What Leaders Are Implementing to Drive Up Employee Retention?

Losing valuable team members is never good for any organization. Leaders across companies and industries are trying their best to retain their people in various ways.

One way is using technologies like employee engagement software to keep the workforce motivated.

Research shows that employees who are disengaged cost the world $8.8 trillion in lost productivity. Besides, they are also the ones most likely to quit when push comes to shove.

It is therefore more important than ever now to invest time and resources in proven strategies to attract and retain employees that can help organizations ensure they remain strong in 2024.

Why Employee Retention Should be a Key Focus

The consequences of employee turnover extend beyond immediate disruptions, creating significant and lasting effects. Firstly, there is a considerable financial aspect to it. Recruiting a qualified candidate for a vacant position typically incurs a cost that is 1.5 to 2 times the salary associated with the role, as per a Gallup survey.

Moreover, the repercussions of high turnover extend to the remaining staff and the customer base as well. As colleagues leave, the workload for remaining employees often increases, creating a cycle of more stress and exits. This domino effect leads to frustrated and overworked employees who are less likely to perform at their best.

Consequently, the overall quality of the company’s product or service may decline, and customers may experience more negative interactions with the business. The full extent of these ramifications is challenging to quantify.

Effective Employee Retention with Employee Engagement Software

According to the LinkedIn Global Talent Trends report, the primary factors prompting individuals to seek new employment opportunities include considerations such as career development, work-life balance, compensation and employee benefits and organizational culture.

While these statistics provide valuable insights, they may not actually capture the specific desires of your workforce.

Improving employee retention calls for initiating a conversation with them to understand the factors that motivate them to stay back. Here’s a look at some strategies that industry leaders across the board are adopting for employee retention.

1. Investing in Employee Learning and Development

LinkedIn reports that 94% of employees express a willingness to stay with their current company for a more extended period if it invests in their career development.

In today’s competitive economy, employees recognize the importance of keeping their skills updated to advance in their careers.

Organizations can leverage their employees’ eagerness for development by implementing initiatives such as mentorship programs and investing in their skilling. Employee engagement software that are in-built in a robust Human capital management (HCM) platform also offer a learning and development module to enable organizations to reskill and upskill their workforce.

2. Offering Rewards & Recognition

The desire for appreciation is universal, and this holds particularly true in the professional world.

According to a Workhuman survey, employees who feel acknowledged for their efforts are 56% less likely to actively seek new opportunities. Despite this, a mere 19% of employees believe their organization fosters a robust culture of recognition.

Companies need to actively promote managerial acknowledgment of their team members’ contributions. Taking it a step further, organizations can institute division- or company-wide Rewards & Recognition programs to celebrate the exceptional efforts of teams.

Rewards & Recognition can manifest in various ways, whether through direct compensation or by giving employees the opportunity to nominate their team members and colleagues for acknowledgment.

How Can an Employee Engagement Software Prove to Be a Game-changer?

An employee engagement software is an effective platform to deploy Rewards & Recognition programs for employees. With this platform, it is easier to encourage employee engagement by ensuring team/individual achievements are acknowledged and celebrated.

Offering rewards like gift cards, charitable contributions and personalized culture rewards to choose from can also make employees feel valued. Other simple ways that an employee engagement software easily enables is using likes, emojis, images, GIFs and comments to convey recognition effectively. There can also be a suite of awards, given at different times during the year, acknowledging employee contributions and showing them that they are valued.

This incentivizes them to work harder, which creates a good employee experience and ultimately leads to employee retention.

1. Focussing on Work-Life Balance

Talking about work-life balance is not merely a trend anymore. It is an important factor in attracting and retaining employees.

Managers play a crucial role in helping work-life balance by regularly checking in with employees, ensuring they are not burdened and fostering open communication. Leaders can alleviate pressure by minimizing unnecessary meetings and administrative tasks that consume time without providing substantial value. Ultimately, companies should carefully assess the trade-off between adding staff and the potential costs associated with increased turnover if the workload becomes unsustainable.

An employee engagement software offers mediums like engagement surveys that prove effective in knowing specific preferences of employees, offering a comprehensive understanding of how these vary throughout the organization. For instance, an engagement survey could help understand that while one team thrives with in-person collaboration, another that operates across multiple countries, doesn’t need office presence.

2. Improving Organizational Culture

The organizational culture of your company significantly shapes its success, influencing the people it attracts and retains.

Research indicates that up to 77% of candidates evaluate a company’s culture before applying for a position, with more than half considering organizational culture to be more vital than compensation.

In short, although organizational culture might appear subjective, its influence on retention is undeniable.

In fact, company culture stands as a pivotal factor in workplace satisfaction. While the specific components of good company culture may differ across workplaces, strong cultures generally exhibit common traits such as:

1. Clearly defined and implemented values
2. Rewards and Recognition for employees
3. A firm commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
4. Demonstrations of supportive leadership

An employee engagement software significantly contributes to enhancing organizational culture by bringing transparent communication, facilitating regular feedback and recognition, promoting seamless collaboration. With centralized platforms for communication, employees feel more connected and aligned with the company’s values. Feedback mechanisms nurture a culture of appreciation and motivation.

3. Re-evaluating Compensation Strategies

In the current competitive business landscape, compensation plays a pivotal role in any company’s retention strategy. Regardless of how appreciated an employee may be, the prospect of exploring external opportunities becomes more appealing if they perceive their compensation as insufficient. Transparency in pay practices, combined with a straight pay policy, enhances a company’s ability to attract and retain employees.

Frequent reviews of industry compensation benchmarks are crucial, along with an effort to financially recognize top-performing individuals. Implementing spot bonuses and regular wage increases can significantly contribute to cultivating a sense of value among employees.

Conversations about pay or recognition can be challenging, which is where employee engagement surveys with the help of employee engagement software prove valuable. Automated survey questions eliminate the potential awkwardness of direct inquiries from team leaders. They also provide employees with a confidential and judgment-free space to voice their opinions. Additionally, such surveys offer senior management insights they might not otherwise have, increasing the chances of implementing meaningful actions.

4. Prioritizing Employee Well Being

Amidst the rising cost of living, personal commitments and ongoing political and economic uncertainties, it is hardly surprising that many employees admit to feeling burned out. While managing workloads, fostering transparent communication with management, and cultivating a positive corporate culture are crucial strategies against burnout, effective ways of employee retention call for measures towards the workforce well-being.

Introducing perks like wellness reimbursements for gym memberships or massages, providing insurance coverage for therapy and mental health treatments, and offering access to digital wellness or meditation platforms are all initiatives that can contribute to helping employees feel more rejuvenated.

An employee engagement software plays an important role in setting the tone for holistic employee well-being. By fully integrating well-being into work, you can boost employee engagement and create a flourishing performance.

5. Aligning Employee and Organization Goals

Most people aspire to make a positive impact on those around us. For many employees, this extends to their professional roles in addition to their personal lives.

As per a McKinsey report, employees who sense alignment between their personal purpose and that of their organization exhibit higher levels of engagement and loyalty to their employers.

Leadership within a company can facilitate employee connection with the organization’s purpose by effectively communicating the company’s impact on the world. This way, they can create avenues for employees to engage with the company’s purpose. Initiatives such as town hall sessions or small group discussions focused on enhancing customer experience, coupled with the implementation of employee-generated ideas, can create a sense of direct impact on the lives of others.

In Conclusion

Ensuring employee retention is vital for team stability and productivity.

An employee engagement software like the one in-built in Akrivia HCM plays a crucial role in identifying signs of dissatisfaction and burnout, enabling timely intervention to address emerging challenges. It excels in measuring, engaging, and driving employee experience.

You can foster one-on-one anonymous conversations with your workforce, pinpoint areas for enhancement, formulate action plans, and cultivate a people-first culture that can facilitate employee retention.