Employee Retention is More Important Than Ever
Why would you need to worry about turnover in times like these?
As I mentioned in a recent post, the war for talent is coming. Despite the fact that the U.S. unemployment rate remains high, America’s businesses are already becoming concerned about retaining their best employees. Top talent, no matter what the discipline or industry, is difficult to find and keep even in the current economic climate.
To compete during the recovery, your company must reexamine the ways you keep your best and brightest working for you. Use these suggestions to update your employee retention efforts:
- Offer flexible scheduling options. More and more, workers (especially millennial employees) want to control their own schedules. Consider offering options like flex time, job sharing and/or telecommuting to address this growing employee desire.
- Revisit your benefits package. Money matters, but a strong benefits package can also help you retain key employees. Do you know what benefits are most important to your staff? Survey them to find out how your current benefits offerings meet their needs. If you see a significant mismatch, now is the time to update and better align your benefits package.
- Revamp your employee succession plan. In addition to ensuring continuity, a strong employee succession plan can also be a great retention strategy. If you communicate a clear career path for your most valued employees, it sends a strong message that you’re committed to their professional development and long-term success.
- Pay attention to internal pay equity. Employees are particularly concerned with pay compression – the difference in pay between new and longer term employees. Make sure that your pay plans equitably compensate employees based on experience level, merit and tenure.
- Provide opportunities for employees to share their knowledge. Employees like to share what they know. Create more opportunities to let them shine! Training sessions, mentoring programs and presentations provide opportunities for employees to teach others, while increasing employee engagement and promoting cross-training.
- Have more fun at work. This is self-explanatory and often free, yet so many employers fail to do it. Especially in high-stress jobs, the ability to laugh and let off a little steam can make things more bearable – and may even keep a good employee from heading out the door. Brainstorm fun and safe ways to make work more enjoyable.
- Invest in professional development programs. Professional development opportunities are an ideal way to show your commitment to employees. Make an individual professional development plan part of each employee’s annual performance evaluation. Identify specific skills for development and the activities (e.g., training courses, mentoring, workshops, etc.) that can help each employee grow as a professional.
- Ensure adequate staffing. Understandably, companies have been forced to do more with less in recent years; but when departments are chronically understaffed, employees can feel overwhelmed, overworked and burned out. Keep employees working for you by ensuring they have adequate support as your business rebounds. Use temporary employees to handle increased workloads and alleviate burnout without adding to your permanent headcount.
Increase Retention, Reduce Turnover with Best-Fit Snelling People
At Snelling Staffing Services, we do more than just match skills. We carefully screen candidates for the intangibles that create the right fit from the outset. Whether your personnel needs are temporary, project-based or permanent, every candidate we refer has that “little something extra” to ensure a successful employment relationship.
Do you have positions with notoriously turnover rates? Allow us to staff these positions for you. We can deliver a cost-effective solution to your “revolving door” of employees, and keep these demanding positions optimally staffed with high-performing individuals. Contact your local Snelling office for more details.
