Great Employee Retention Strategies

The first step to building a workforce and a strong organization is hiring the right resources. The second and (most people will agree) tricky step is to retain them. Employees who leave the company do so for many reasons, but the most basic ones are due to mismanagement. It is the duty of every organization to cater to the needs of their employees and try to implement different and effective strategies to retain them. If these methods are not applied, it can have a negative impact on the company. The employer needs to ensure that the employee is satisfied and content with the different tasks allotted to him and that he is compensated properly and achieving adequate learning experience. If employers manage to rectify common issues that the employees face, they can easily manage to keep good and valuable resources for the organization.

Therefore, different strategies should be implemented to retain valuable employees.

Amend the HR policy

The first step to employee retention is redefining the HR policies of the company. The organization should encourage an open-door policy where employees can come forth to line managers or HR managers and discuss their issues and concerns with them without any fear of repercussions. This will give way to trust and open communication within the organization. It will make employees feel comfortable discussing difficult and sensitive issues or situations. Organizations that have open-door policies are said to have more access to informal discussions which lead to new and important insights of happenings within the business.

Mentoring employees

Employees must be able to have a level of comfort with an internal mentor who they can share their current experience with as well as the hardships that are making it difficult to work in the organization. This will give the organization a chance to bring about a more employee centric change in the organization, which will be the driving force in achieving new milestones towards the company’s goals. The mentee will be more comfortable with the norms and regulations of the organization. If they are facing any issues with their department, current role or benefits, they can be vocal about it by discussing it with their mentors. Mentoring can help improve employee satisfaction level and retention. We, as mentors, can mold them into leaders. The mentor can play an important role by sharing their experience with the mentees as this will help them to learn from their own as well as others’ mistakes. Every employee working in an organization needs to have an ambition in life and it will be the mentor’s role to guide them to reach that goal.

Compensation and benefits

The employees must be given a transparent growth and compensation structure which will not only motivates them to work but will also help in generating greater revenue for the organization. Moreover there should be one minimum festival allowance that gives a more personalized approach from organization to employee. Organizations need to attract valuable resources by comparison with other competitive organizations. This will ensure that hardworking employees are rewarded fairly. Rewarding employees will not only retain them but will also sustain their performances. One of the main reasons why employees join an organization is they are compensated well, have good perks, and like the salary package. Compensation plays a vital role in retaining talented and valuable staff.

Rotation Policy

There should be a rotation policy that should encourage employees to explore different departments in the organization and utilize their multiple skills to the best effect. This policy must be transparent with a successor planning that ensures employees are moving upward without impacting business processes. Rotation helps employees to select the department of their choice. It provides opportunities for employees to develop and enhance their skills and to provide a mechanism for the management to utilize and manage available resources efficiently. This will help to increase their knowledge and bring in innovative and creative ideas for the organization.

Maintaining Work-Life Balance

For the 21^st-century millennial worker, work-life balance is an important factor in employee retention. People want to work at a place that offers them flexible hours and understands the importance of maintaining a work-life balance. Long hours, overtime, and extensive duration of work causes excessive burnout, depression, and other mental disorders. If you don’t want an employee mass exodus, then you should consider implementing a change in schedules and work hour flexibility. Recent research proves that companies which offer a work-life balance culture have productive, loyal, and happy employees who outshine others working in the same field but in a restrictive schedule. This also means allowing the employee the option of working from home as necessary. If you think a job doesn’t require an employee to actually be present in an office other than a few times a week, it’s best if you allow them to work from home. They will stay you with longer, while also ensuring your work is done on time, every time.

Gender diversity

An employee shouldn’t be judged by their gender but according to their performance and hard work. This strategy aims to ensure that gender is not a barrier and there should be equality. A man and a woman have different strengths and skills to bring success to the organization. Every individual should be treated equally and should be rewarded per their performance. We need to balance the number of men and women in an organization. All employees should be given equal rights. Women should be given the same career opportunities and rewards as men. Where men are concerned, they should be given equal rights as well such as flexible working hours and paternal leave. The HR department needs to remove the barrier to avoid discrimination between genders and focus on equality so that we can retain good resources.

Spot reward

The best way to retain employees is to recognize and appreciate their hard work by rewarding them. Spot rewards enable managers to recognize the employee’s accomplishments that not only benefit them but the organization. Management needs to provide these rewards on an annual basis to motivate and encourage employees to perform at their utmost zeal which will benefit the organization.

Personal excellence

To achieve personal excellence is to develop the ability to complete a task successfully. This requires continuous training and product knowledge in various areas of work. To retain employees, we need to groom them into better and efficient leaders. So that if they are given a task, they need to perform they need to be accountable for producing positive results. We need to actively engage them in different tasks and projects so that they do not lose interest in work. The best way to increase the value of an employee is achieving goals and targets given to him by the employer.

Career growth

Career growth / development is the best way to retain employees. When employees recognize that their organization encourages career development, they will have a sense of security. By providing career development opportunities this ensures that valuable and efficient employee’s hard work are recognized. By encouraging career pathing, you’ll motivate these employees to invest in their career at your organization.

Educational sponsorship

The cost of higher education is significantly high. An Educational sponsorship from the organization will motivate the employees to complete their education, which will be beneficial to the company as well as the employee. Similarly, by financially supporting the education of the employee’s children, the employer encourages the employee to continue working in the organization.

Healthcare / medical benefits

Medical insurance provides a worry-free environment to employees by catering to their health and safety needs. Medical benefits or insurance form one of the main factors for employees to stay at a job. By choosing to cover the medical expenses of the employees and their spouses and children, they not only manage to retain that employee but also lift a huge weight off his shoulders. Medical benefits play an important role in the compensation package the employee is offered by the organization. By offering good health care services in the organization, this attracts good and resourceful employees. The cost for health services has increased immensely over the past years. Therefore, offering medical services in an organization will retain employees in a long span of time.

Retaining employees is critical and an important strategy for the long-term success of any organization. Failing to do so will prove costly for the company as they have not only lost a valuable resource but also training time and investment. Not to mention the cost, time, and investment to hire another person as replacement. The organization needs to review the exit interviews of the employees and take heed of the results. This will not only provide a significant amount of data about the company’s policies but will also help to retain a good resource for future.

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