Companies lose $1 trillion every year due to voluntary turnover, according to Gallup. This startling figure can be alleviated by improving corporate retention. But how can you retain your most valuable team members? This article has some tips.
Top Ways to Retain Top Talent
Even when unemployment is high, top talent is in high demand. If you don’t take the time to keep your best workers engaged and happy, your competitor would be happy to. Organizations can create an environment where the workforce sticks around, but there are a few things they should do immediately to improve retention:
- Start with culture. Culture is elusive but so important to the company environment that bonds workers to your mission. Build your culture, reinforce it regularly, and then find the right employees that fit it.
- Hire the right employees to fit both your culture but also the job skills. Look for workers with a track record of staying put and advancing to capitalize on their longevity for your company.
- Train and invest in your workers to build their loyalty. If you give back to these workers, you will create a positive work environment of committed people that know you value their efforts.
- Give continuous feedback. Employees are frustrated by a lack of job description or a clear vision for where they’re headed. Give them these things and then set up mechanisms for tracking and praising their successes while supporting their failures, which are a way for them to learn to improve. Make sure you’re praising the most competent employees and not neglecting them for the squeaky wheel underperforming workers.
- Pay employees what they are worth. It’s hard when the economy is down to consider increasing wages. However, if you want to retain your best workers, you must reward them for their good work. If your budgets are tight, are there other ways you can reward your best workers? Can you offer flex time or additional vacation options? Think outside the box if you have to, but do something to bump up what you’re offering to top employees to keep them on the job.
- Lighten up and be more flexible. If your employee is putting in extra time on the nights and weekends, allow them to come in later the next day. Figure out ways to support your best workers if they have a family issue that comes up. Always support their work-life balance to create a better work environment that will help you retain your teams longer-term.
- Offer fun or unique perks that employees can’t find in other jobs. What about the occasional catered lunch? Can you reward workers with free tickets to a local sporting event? What about negotiating employee discounts on goods and services? What about friendly competitions (with prizes!) between departments to build camaraderie? Having dress down Fridays for your office teams is even an easy way to engage your teams and reward them for their good work.
If you’re an employer struggling to keep your talent long-term, perhaps you’ve hired the wrong people. Why not let the PrideStaff expert hiring team find you a better caliber of candidates more suited for your workplace environment? We are experienced and thorough and can help you meet your hiring goals. Contact us today!
