After the pandemic made people rethink their careers, and with the job market becoming more competitive, it is imperative for businesses to invest in employee potential and their future at the company.
According to a recent study, 94% of employees would stay longer with employers who helped them learn. Taking the time to develop employee skills and providing an in-depth onboarding process can improve retention by 82%. It’s safe to say that investing in your employees leads to loyalty.
A large part of retaining employees is the hiring process. The best place to start is to hire the right people in the first place. This might not seem as straightforward as it sounds, but if you take the time to interview those with similar values and morals as those already at the company, you can create a culture that thrives beyond expectation.
Retaining employees begins with your company values and practising what you preach. From there, with the right people and the right environment, you can utilise the right tools to develop staff skills and confidence.
The methods to retain staff are simple yet incredibly effective, and making small changes to the way you work can make all the difference. Here are just a few to get you started!
What are your values as a company?
If you haven’t established your core company values, employees won’t have a full understanding of how you work or whether your beliefs line up with their own. Create dedicated company values after researching what is most important to your employees. What do they like about working for you? Turn it into one of your principles and employee loyalty is likely to improve.
Honour good performance
Sometimes all you need is a pat on the back and a few words of gratitude to feel passionate about your role at a company. Employees are essentially the beating heart of your company. Without them, the work doesn’t exist. If you aren’t showing your appreciation for their hard work, they will feel unnoticed.
Honour work anniversaries and make sure your staff know how proud you are of their latest projects. It takes seconds to show your gratitude and create a long-lasting feeling in your employees.
Listen and learn
If an employee is looking to leave for another job opportunity, make sure you take the time to listen to them and offer your support rather than simply saying farewell. A conversation around what the employee is looking for in a job role and how you can adapt to that could change the entire course of events and prevent them from leaving.
Showing you care about the employee’s journey will make them reconsider their move and whether they will feel as valued in another company compared to yours.
Provide plenty of opportunities
Not all employees will want to stretch far from their current job role, but a high majority will be looking to advance their careers. Offering opportunities that allow employees to grow within the business and develop new skills will encourage them to stay at the company and work harder to achieve their goals.
There are many ways to provide opportunities for your workforce, including funding additional training courses and educational opportunities outside of work and team-building activities. Mentoring and leadership are important too, and making sure to mentor new starters to discover their short and long term career goals will help evaluate their options.
Finding the perfect work-life balance
Showing consideration for your staff isn’t just where you focus on their professional development. Investing in personal development is crucial for employees to present their best selves at work.
After many of us experienced the pandemic while working from home and learned to adapt to the new way of the world, work-life balance has never been so important. Allowing employees to take leave, providing remote working options and offering any flexibility they need will be well-rewarded. These opportunities allow employees to tend to personal issues or responsibilities without affecting their work life.
Benefits and the little extras
69% of employees report that they might choose one job over another if it offered better benefits. If you don’t take the time to find out what employees want in addition to the role, you may fall behind. It’s not always investing in indoor office slides or an alcohol fridge, practical benefits like childcare support, free lunch and travel help are of great value and will be more appreciated than anything superficial or for show.
The cost of leadership and development during the onboarding process is far more costly than taking the time to put a budget together for personal and career development activities for the team.
Retaining over hiring so often means that employees will give a better brand representation and be well educated on the business, which can progress to a leadership or coaching career where they train the next generation of employees.
At Morgan Latif, we believe retaining employees is essential to creating a positive working environment. We want our team to be a part of the bigger picture, to believe in what they do and focus on their passions and areas of development to become their best selves.
Our range of leadership coaching and training opportunities allows our clients to advance their professional development, driving the success of their organisation. Get in touch with us to find out more.
