Are Your Employees Browsing the Menu?

Worried about retention? The best way to keep employees is to be useful to them.
According to a Gallup poll, 51% of employees are looking for a new job, and 68% of employees believe that they are overqualified for the job they have. Even engaged employees are job hunting at an alarming rate—37%. What are they shopping for? Career growth opportunities, better pay and benefits, great management, and exciting company culture seem to be highest in demand.

Shopping for a job while currently employed is now easier than ever. Employees have more leverage over what they want, and employers should do their best to stay competitive. If an employee finds an opportunity for a more flexible work schedule or a significant pay increase, you better believe they’re likely to leave.

To retain employees—especially top performers—employers often look for perks they can offer to keep good employees from leaving. Perks are nice, and they can encourage retention, but providing an assortment of distinguishing perks won’t keep employees long-term unless they meet essential employee needs.

Your employees want to succeed in their professions as much as you do in your business. By aligning their individual success with your organizational success, you give them huge incentive to stay. Remember why your employees chose to work for you to begin with. They have wants and needs and employment with you enables them to meet those wants and needs. In other words, you’re as useful to them as they are to you.

Invest in your employees and they’ll be more inclined to stay with you. Here’s how:

1. Talk to your employees. Ask them what knowledge and skills they need to do their job better or make additional contributions to the organization. By involving employees in the decisions about what training they receive, you help them gain a sense of ownership with their work and their futures. An LMS (Learning Management System) is a great tool for administering, documenting, and tracking training and development programs. Our LMS, iSolved Learn, is a powerful solution that already integrates with your HR and payroll platform, iSolved.
2. Provide coaching and training opportunities that bring value to your organization and professional development to your employees. Yes, training may make your workers more employable elsewhere, but it also prepares them for a better future working for you. Prompt application of what they’ve learned will help solidify their knowledge, while the positive reinforcement will encourage continued use of the new skills.
3. Make work meaningful and highlight the good that each employee does. This is especially important if the typical job duties of an employee feel mundane or uninspiring. Every employee’s work is essential to the mission of your organization. People want to feel appreciated, and that they’re involved in valuable work. Proudly show your gratitude.
4. Encourage social interactions among workers. The workplace can be a great place to make friends, build community, and collaborate on a meaningful enterprise.

There’s no guarantee that every new hire will be the right fit and stay with your company forever, but you can help improve retention—and cut down on its costs—by simply showing appreciation for employee contributions and by offering the foundation and tools for their continued success.

Contributions to this article by Mammoth HR.