When building my business, I knew it was going to be critically important to offer a high-quality employee experience. Creating happy, loyal employees is key to business success because retention is key to business success.
The cost of employee turnover for a single worker can be up to two times that employee’s salary. When you view that through the lens of the ongoing Great Resignation, companies are losing a lot of money — and fast. How can businesses ensure their best employees stay their employees? How can they make intentional efforts to retain the talent that makes their business what it is?
Here are a few suggestions:
1. Treat employee retention like customer retention.
When customers feel valued, engaged, and understood, they’re more likely to remain customers. The same thing goes for employees. Just like you make sure to be empathetic, patient, collaborative, and helpful to customers, you should focus on being those things to the people powering your business, too. Empower your employees by prioritizing these qualities, and you will create a workplace they want to continue to be a part of.
2. Re-recruit your team members.
Businesses spend a lot of time and resources recruiting the best talent upfront, but the recruiting often stops once the hire is made. To keep employees in today’s ultra-competitive market, that can’t be the case. Bryan Adams, CEO and founder of global employer branding agency Ph.Creative, says: “To stop the cycle and avoid the ramifications of the Great Resignation, you must be ready when these employees have their Great Epiphany. You have to re-recruit the talent you already have with a balanced and authentic employee value proposition or EVP. If you overstate the benefits of a position without also acknowledging its most raw realities, you risk setting false expectations. That’s the opposite of what workers want.”
3. Keep communication channels open.
To retain employees and ensure they feel valued and consistently re-recruited, prioritize honest and open communication. It’s one of the most powerful tools for employee support — and, therefore, employee retention. Andrew Jornod, CEO of VertexOne, says: “Generating change and creating an open, communicative workforce can start out small. Develop a program where employees in different departments can get to know each other, offer up a forum for people to discuss world events and happenings, reward employees with one-on-one time with the executive of their choice to pick their brains and ask for advice — these are all small examples to make impactful opportunities for employees to connect on a personal level.”
4. Collect feedback and implement it.
Part of a culture of open communication involves creating opportunities for employees to provide feedback — and using that feedback to improve their lives and your business. There are countless ways to ask for, collect, and implement this feedback. You can do anything from conducting regular surveys, to offering online feedback forms, to creating space for managers to ask employees for feedback directly. Once you’ve collected employees’ thoughts, be sure to let them know what action you plan to take to address their comments and concerns and when you plan to take it. This builds trust and ensures you’re not asking for feedback for empty reasons but truly value their input.
5. Have a collaborative mindset.
And finally, on that note, always prioritize fostering a collaborative mindset in your business. Make sure you show employees they’re valued by not just listening to them but by working with them. Invite them in, and involve them in improving processes, innovating, and growing the business. Employees want to feel like they belong, and part of that is showing them that you truly want them to be a part of making the business better all the time.
It’s a competitive market — there’s no doubt. Employers everywhere are trying to figure out how to best keep talent and increase retention. However you choose to bolster retention in your business, if you show employees how much you value them and how they can tangibly contribute to the success of your business, you’ll build a firm foundation.
