It’s important as someone responsible for business continuity & growth to Curb Employee Turnover – saving on cost & knowledge loss. New employees typically decide within the first six months if they will stay with their new employer, and most will leave within three years. We are seeing a complete revolution in terms of employees’ willingness to job-hop – it’s now considered the norm! This of course leaves employers in a tight spot, searching for the right candidates over and over, and trying to do so without affecting the regular workflow.
In a tight labor market, employee turnover and employee retention are primary business imperatives for most businesses. High turnover rates increase business expenses and inefficiencies, disrupt workflow and harm employee morale. The ideal way to curb employee turnover is to proactively promote employee retention, while also adhering to the HR compliance function and guidelines. What’s an employer to do?
Top Methods for Promoting Employee Retention
Employers need to approach the issue of employee retention as an important business function worthy of a proper process and procedures. Drafting such polices must involve active participation by management and human resources alike.
Best practices and application of evidenced-based strategies can really make a difference. Are you using the following practices to increase employee retention?
- Hire people who demonstrate they’ll stay loyal to the company
- Develop an effective onboarding program assessment tool
- Draft employee-centered policies
- Always listen to what employees have to say
- Create a workplace community to promote culture and socialization
- Keep all workplace communication transparent
- Set clear and reasonable expectations and benchmarks
- Provide coaching and mentoring to underperformers without discouraging them
- Promote a leadership self-assessment process
- Introduce perks and benefits for keeping employees motivated
- Prepare an amicable set of question for conducting stay interviews
Practicing on-job analysis such as why turnover matters, realistic job previews to boost retention rate, 4 Cs of best practice onboarding, and fundamental components of leadership can also boost employee retention rates.
Take Charge of Turnover
Here is what SHRM says about reducing attrition through robust retention strategies. And how can we forget the importance of a good compensation plan to attract & more importantly retain our star performers.
(This post first appeared in a ProfEd blog)
By Anupam P
