Retain Your Top Talent By Creating The Best Place to Work

Introduction

Every single company competes to recruit the best talent for their organization. Why? Because talented employees make a difference. Look at John Ivy, Sunder Pichai, and Satya Nadella - they were highly competent employees who rose to the top and took their organizations to the next level. But what if, despite giving handsome payouts, generous incentives, attractive compensation packages, and your top talent still leaves your organization at the end of the day?

Why? Is monetary remuneration alone not enough? Your top talent seeks more than what you can pay them (non-monetary terms). Your employee's loyalty is not sealed forever, even if they accept your job offer. Therefore, your job to retain them is always a constant work in progress. So, as an employer, find out why your top talent decided to leave your company before an exit interview. Take active actions now and prevent the exit.
Let's dive in!

Understanding Employee Retention

Employee retention refers to an organization's ability to retain its talent over a sustained period. Its effectiveness is typically conveyed through percentages. For example, an enterprise with a 100 percent annual employee retention rate successfully kept all of its employees during a financial year. Likewise, the company's annual employee turnover rate would be 0 percent. Getting to this 0-employee turnover rate is a humongous task.
Employee retention is not only a key HR strategy but something that impacts the business side. Employee retention is a crucial aspect of overlap for HR and business.

Why it Matters to Organizations?

Retaining a motivated and well-trained employee is essential for any organization's success. A high annual employee turnover rate crucially increases expenses while negatively impacting the workforce's morale. As they say, happy employees are the most engaged ones, and vice versa. If an organization can retain their longest-serving employees for even longer and convert the job-hoppers into streamlined, long-standing resources, it is a win-win for them.
Implementing an employee retention program effectively ensures the continued employment of significant workforce members, allowing companies to maintain productivity and performance levels sustainably. However, there are several other reasons companies should focus on upping their employee retention efforts. Let us explore them in detail -

Key benefits of employee retention include the following.

Increased Productivity

Open roles due to employee turnover significantly drain productivity and output. But even when those roles are filled, it takes time for employees to get up to speed on their work and reach peak productivity. According to the Harvard Business Review, it often takes about six months for an employee to acclimate to a new position after an internal transfer and a year or more after joining a company from the outside. Once companies have put time and training into employees, retaining them is essential to achieve a return on that investment.

Higher levels of employee engagement

Employee engagement refers to the emotional connection a person has with their workplace. When employees are engaged, they're happier, more motivated, and more productive. The longer a person stays at your company, the stronger the emotional connection is. This makes them highly engaged employees and influential team members who can uplift others.

Enrichment of company culture and morale

Organizations work culture is deemed positive if its employees decide to stay instead of leave. Achieving a high retention rate improves the workforce's morale while preserving the organization's core values, ethics, and vital processes. The projection of a positive organizational culture benefits employers and employees who experience improved customer relations and a better brand reputation.

Better brand reputation

When companies can keep employees around, this can reflect positively on how they operate. This can be good public relations for a brand. Employees who have good things to say about their company can boost a brand's reputation. This may come with additional benefits, such as increased profits, positive press, competitive hiring edge, and brand familiarity.

Stronger Customer Relationships

An organization's relationship with its customers is significant to its success. In multiple industries, one-to-one relationships are especially effective in driving business (for instance, the relationship between a software sales representative and a company's tech director). Customer trust takes time to develop, and many buyers are more comfortable having a trusted contact if they run into trouble with a product or service. Retaining employees, therefore, can be central to retaining customers.

Improved Trust and Collaboration

The more time employees work together, the more likely they are able to develop relationships built on understanding and trust of each other's strengths. When employees know they can count on one another, they will likely communicate and collaborate more effectively, driving the company forward.

Now let's look at Some of the Robust Strategies to Improve Retention

Prioritize flexibility

Flexible work arrangements top the list of fastest-growing employee priorities since COVID-19 began. A healthy work-life model across your company begins when leadership sets the example. Reduce the length of meetings, or dedicate the company to a meeting-free half-day each week. Also, opt for email or instant messaging instead of face time so that employees can avoid meeting fatigue. Employees who feel heard are 4.6 times more likely to stay inspired and motivated. Build a clear, consistent feedback loop between employees and managers so areas of improvement can be highlighted. Organizations can use the Vega Rewards tool to measure the pulse of the entire company frequently. Incorporate any positive feedback into your employer branding efforts so you can show off the best of your business and attract more candidates.

Get rewards and recognition right

People who feel appreciated, work harder and stay at the organization long-time, but over 80% of employees say they don't feel rewarded or recognized. Building a solid culture of recognition is more than recognizing employees every once in a while. It needs frequent, specific acknowledgment. A report found that organizations that recognize employees numerous times a month are 41% more likely to see accelerating employee retention and 34% more likely to see climbing engagement.

To make consistent recognition a sheer reality, your organization should prioritize monetary rewards and social recognition, preferably by utilizing a recognition platform that helps everyone get in on the same page. These platforms support points-based reward modules that let employees accumulate and redeem points for rewards from numerous brands that matter to them. Moreover, they make showing recognition easy whether employees are in the office or working remotely, as they can send appreciation to anyone at your company whenever and wherever works best for them.

Have a robust onboarding program

Effective onboarding curates a positive lasting impression of your company, sets clear expectations about the role, and smoothly integrates the new hire into the team with all the necessary tools and introductions. Employees onboard the right way are likelier to feel they can stay and get the job done.

Get feedback often

Workers who feel heard are 4.6 times more likely to stay motivated and inspired. Build a transparent, consistent feedback loop between managers and employees so areas of improvement can be highlighted. Use feedback tools like Vega HR to measure the pulse of the entire company frequently. Incorporating any positive feedback into your employer branding efforts can offer the best of your business and attract more candidates.

Providing a clear and compelling vision and mission for the company: A clear and convincing vision and mission can help employees understand the company's goals and purpose and inspire them to achieve them.

Final Thoughts

Implementing these strategies above may seem overwhelming, but there are robust tools that make the process easier. Vega Rewards is a recognition platform that helps organizations retain employees through frequent appreciation. It's designed to make recognition intuitive and fun for any user. It encourages regular, meaningful appreciation that will transform your organization's culture.

Regardless of industry, employee retention should be a significant priority for any business. So, start prioritizing employee retention at your enterprise. Book a demo today.