You’re proud of your brand. You’re proud of your team. And you’re acutely aware of the impact that the latter has on the former. Your team make your company what it is, and you want to hang on to them for as long as you possibly can.

But employee churn is inevitable, right?

Well, not necessarily. 

People leave their jobs for all kinds of reasons. Some of which cannot be mitigated against (like retirement, disability, or moving to a new location), others can. In fact, you may be surprised by the impact that management can have on employee retention. High employee turnover rates can be costly, and undermine your brand. If you’re ready to stop the churn, we have some tips on how to keep your team motivated, engaged, happy, and productive. So you can benefit from their talents for years to come.

Your employee wants to quit if they can’t work from home. Now what?

When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, businesses had to find new ways to operate. Chief among these for many was remote working. Yet, while remote working began as a necessity for businesses, it has since become a preference for many employees. 

The idea of returning to the office may not be conducive to the kind of work/life balance that employees yearn to achieve. Indeed, 78% of the workforce would prefer to continue working remotely. What’s more, a growing number are prepared to quit their job rather than quit working from home. 

This has caused employers to wonder whether it’s worth risking the loss of top-tier talent to return to the office. The benefits of a remote workforce could outweigh the benefits of returning your team to the office. 

Alternatively, a hybrid approach may be an ideal compromise. This enables companies to downsize their office space and reduce their overheads, while giving employees that want to work from home more of the freedom they desire. 

How do you improve employee retention and motivation?

Employees are more likely to stay with you when they feel motivated, capable and confident at work. So, how can companies improve employee motivation and thereby boost retention? 

It all starts with the onboarding process.

Skip over this critical step and your relationship with new hires will be built on an unstable foundation. Your onboarding program should help employees to feel confident and secure in their new position when they first sit at their desks. And remember, you don’t need to wait until day one to get the ball rolling. With access to the right digital resources, employees can start onboarding at day zero, enabling them to hit the ground running on day one. 

A strong onboarding process can give you a stable foundation for motivated and engaged employees. Other strategies to boost retention may include:

• Providing mentorship programs for new hires to help ease them into their new positions
• Providing constant access to training and professional development
• Regularly reviewing compensation to ensure that team members are properly remunerated for their efforts
• Keeping a reciprocal feedback loop throughout the employee’s relationship with your company
• Providing non-monetary perks like flexitime 
• Providing access to wellness offerings like gym membership or stress management programs
• Implementing an employee recognition and rewards scheme that helps team members feel valued

How do I measure employee retention?

Many companies don’t think that they have an issue with employee retention. Until it’s too late. It’s advisable to keep a close eye on employee retention levels so that you can be proactive in addressing dips.

A gradual decline in employee retention could point to systemic issues that need to be addressed if you’re to prevent employee churn from undermining your brand. Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to calculate and track your employee retention. 

• Decide on the time period in which you want to measure retention
• Next, divide the number of employees that stayed with your company throughout this time period by the number of employees your business started out with
• Next, multiply this number by 100
• This figure will give you your employee retention rate 

What is employee engagement, and why is it important?

All companies want their employees to enjoy workplace satisfaction and take pride in their work. Employee engagement is one of the most important metrics when it comes to gauging workplace satisfaction. 

When employees are actively engaged, it means that they enjoy working for you, associate your brand with a sense of belonging, and find value and satisfaction in the work they do. As such, they are more likely to relate positively to your organization and its values, bringing their A-game to work every day rather than coasting. Engaged employees are almost 40% more likely to be above average in productivity according to The Workplace Research Foundation.

Employee engagement is, understandably, a top priority for companies of all shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, a 2017 Gallup poll demonstrated that 85% of employees are either not engaged or actively disengaged in the workplace. This comes at a global cost of around $7 trillion in productivity loss. 

Implementing the measures mentioned above can help you to improve employee engagement and turn your team into brand advocates. 

How does employee engagement impact employee retention?

Employee engagement is a measure of an employee’s emotional commitment to both their work and their employer. Ergo, employees who are actively engaged are less likely to leave their jobs. On the other hand, if employees are not getting the fulfillment, development and support that they need to be engaged at your workplace, they’re more likely to leave to find it somewhere else. And their skills, experiences and talents could be put to work enriching your competitors. 

Of course, employees who are actively engaged may still leave. They might move to a new area, decide to retrain, or simply retire. But by actively seeking to boost employee engagement, you can reduce voluntary turnover and improve retention. 

Why is feedback important for employee retention rate?

No matter how assured and autonomous your employees may be, they don’t want to work in a vacuum. They want to know what they’re doing well, where they could improve, and what they can do to take their skills to the next level. 

Which is why feedback is so important in maintaining good employee retention. 

Regular feedback helps employees to understand their goals, chart a course for professional and career development, and address any issues or questions that may keep them from being the best they can be at work. While annual and quarterly performance reviews are essential, they should also be supplemented with regular check-ins to ensure that the employee is having the best possible experience in their role. 

Moreover, this feedback should not simply be one-way. It should be part of a reciprocal feedback loop. Employees should be actively encouraged to provide their feedback on what you’re doing. This may include suggestions for operational changes, ways in which you could make their job easier or more comfortable, or anything else that they want to say about their job and you. 

When employees feel supported and that their voice is heard, they’re much more likely to stay with you for as long as they can. 

Could you do more to stop the churn?

Now that we’ve looked at why voluntary turnover happens and what businesses can do to improve retention, it’s time to be honest with yourself. Could you do more to stop the churn and boost retention? Are your operations and management attuned to what your employees want, need and expect from you? If you don’t take stock of what you’re doing to keep your employees on board, you may find that they jump ship and swim into the open arms of your competitors!