Retaining employees seems to be a never-ending topic of discussion. In a survey of 614 HR leaders, 87% said improving retention is a high or critical priority. Not surprising considering over 3 million Americans quit their job every month.
There is plenty of work to be done when it comes to improving retention rates among these employees, and it all starts with culture.
Here are four ways to improve retention rates that won’t cost a fortune.
Focus on Training and Development
According to a Gallup poll, 93% of Millennials left their job to seek a new role. It seems today’s job seekers feel they need to move on in order to move up. We face similar obstacles at PerkSpot given the small size of our company. One way of combating that was to provide sabbatical opportunities for employees with a small stipend where they can pursue additional training and development opportunities. Employees not only come back refreshed and recharged, but they also have a renewed sense of passion for the work at hand and a few new skills added to their toolbelt. This has been a win-win all around for employee retention and development.
Compensate Fairly
We’ve made another exciting change at PerkSpot this year to improve employee satisfaction and retention. After hearing various feedback from employees, our executive team got together to put a more thorough compensation plan, including individual goals for each employee. Quite possibly nothing is more important than consistently evaluating what and how you’re paying your employees, and including them in the process.
Another Gallup survey revealed “while just 30% of employees strongly agree that their manager involves them in setting their goals at work, those who do… are 3.6 times more likely than other employees to be engaged.” While compensation may seem like a costly part of a retention strategy, bumping up a salary by a small percentage costs way less than hiring a new employee, where the dollar amount for replacing an employee might shock you.
Evaluate Often
While a great compensation plan will set employees up for success, it’s also important to hold consistent performance reviews. Sadly, only a mere 14% of employees feel inspired by their reviews. Remember to ask employees great questions and listen to their pain points. By finding ways to inspire them in their jobs, they’ll leave happier and be more productive in the long haul. Evaluating their compensation should be an obvious part of this conversation, as stated above.
Recognize and Reward
We’d be remiss not to mention rewards and recognition as part of a successful retention plan. Clive Schlee, CEO of restaurants Pret a Manger, discusses with Harvard Business Review the importance of recognition in this short video: “Each employee makes about 5-10,000 decisions a day… how to squeeze a lemon, how to lay the chicken on the sandwich,… these are all decisions that can be done well or can be done badly and how they feel about the company is absolutely critical.”
Meanwhile, only one in three employees say they have received recognition in the past seven days. A critical misstep for companies hoping to retain their high performers. The same report states that 28% of employees feel that the most meaningful recognition comes from their manager, which is why the PerkSpot Rewards and Recognition platform is setup to do just that. Managers recognize their employees in real time, right when they perform an action that aligns with company values.
There are many things you can do to start reducing your turnover and improve your employee retention. Where will you start?
