Hiring quality candidates is becoming increasingly challenging as the job market becomes more competitive. That’s why it’s more important than ever to retain your best employees. At Peoplr we know how important it is to keep your people happy, productive, and engaged, it’s what we do! Here are three important factors that impact your ability to retain your best employees. Keep these in mind if you are struggling to hold on to your top talent or want to stay ahead of the curve in the current job market.
1. A Competitive Salary
This one might seem like a no-brainer, but studies have shown that over half of workers said a salary boost is the main reason they are seeking a new job. When it’s time to decide on a top-performing employee’s raise, treat it like you are bidding against your top competitors (because you probably are) and ensure you are making their new salary competitive. During the great resignation, employees left jobs in waves and negotiated higher salaries in the process. But salary alone won’t sustain an employee by itself, it’s still important to foster a positive, engaging, and open work culture as well, which brings us to item number 2…
2. Foster an Engaging Culture
The word “culture” gets thrown around corporate America ad nauseam these days, but it’s for good reason – it can be the difference between success and failure as a company. Creating a culture employees want to be a part of starts from the top down and requires buy-in at every level to be successful. Younger generations like Gen Z and Millennials want to work for companies with heart that have a message and mission that resonates with them. The best way to know what changes your team will consider meaningful is to ask them. Create opportunities for people to share what they care about, conduct regular engagement and employee satisfaction surveys, and make your changes and activities count. And remember, engagement doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend money or give things away for free. It means you’re making a conscious effort to talk to your people, get to know them, and keep them feeling connected and proud to work for your company. This open and approachable element is a great segue into our 3rd tip for keeping your best employees around…
3. Communicate Openly With EVERYONE
When employees feel like they can be open and honest with everybody in an organization, they will be more likely to come to you with problems early on and take more of a solutions-oriented approach to solving those problems. Similarly, when a lot of small things build up, it’s harder to bounce back so having open communication and an environment where people feel comfortable sharing their successes and their frustrations helps keep your best people balanced. Demonstrating openness and a willingness to share both positive and negative should come from the top too—this means your leadership team needs to demonstrate these traits as well. When it’s appropriate, share the logic behind decisions and changes, of course, sometimes there are things that you can’t share with everyone, so when those topics arise, acknowledge that you’re not able to share everything. Be as diplomatic and genuine as possible; most employees will respect that, and your discretion and professionalism can bolster your integrity as a leader if handled well.
As a group, these three elements will help you stay ahead of the competition when your top-performing employees start to get targeted with other job offers. There are many other factors in employee retention, so if you’d like to learn more about this topic feel free to reach out to us for a specific retention strategy tailored to your business.
Don’t forget, you can also chat with us via the online chat tool in the lower left corner of your screen. We love helping companies align their people with their business needs, and we love to share what we know.
