19 Ways to Retain Great Employees
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Retention is, and should remain, on the lips of every company in the universe that wants to be successful.
Historically, companies are generally pretty bad at attracting and retaining high quality employees. A 2018 survey by SHRM found that retention/turnover was the top workforce management challenge cited by 47% of HR professionals.
I don’t want to gloss over that. That’s HALF of HR pros citing it as challenge #1. Whatever companies are doing out there, they’re clearly sucking at it. Turnover is expensive and damaging, which means that dynamic has to change.
Granted, that percentage may not be as high so far in 2020 due to Covid, but that survey was conducted under ‘normal’ circumstances. Now more than ever the way people are being treated and feel about their jobs is having (and will continue to have) a huge impact on their performance and willingness to stay at their companies long term.
“Great people make great organizations.”
Great people make great organizations. If you’ve got great people then you’ve got to keep them in order for your business to remain healthy and successful, hands down.
First, I’ve got a simple mindset shift for companies to adopt around retaining employees.
Second, I’ll share a list of 19 different ways companies can increase retention and keep great employees happy.
Employee retention is just like customer retention.
When it comes to customers, and customer retention, the way to win is to get obsessed with their experience.
Employee retention is no different, and yes it’s that simple.
“If you give customers what they want when they want it, they will come and they will stay.”
When you look at customer experience, you consider every aspect and element of what it feels like to interact with your company, front to back. From the second someone gets to your website, or calls, or walks in the door, you have to deeply understand and become obsessed with making every customer’s experience awesome at every moment.
If you give customers what they want when they want it, they will come and they will stay.
You have to approach employee experience the exact same way; get obsessed with their experience in absolutely every way.
This means being intentional around interviewing, hiring, on-boarding, training and development, feedback and coaching, career mapping and advancement, prioritizing great company culture, investing in great, skilled leaders and leadership teams, asking for feedback from employees, and proving at every possible moment that you care about them as human beings.
“If you prioritize and elevate employee experience, if you get obsessed and focus on it, then you will win when it comes to retention.”
If you prioritize and elevate employee experience, if you get obsessed and focus on it, then you will win when it comes to retention.
If you give employees what they want when they want it, they will come and they will stay. See the pattern? Simple.
Here’s a list of 19 ways that companies can increase employee retention:
Give a f*ck. Care and prove it
Appreciate them regularly
Become obsessed with employee experience
Prioritize and focus on exceptional culture
Don't make people work with assholes (very important, you know who they are, get rid of them)
Provide training opportunities for skills and advancement
Be transparent about the business and changes
Set a high bar and hold people accountable to it. Everyone, leaders and execs too
Conduct stay interviews, ask people what it feels like to be there and how it can be better
Be a socially conscious company
Provide flexible work options
Focus on employee health, mental & physical
Get creative, do more than required and what other companies aren’t doing to prioritize employee experience
Be consistent
Be vulnerable, gather feedback and listen, ask people how can we be better as leaders, as a company, etc.
Say yes to time off, “Can I have this time off?” “Yes, of course.” People need time off, give it to them
Invest in great leaders, promote people with high EQ, great leadership is a MUST
No us versus them, no leadership versus employees, etc. One team, equally important, all together
And finally, here’s a truth to hold close:
If you treat employees like they are just an expense,
they will show up like it’s just a paycheck.
You have to do more; be better for your employees and they will not only stay for you, they’ll kick ass for you.
Want more?
This article was created by Galen Emanuele for the #culturedrop. Free leadership and team culture content in less than 5 minutes a week. Check out the rest of this month's content and subscribe to the Culture Drop at https://bit.ly/culturedrop
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