Top employee retention strategies

In the long run, it's important to keep your employees. When people work from home, they have a wider range of employers to choose from than ever before, because this is now the norm.

HR leaders need to come up with a variety of ways to keep employees happy. When you open up feedback channels, build a culture of recognition, and do other things, you can improve your chances of keeping employees this year and in the years to come.

why employee retention is important

When a company loses a good employee, the cost can be very high. SHRM says it costs $20,000 to $30,000 to hire and train a new manager who makes $40,000 a year. This doesn't even take into account the time, knowledge, productivity, or cultural impact that will be lost because of this. Low retention rates also have an effect on motivation, productivity, and performance, as well. Before people leave their jobs, they might become less of a team player, do the least amount of work, and not be able to meet long-term goals.

HR isn't powerless, though. 77 percent of the reasons why people leave their jobs can be prevented. The most important thing is to figure out what might be making people leave their jobs and deal with them before it's too late.

Here are ways to fix problems with retention and keep problems from happening again in the future.

One.

Make your employees happy.

Disinterested employees are bad for your company. Doing bad things makes other people not want to do their best work, and they set a poor example. The bad news is that only 21% of employees say they're very excited about their jobs, and world over, disengaged employees cost billions in lost productivity each year.

Most people don't get excited when they don't have a say in what's done. A real say in how their work and the future of the company is done can make them stay for a long time, and that can make them stay for a long time, too. Turning feedback into action shows that leadership takes the concerns of employees seriously. People who work for companies that listen to and act on feedback say that they are more likely to stay if they do that. But only 22% of HR and engagement leaders say their organization is good at making sure people can give clear feedback.

Creating new ways for employees to give honest feedback is good for both them and your company. Employees can tell managers about problems before they become public, come up with new projects, and give their own perspective on company decisions. Organizations can take advantage of employee ideas and solve problems quickly and effectively because they can do this.

Employee engagement surveys are the first step to giving employees a voice. These surveys are sent with the help of a modern engagement platform. It's important to know how your employees really feel about their job, team, and manager so you can make sure they are happy. You don't have to accept long annual surveys that aren't actionable. Instead, use pulse surveys, short surveys that are sent out on a regular basis to measure employee engagement in real time.

HR chatbots are a great way to keep an open line for employees to give feedback even when there aren't any surveys. 24/7 chatbots let employees give feedback whenever they want, no matter where they are. This makes them feel like they are being heard all the time. These AI-powered tools are always learning, so they can keep up with your company's ever-changing employee engagement landscape and stay ahead of the game.

When you get feedback, it's just as important to look at it and act on it. The survey and chatbots are getting a lot of attention. If not, change up the questions or do something more visible and often. Is this true? If so, which results were the most surprising, and why, and how? The best employee engagement solutions help managers quickly find the most important problems and help them work with their teams to come up with solutions together.

The second thing to do is to get the recognition and rewards you deserve as soon as possible

Over 80% of American employees say they don't feel appreciated or recognized. People who feel appreciated do better work and stay at their jobs longer than people who don't. To build an environment where people are recognized all the time, you need to do more than just say "thank you" once in awhile. It needs to be given a lot of attention. Companies that show their employees how much they appreciate them multiple times a month are 41% more likely to keep their employees and 34% more likely to keep their employees happy, according to the Brandon Hall Group.

For consistent recognition to happen, your organization should put a lot of emphasis on both social and monetary rewards, and you should use a platform that lets everyone get in on it. These platforms support point-based reward systems that let employees build up points and use them to get things that are important to them. When your employees are in the office or working from home, they can send messages of appreciation to anyone at your company when and where it works best for them.

Find out why businesses do better when they show their employees a lot of appreciation.

Three

Hire the right people.

Those who are the best at their jobs want to be around people who make them feel good, not people who make them feel bad. People who are good at their jobs and fit in with your company's culture are more likely to stay with you for a long time. There are a lot of things employees expect to be able to sell, but they also want to be sold on your company. What interesting things about your culture can you put on your careers page? Do you offer great extras like monthly massages, on-site gyms, or generous parental leave policies? No, it didn't make the "Best Places to Work." Think about how to best set up your work environment for each candidate and job so that it is the best fit for them.

The process can also be made fun by gamifying it, which is a good way to make it more interesting. Gamification can be used for everything from hackathons to digital games to virtual reality scenarios that aren't real. To play these games, people who want to show that they want to work for your company should do so. People who win are likely to be dedicated to the job they want.

Ivy League schools aren't always where the best people go. Build relationships with professional groups, community college career offices, and other groups that are relevant to your job. This will help you get a more diverse applicant pool. By offering professional development opportunities, flexible schedules, and the ability to work from home, you can meet the needs of people from different generations. In addition, it's important to point out that there is a lot of recognition in the world. Almost half of millennials want to be rewarded or recognized at least once a month for their work.

Four

Make the onboarding process great.

Making employees feel like they are part of your company starts when they are hired and lasts through their first year at the company. At the start, it can be hard for a new employee to fit in and be productive. Making them feel comfortable and capable can help them stay around for a long time.

Help new employees move from outsider to insider by teaching them about their roles, giving them the authority and resources they need to complete their tasks and goals, and making sure they feel welcome. Make sure you don't give people too much information, though. With easy-to-read guidelines on your HR programs, policies, and benefits, spread it out over time. And ask your employees for their thoughts so you can keep improving your onboarding process.

Managers play a big role in making sure that new employees get off to a good start at their new jobs. Remind them that how well an employee is on-boarded can have an impact on how connected they are to the company for the rest of their jobs. Show them how they can meet their new employees and encourage them to set up one-on-one meetings with them each week as they get to know the company and the job.

Set up a mentor for new hires so that they have someone to ask for help when they need it. When there are a lot of new employees, host events that bring people together around common interests. This will make it more likely that they will stay at the company. You should also make sure that remote employees aren't left behind when it comes to getting started at your company.

Finally, don't forget to look for ways to integrate groups who might be coming back to work. People who are new parents, people who have been away for a long time, or contract workers who are going to work full-time might be in this group. There may be times when these employees aren't included in the onboarding process. However, their transitions can be the same as those of new hires.

Five

Make it easy for people to learn about their jobs in form of professional development

People who don't learn well can cost a business $13.5 million per year for every 1,000 employees they have. As you might expect, there is a direct link between low investment in employee development and high staff turnover. On the other hand, if you help your employees with their professional development and keep them learning, they will be happier and more likely to stay.

Making sure your employees are well-trained, setting up clear career paths, and setting up coaching programs makes them more creative, engaged, and effective at work. Consider offering to pay for continuing education and certification programs, as well as industry events and conferences, as part of your benefits package. If you want, you can also hold internal knowledge sharing sessions where employees teach each other new skills. Your employees should be able to choose how they want to grow, and remember that it's possible to help them grow in specific ways without breaking the bank!

Finally, ask managers to give employees who are interested in a new field of work a side project to work on. Doing so shows that their bosses care about their career path and trust them to use their skills in other parts of the business.

Six

It's important to build a culture where people want to work for your company.

Culture is very important to attracting and keeping the best people. Workers look at a company's culture before applying, and the AP says that nearly half of people would leave their jobs for a better-run one at a company with a better culture. Building a strong organizational culture can improve employee relationships, lead to better service for clients and bring in top-notch employees.

Creating a culture that stands out means rewarding people who act on your company's values every day. They should be important to each employee and communicated in a way that everyone can understand and take in. As you write about your products and services, link your company's goals to them and explain how your company's mission affects the way your employees work with partners and customers. And if you want to change your core values or make your company more aligned, ask your employees for help. After all, they live and work in your company every day, so they have all the information they need to come up with truly important values.

It is important to find out if your company has a good culture so that it can thrive in times of crisis and uncertainty.

Seven

Give out rewards for winning.

Incentives are a tangible way to show your employees how much you appreciate their hard work. Eighty-five percent of workers are more motivated to do their best when they are given a reward. There are so many ways to reward your employees. The first thing you should do is make sure that the pay your company gives its employees is enough. This is a big reason why people leave their jobs. So think about other ways to get money, like referral programs, tuition reimbursement, and profit-sharing. Bonuses and raises are always a good thing, too.

People who work for you can get a lot of other things to keep them healthy and happy. If you give your employees gym memberships or meditation apps as a reward, they will be able to relax and take care of themselves. A stipend for managers to put on fun events each month, letting employees choose what projects they work on, and giving them extra paid time off to rest and recharge are also great ways to motivate.

Eight

Train your managers

The relationship between managers and their subordinates can have a big impact on how happy their employees are at work. People who work for a bad manager are more likely to leave their jobs than people who work for good managers. According to Gallup, only 26% of employees say that the feedback they get from their bosses helps them do their job better.

The best managers act like coaches and try to get the best out of their subordinates, just like they would want them to. They're upbeat, assertive, recognize the value of their employees, and give actionable feedback. When bosses and their direct reports work together, they feel like they're on the same team. As a result, coaching can help people feel less stressed. Employees know where they are and where they need to go when they set goals, have a lot of freedom, and check their progress often.

The reason coaching works is because managers take the time to learn about each employee's background and play to their unique strengths. Gallup found that workers who know and use their strengths make 10 to 19 percent more sales and help their company make more money.

Managers who show their employees how much they mean to them all the time get a boost in employee confidence and engagement. Almost 50 percent of the people who work for managers say that being thanked by them helped them build trust with each other and improve their relationship.

Nine 

Prevent burnout by focusing on the health of your employees.

A lot of people in the U.S. are getting burned out at work, and it's happening at an alarming rate: 76 percent of employees say they've been burned out at work. Burnout symptoms like a lack of energy, bad feelings, and feelings of isolation are common and hard to get rid of. Burnout can even show up in the body, leaving employees with no choice but to leave your company.

Your organization can stop burnout before it gets too bad, which is a good thing. If you can, try giving your employees more flexible hours and making sure that their responsibilities and expectations are clear and correct. Managers should be taught how to look for signs of burnout and reach out to people who might be having trouble. Employees should be encouraged to use their vacation time and help them find hobbies that make them want to learn more. Fitness challenges, a webinar on the importance of sleep, or even a nutritionist talking about healthy eating habits are all good ways to get people talking about healthy habits.

Finally, ask your employees for their thoughts. They probably know what is causing people to get tired at work and how to deal with it.

At Ujuzingo we help accounting and finance job seekers put their best foot forward as they search for opportunities that meet their skills and career aspirations, while also assisting employers in finding more job-ready applicants. Check out our accounting and finance courses or current job openings.

Contributed by: Henry Mubiru Kweba. 

Views expressed by Jobopenings.co.ug contributors are their own.