6 min read
December 10, 2019 
Employee retention is a crucial concern for companies as they compete in the marketplace for high-performing people. So how do you keep your employees engaged within your workforce? Adult development and creating a great work culture seem to be the answer. It encourages better productivity, higher employee morale and improved quality of work, not to mention a reduction in turnover. By focusing on employee retention, organisations avoid losing talented and motivated employees who are dedicated to contributing to the organisation’s overall success.
LinkedIn data shows a worldwide turnover rate of 10.9 %. The tech sector experienced the most volatility, with a 13.2% turnover rate. Certain areas within the tech sector showed even higher turnover rates, which could indicate an increased demand for these skills.
Employees leave for a variety of reasons, such as ‘I don’t like my Manager', I am not being developed', 'Location does not suit me', 'My work environment is too negative’. Contrary to popular belief, compensation ranks fifth on the top benefits for retaining talent. It takes objectivity from management and HR resources to understand that poor people management is the major culprit in most turnover cases.
So how do you keep employees happy within your company? Here are a few easy steps to get going.
How to Retain Your People
1. It All Starts with the Recruitment Process
Retention begins from the very start, from the application process to screening applicants to choosing who to interview. It involves identifying the most important aspects from the onset. Progressive companies place a huge emphasis on culture and principles, values and behaviours that exist within the company and assess whether or not potential employees can work best within their set-up and if an employee will be motivated or thrive within their company culture. A CV will tell you what the person has done in the past, but it won't tell you how they will work out in the future—your behavioural interviewing skills should help here.
2. Read Between the Lines on the CV
How can you choose candidates who are more likely to stay? There are some key indicators right on their CV. Begin by looking at why people left their previous jobs.
Job hoppers may not be the right choice. While they might just be looking for the right place to settle, for a candidate who’s had five jobs in five years, it is important to find out why they left each role in the past. From there, you can decide whether or not they will be a fit for your organisation.
3. Make Your Employees Feel Valued
Promoting from within not only provides a clear path to greater compensation and responsibility, but also helps employees feel that they’re valued and a crucial part of the company’s success.
Of course, promotions go hand-in-hand with employee development and education, and this should be another tool in your retention arsenal. Whether through corporate training to help foster the acquisition of new ways of working, skills, new technologies or new processes or through tuition reimbursement for outside courses, furthering your employees’ education can help them feel valued and invested in the company.
According to research from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), high-skill training (80%) and professional development programs to hone soft skills (74%) are perceived among the top benefits for retaining employees’ services over the next five years.
With the rise of deliberate development organisations (DDOs), the companies that are doing well are those that are placing employees at the centre of the company’s growth strategy.
According to a study conducted by acclaimed American developmental psychologists (Robert Keegan, Lisa Laskow Lahey, Deborah Heising, Mathew L. Miller and Andrew Flemming), they found that companies such as Next Jump reduced employee turnover from 40% to less than 10% in under two years by putting the development of their people at the centre of their strategy.
Investing in employees’ development can help retain talent and intellectual property at a time when there’s stiff competition for both. The need for new skill sets and evolving roles is in demand at a rapidly growing rate. Therefore, putting someone on a career path that lacks room for growth is not only a career-limiting move for the employee but a business-limiting move for the company.
4. Offer the Right Benefits
Benefits and perks play a large role in keeping employees happy, engaged and healthy. But benefits can go far beyond healthcare coverage and paid sick leave. You should also consider offering stock options or other financial incentives to employees who exceed performance goals or stay with you for a predetermined period.
Flexible work schedules, the opportunity to work remotely and generous paid leave policies also go a long way toward helping employees feel they are valued well beyond what they contribute at the workplace.
Flexible working arrangements and remote working ranked fourth among the top benefits for retaining talent, behind health insurance, bonuses, and paid time off.
5. Create a Great Work Culture
Open, transparent communication between employees and the company can help foster a sense of community and a shared purpose. Regular meetings in which employees can offer ideas and ask questions, as well as 'open-door policies' that encourage people to speak frankly with their managers, help employees feel they are valued and that their input will be heard. In order for this to happen, the company needs to create an environment where it is safe for everyone to share their vulnerabilities and create an environment where it is ok to fail.
6. Use Technology to Help You Along the Way
Another approach is to use an employee review tool. HRLocker has created a tool that has demonstrated real benefits. We developed RTR (real-time reviews) as a way to create a dialogue between employees and managers. It’s a performance management module that helps track and monitor how happy and fulfilled your employees are in the company.
Since employing it within our own company, we have found that our employee retention has improved greatly. Everyone knows that within the company structure, issues will arise. RTR enables everyone in the company, including managers and employees alike, to set weekly or monthly reviews, allowing HR and management to identify issues early on and rectify them. It’s then up to company leadership to act on that feedback or explain why that employee or manager might not be happy. Sometimes, just the fact that employees are being heard and listened to is important and can improve retention, even if there’s no way the company can address their challenges at that moment.
These are just a few steps to set you on the right path to retaining people in high-performing areas such as tech, professional services, not-for-profit, and construction. Implementing the right structures and creating an environment that encourages people to stay will help you to keep your employees happy and engaged.
