Written by Emma Weeks, HR Advisor at Melbourne HR
Employee retention is the process centralised around retaining talent within your organisation. This process is something that some small businesses struggle with and is critical for an organisations success as it keeps high performers within your company and waives the expenditure of searching for new employees. Talent shortages and hiring difficulties have increased, making the need to retain talent a top priority for every business.
Contrary to popular belief, your staff retention strategy does not need to cost you a small fortune. In order for your company to standout and remain competitive, your offerings need to be evolving and relevant.
Keep reading to find out more on the five areas where thoughtful action can help increase employee’s job satisfaction and improve your ability to hold onto valued workers:
Evaluate your management team
Promote work life balance
Respect your employee’s time
Employee development and training
Flexible working arrangements
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Evaluate your management team
Your managers are vital to your retention strategy. Therefore, it is important to evaluate your management team. Managers are not only required to run the day-to-day operations but reaffirm the vision and purpose of your organisation. Your managers are there to keep your workforce motivated and inspired. Furthermore, it is critical that your managers have the ability to manage performance, whether good or bad. When a manager ignores an under-performing team member this can impact the wider team negatively and increase the risk of top performers leaving.
2. Promote Work Life Balance
Maintaining the physical and mental health of your employees should be a top priority for employers. Overworking employees is not conducive to employee retention or productivity. Your initiatives do not have to be on a grand scale. Simple actions done continuously can have a greater impact on an employee’s overall health. You can encourage employees with high annual leave balances to take time off to rest and reset. Check in with employees to see how they are managing their workload or encourage staff to go for a walk on their lunch break. Let your managers talk about the necessity for work life balance and try to lead by example!
3. Respect your employee’s time
Respect remains a cornerstone for a thriving workplace culture. Your employees are busy, and it is important that you recognise that their time is as precious as yours. A common mistake by managers is to schedule multiple or lengthy meetings or invite employees who are vaguely related to the discussion topic. This can really hit a nerve with employees, it can disrupt their workflow and increase their hours at work. Consider reducing excessive invites and creating a meeting agenda. You will quickly find out that not all meetings need to be one hour long! Trust me, employees will thank you for it.
4. Employee Development and Training
Career development initiatives not only make employees feel valued, but they also have the ability to increases overall job satisfaction. Top performers expect investment in skills, knowledge and experiences that will maintain their high performing output. However, you do not have to invest significant dollars into training courses for training and development to occur. Mentoring programs and exposure to different projects and/or work experiences are other methods to upskill in the workforce.
5. Flexible Working Arrangements
The very nature of work has dramatically shifted in the past couple of years. Even with offices reopening more employees expect working from home and flexible working arrangements. If you are truly serious about remaining competitive within the market, one of your best bets is to allow for flexibility in working arrangements. Flexible working arrangements come in many forms including 4-day work weeks, remote work and flexitime. Employers should consider what works for their business and make the offer to employees sooner rather than later!
Employee turnover is a challenging issue for any business. Retaining top employees gives you a competitive edge and can save your business a small fortune. Your retention strategy does not have to be complex and costly to be effective. Thoughtful and committed action can go along way when it comes to retaining your top talent.
Regardless of how big your budget is for your employee retention strategy, providing thoughtful action that shows your staff that you value them and their work, is a big part ensuring that you retain high performing employees. Employee satisfaction plays a big part in whether they choose to stay under your leadership. Not only is it a win for them to be satisfied with their job, but it is also a win for your business.
Implement Employee Retention Strategy -> Satisfied Employee -> Increased Productivity
A satisfied employee is one that is proactive, productive and committed to ensuring that the goals of the organisation are achieved.
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Emma Weeks is a HR Advisor at Melbourne HR.
Edited by Toby Pronstroller, Digital Marketing Coordinator at Melbourne HR.