In order for companies to succeed in today's economy, it's crucial to find and retain high quality employees that are dedicated to a common goal. Unfortunately, however, as job jumping becomes more and more common, employers are forced to confront the difficulties that come with increased employee turnover. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) estimates the average replacement cost of a salaried employee to be six to nine months’ salary. For an employee earning $60,000 per year, that totals approximately $30,000 to $45,000 in recruiting and training costs (https://mnwi.usi.com)! The good news is that among the challenges that arise from high employee turnover averages, there are also opportunities to understand the cost of turnover and pinpoint potential sources for keeping your workforce happy, safe and productive. In this article, we're going to provide you with six SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic) data-driven employee retention strategies that really work.
Let's dive in.
6 SMART Employee Retention Strategies:
1) Offer Competitive Wages
Thanks to the increase in data transparency, workers are aware of the value that they provide more so than ever before. This means that if your employees' compensation levels are not competitive with the industry standard, they most likely won't be sticking around for long. It's therefore crucial for hiring managers to review all aspects of employee wages including bonuses and incentives and provide employees with competitive wages. Additionally, offering employees promotions based on hard work and increased responsibility is another way to ensure employee retention. With higher compensation comes higher expectations and responsibility. Workers who are paid better will also expect more from themselves. Providing incentives for meeting goals, excellent customer service or working during irregular hours can be a great employee retention strategy. Recognizing employee achievements is yet another thing that employers should do on a regular basis as it keeps the morale of your employees high.
2) Implement A Safety Program
According to Injury Facts, “The top three leading causes of work-related injuries – overexertion and bodily reaction, slips, trips and falls, and contact with objects and equipment
– account for more than 84% of all nonfatal injuries involving days away from work” ( https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/work/work-overview/top-work-related-injury-causes/
). This is why it's so incredibly important - especially in industries in which injuries are more prevalent such as healthcare, construction, manufacturing and transportation - to have an establish safety program. The Physical Capacity Profile® (PCP) Testing System is widely used by industry professionals across the board. That’s because physical ability testing has a direct correlation to fewer workplace injuries, and in turn, higher employee retention. The use of The Physical Capacity Profile® (PCP) Testing System has shown the following benefits:
- $1 spent testing results in $6-8
in direct medical cost savings to employers
-
10% to 30%
decrease in workers compensation premiums to employers
-
30% decrease
in workers compensation injury rates
- Facilitates job reengineering to expand the pool of qualified workers
3) Promote Employee Recognition
According to Quantum Workplace, "Organizations with formal recognition programs have 31% less voluntary turnover than organizations that don't have any program at all. And they're 12x more likely to have strong business outcomes" ( https://www.quantumworkplace.com/future-of-work/importance-of-employee-recognition
). When employees feel genuinely listened to and appreciated, they're far more likely to stay at their company and be excited about their work. A great way to implement this is to encourage managers and supervisors to recognize good work often by publicly praising employees or giving a small reward such as a gift card, a free lunch, or a small bonus. Additionally, incorporating feedback into employee performance reviews and praising hard work is a great way to maintain high employee retention rates.
4) Create an environment where feedback is welcomed and encouraged, not punished or censored.
Employees need to feel that they're able to provide feedback about their workplace and work environment, without being punished for doing so. Creating an employee forum where employees can share information openly is a great way to foster open communication amongst staff members while also encouraging high employee retention rates. Feedback forums are also helpful in uncovering any issues that may arise amongst employees or highlighting what's working. Providing employees with an open forum and safe space to discuss any concerns or issues also keeps employees feeling safe and respected.
5) Embody company values in the day-to-day
According to Gallup, “Just 27% of employees strongly agree they believe in their company’s values, and 23% of employees strongly agree they can apply their organization’s values to their work every day.” This is important to recognize because at the foundation of every strong and successful company are employees with high levels of engagement. Business owners who prioritize creating a cohesive, unified working culture are guaranteed to experience much higher employee retention, which is a key factor in any successful business.
6) Understand why employees leave
Exit interviews offer insightful feedback and detail about three important factors - employee engagement, job satisfaction, and retention. These interviews are typically conducted with employees who voluntarily leave a company and they can be formal or informal. The most important part of exit interviews is to allow the employee to speak freely about their experience without fear of retribution.
During the interview, the interviewer may ask questions like: "What did you enjoy most about your job?", "Why do you want to leave?" and "What do you think would have made your working experience more positive?" etc.
Another great way to understand why employees leave is to read online reviews to find out what employees are saying about the company. This might reveal information you could not elicit during an interview or in subsequent conversations.
The six strategies listed above are just some of the ways that employers can help increase employee job satisfaction and in turn, employee retention. It's important for employers, hiring managers and HR professionals to continually re-evaluate their employee retention strategies in order to ensure the best working environment possible and strong employee-employer relations. At PCP, we pride ourselves on being an employee advocate. If you'd like to learn more about how we work with employers and employees to implement crucial safety programs and protocols, visit us at www.pcpworks.com
