Retaining top talent is key to your business’ success

Undoubtedly, many employers would wish for the Great Resignation to become the Great Retention. However, recent research shows that workers have made up their minds regarding the current hiring market. Thus, employers must be aware that top performers could always walk out of their company’s door and do what it takes to drive employee satisfaction.

Image source: https://unsplash.com/photos/-uHVRvDr7pg 

What makes employees leave a job?

Exit interviews are a great way to learn how employees see your company and figure out if you need to improve your retention strategies. The most common reasons why people leave their job include the following:

• Lack of recognition;
• Inadequate salary;
• Limited professional advancement;
• Feeling overworked;
• More appealing job opportunities;
• A need for work-life balance;
• Concerns about the direction of the enterprise;
• Unhappiness with the workplace culture.

How can you improve employee retention in your company?

As a business owner, you likely know how vital workers are for your company’s success. Thus, if you risk losing top talent, it’s critical to take action as soon as possible and adopt the best strategies that will help you retain employees. Here are our tips on how to do that.

Promote a healthy work-life balance

Companies often expect a lot from their employees. However, this only adds pressure on workers and takes away the time spent with family and doing leisure activities. More often than not, employees work long hours and can’t devote enough time to their personal life. Consequently, their productivity diminishes. 

On the contrary, when employees are well-rested and have time for themselves and their loved ones, they perform better. Hence, you should set a regular work schedule that promotes work-life balance. If you notice someone in your company is overworked, give them some time off so they can recharge and give their best once they return to work.

Provide growth opportunities

Because companies don’t provide continuous training and education, workers feel like there’s no way to grow professionally. Thus, they don’t feel fulfilled in their roles and have no reason to stay at the company. Ongoing education is essential for employees because it makes them feel valued and, at the same time, it keeps them motivated. If there’s a clear path for advancement, they will feel like their performance is tied to your business’ success. 

Consider implementing a training program or using outside resources like workshops and online courses to ensure your team members stay at your company for as long as possible. Such initiatives reflect that you care about employees’ future and want to invest in their professional growth.

Create a safe work environment

Workplace hazards prevent employees from focusing on their tasks. People spend one-third of their days in the workplace, and it’s crucial for them to feel safe and comfortable. Thus, make sure to provide that kind of work environment to them by adopting effective strategies. The most important thing you should do is to perform a risk assessment and look for potential workplace dangers. 

Also, consider updating your health and safety policies to prevent injuries. According to Accident Claims, workers are entitled to getting compensation if they suffer workplace injuries due to an employer’s negligence. Such a thing will inevitably affect the company’s bottom line and reputation. As an employer, it’s your responsibility to ensure such a scenario won’t become a reality by building a work environment that doesn’t put employees’ lives at risk. 

Acknowledge employees’ achievements 

There’s another efficient way to retain your employees, and that’s by recognising and rewarding their achievements. But there’s more! Studies suggest that acknowledging their performance also increases their productivity, motivating them to work harder. 

Monetary rewards and social recognition are effective when shining a light on employees’ achievements. Don’t only focus on the results, but on their efforts too. Even if projects are less successful than expected, you should still tell employees that you appreciate their hard work. By doing this, workers will be motivated to work harder in the future instead of feeling defeated.  Many managers do not recognize the importance of positive feedback and they take great results for granted. This is a pitfall, which may lead to employees’ dissatisfaction and resignation. You should remember to always acknowledge the effort as long as it’s positive. Not only it will make your staff more happy, but also when you will need to deliver some negative feedback, it will be taken into consideration much more, since it will be rare to happen” – says one of the Managers at HotSlots.io

Encourage teamwork

In a highly digital world, teamwork has become imperative for organisations because it helps them innovate faster, notice mistakes quickly and find the right solutions to the problems that arise. Encouraging collaboration also plays a role in employee retention. It leads to stronger bonds between co-workers, creating a better organisational culture where people become more supportive as they learn about each other’s strengths and weaknesses. This way, the team becomes more collaborative, making the workplace much more enjoyable. 

When the work environment is pleasant, employees are more productive, thus helping companies achieve their goals quickly. Organisations that don’t prioritise teamwork experience decreased productivity. Therefore, operating efficiently becomes increasingly difficult, and consequently, realising long-term objectives is impossible. If employees learn they can’t execute their responsibilities, they start feeling frustrated, and this ultimately has a negative impact, as they end up leaving the company. Promoting teamwork helps build a friendly environment, allowing employees to do their job efficiently, thus minimising employee turnover. 

Prevent employee burnout

According to a 2020 Gallup report, 76% of employees experience job burnout. Many assume overwork leads to burnout and that the solution is taking days off and decreasing work hours. However, the study showed that burnout isn’t a consequence of working long hours but rather has more to do with how employees experience the workload. Better job flexibility and being rewarded are two significant factors that influence employees’ well-being considerably. 

Employee burnout is generally caused by the following: 

• Overwhelming workload; 
• Unfair treatment; 
• Feeling pressured; 
• Lack of support from managers. 

To prevent it, you should focus on enhancing the culture in your company, building employee engagement, and communicating clearly. Moreover, you can retain top talent in your company by providing different perks, such as wellness offerings. 

Final thoughts 

Employee retention is paramount to the successful operation of any business. The strategies mentioned above are beneficial in shifting the focus toward employees, which is crucial, considering that they are the most important resource of a company. Unfortunately, some companies aren’t doing enough for their employees, which is why they seek better opportunities elsewhere. If you don’t want to lose top performers, it’s time to take action and ensure they feel valued.