees in their career goals by providing a clear path to advance in the company. Having clear outlined paths to success will be much more motivating than vague promises of potential future promotions.
Strike a Balance
Life is all about finding the right balance between a plethora of interests and obligations. The most important of these a professional must find is a true work-life balance. Companies should respect the wellbeing of their employees by providing adequate time off, flexible hours, and promoting the idea that ‘work stays at work’. Another balance that needs to be found is between the routine and a challenge. The monotony of doing the same tasks day in and day out quickly becomes boring. Alternatively, a volatile work environment where tasks feel as insurmountable as reinventing the wheel on an hourly basis is far too unpredictable. Companies can outline baseline tasks and objectives for employees while also providing some opportunities to work on additional projects, thus gaining experience and uniquely benefiting the company. The thrill of risk to reward can be very motivating for employees.
Allow Employee Voices to be Heard
No one likes to feel like their opinion is invalid. In this way, it is important to provide an outlet for employees to voice their concerns and suggestions in a safe way. Anonymity is key as it both protects the individual, but it also allows the company to see the uncensored suggestions and concerns employees have. This empowers employees and helps them feel like they can help make their company a better place for everyone. Another suggestion is interviewing, or anonymously surveying, current employees. This provides management with helpful data on how happy employees are with their current positions, the likelihood they will look for a new job soon, and the reasons behind their responses. These surveys help to stay in tune with the pulse of the company - the happiness of employees - and how to keep it going strong.
Priority Bridge LLC. Is dedicated to helping organizations of all types achieve greater success by using a proprietary analytical process that increases the cultural fit of employees to an organization. Eliminate Bad Hires. For Good. Hire right the first time, every time with the right cultural fit using Priority Bridge.