Every organization is focused on hiring the best possible person for any given role. This is critical for productive businesses, as the wrong person in the wrong role can impact revenue, credibility, and client relationships. However, the attention given to recruiting new talent often overshadows a key business need: retaining existing talent. For businesses that struggle to retain good talent, this blog may offer some useful ideas to explore.
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How Employers Are Retaining Workers in 2022
Before diving into ways to boost employee retention, it may be useful to understand why retention is important. It is normal for employees to not always stay with the same employer long-term. However, when the number (and frequency) of outgoing employees is higher than the industry average, a business may have a problem with worker attrition or turnover. In other words, low retention figures often point to deeper problems. These can include workplace culture, employee morale, workplace safety issues, abuse, bullying, etc.
Why is this bad? For one thing, recruiting a new worker to replace an outgoing one necessitates valuable time and effort. In addition, outgoing workers can and do manifest a sudden knowledge gap. As a ripple effect, this causes a productivity bottleneck, with teams missing key bits of information or knowledge that the outgoing employee would normally provide. Low retention figures also create a poor perception in the employment market, damaging the employer brand and impairing further recruitment. These are situations most businesses can avoid, however, by testing out these approaches, below.
Strengthen Recruiting and Onboarding
Most employers need to recognize the relationship between hiring/onboarding and retention. The first few interactions, such as the application process, the interview, and the onboarding experience set the tone for the rest of the new hire’s term of employment. A poor hiring or onboarding experience is likely to result in a lower retention rate, especially if the new worker’s initial experience does not radically improve in short order. On the other hand, a streamlined hiring and onboarding method according to a centralized recruitment model, often encourages a more positive experience, thereby increasing the chances of retaining that worker.
Improve Candidate Screening Methods
Candidate screening theoretically allows recruiters to initially filter the best possible candidates from a large volume of applicants. Professional recruitment services, like mortgage recruiters, often have these processes refined to a science. Even so, most screening methods are far from perfect. Bad hires often slip through these screenings and subsequently go on to negatively impact the workplace.
A bad hire can result in workplace friction, poor performance, lost revenue, and terminations. In addition to being a workforce manager’s worst nightmare, a bad hire can also create a toxic work environment that ultimately impacts overall morale. Ultimately, it is not just the bad hire adding to employee turnover, but also great employees who lose their motivation as a result of the bad hire.
Create Growth and Learning Opportunities
Employees aren’t just looking for a bigger paycheck or better benefits anymore. The most motivated workers are on the lookout for growth and development opportunities. Fortunately, employees are often in a position to meet this need. They can use effective channels like a professional development program, financial support for higher education, and even mentorship initiatives. Presenting these opportunities is a great way to build loyalty among employees and ultimately retain them in the long run.
Keep Compensation Packages Competitive
With events like The Great Resignation fresh in the public psyche, it has become fairly apparent that employee priorities have necessarily changed. Not too long ago, many workers would credit brands, culture, and prestige as key motivators. However, the pandemic (and the disruption it triggered) forced employees to give compensation and benefits more consideration than ever before.
For employees offering below-average compensation and benefits packages, this is bad news for their retention outlook. Most workers will be quick to accept a role for a higher salary, better health coverage, and so forth. Pay scales that are below average make it easier for competitors with aggressive hiring practices to poach valuable employees.
Offer Flexible Working Models
Another byproduct of changing employee behavior is the rise of remote working. Flexible working hours and remote work is no longer simply a privilege, but an employee mandate. With concerns about health and safety, work-life balance, and mental/physical well-being, conventional workplaces are no longer as appealing as remote ones. Not offering an option to work remotely can push employees to seek employment at businesses that do.
Anticipate and Meet Employee Needs
Meeting needs and expectations is crucial for employers intending to retain employees. These needs and expectations can vary from business to business. Employers can seek input through employee feedback, in-house recruiters, or even from specialized recruiters they work with, like a local staffing agency.
But at the very least, firms must work to offer workplaces free of harassment, abuse, bullying, bias, discrimination, and the like. These are some basic precepts that employees not only need but have come to expect from an employer. Similarly, ensuring employee safety, delivering empathic leadership, and offering development opportunities demonstrate a business’s commitment to its employees, and by extension, they foster an environment conducive to employee retention.
