Employee Retention
Posted on Friday, March 22, 2019
Categories:
Human Resources
You’ve seen the reports of all-time record low unemployment. As an organization having a proactive retention program in place before you receive a resignation notice is a key. In today’s job market, the employee, especially those in high demand, technical, or specialized skill, control the wheel. As an employer, you have the creativity to offer an attractive cultural career path as employees’ journey along their career lifecycle with your organization.
By setting a clear expectation up front with accurate job descriptions for each position and routinely evaluating where you, as an organization, fair in the market among your peers and competitors in areas such as compensation (base pay/incentives), benefits, recognition, performance management, and learning and development. While your business philosophy may not be to lead the market, you should have an honest assessment of where your organization stands within the market.
Being able to communicate a clear value proposition of your organization to employees is absolutely essential to combating turnover. As an employer, you may choose to lead in recognition over learning and development or invest more into employee benefits over base pay. Striking the right combination in all areas is something that is unique to your organization and may need to change with the job market.
Now, more than ever it’s crucial to prioritize training and development by looking at your organization’s short-term and long-term goals. How can you grow your greener people, continue to invest and reward top performers and maintain a healthy level of employee engagement? Consider expanding upon or implementing a variety of learning and development initiatives:
- Onsite training classes
- Leadership training classes
- Tuition reimbursement/professional development program
- Job rotation/cross training
- Coaching or mentoring program
Thinking outside the box about benefits offered can be another tool that sets your organization apart and keeps employees from “considering their options:”
- Generous PTO
- Flexible work options
- Pop-up daycares
- Student loan repayment
- Vacation reimbursement
- Gym passes or onsite workout facilities
By purposely implementing and communicating your organization’s total value proposition to employees routinely, you’ll reduce the need for stay interviews and improve retention because employees will understand the why behind your business philosophies.
Be sure to routinely (semi-annually or quarterly) measure how you’re doing by looking at eNPS scores, turnover reports, or other employee job satisfaction metrics. Be open to exploring something new based on the feedback you receive even if you need to conduct a small pilot program before fully implementing.
Tagged:hiring, personnel, employment, HR Building, jobs, employee retention