Employee retention is no easy feat, but it’s not impossible. So it’s time to bring that employee back without investing extra money? Well, there are many ways to bring employee retention. In this article, we’ll talk about how not only to retain employees without money. Also how to make them excited about working at your organization.
Employee Retention Meaning
Employee retention can be defined as the ability of an organization to retain its employees in a given period. Also, it can be defined as the ability of the organization to prevent increasing employee turnover in a given period. To frame it simply, the organization can prevent its employees from leaving the organization in a certain period.
This parameter not only affects the company’s performance directly but also frames the organization’s image in the market.
Organizations that are good at executing effective employee retention strategies also end up having less overall turnover than the organizations that keep losing employees due to poor or no employee retention programs.
Importance of Employee Retention
Retaining critical talent in the organization is the goal of employee retention. As per the data, it costs more than $1 trillion for US businesses in a year to make up for employee turnover. At the end of 2021, 41% of employees said that they were actively looking for a job.
To escape
- High employee turnover cost,
- Low employee engagement,
- Poor customer service and
- Negative organizational culture, the employee retention parameter becomes important to maintain.
Employee Retention Strategies
Every organization has its own unique culture. Therefore, it makes more sense to implement strategies that work and suit your organizational environment.
Some of the implemented strategies are listed below:
1. Try Working in a Physical Environment
It has been observed that employees’ desk and chair arrangement makes a huge difference in employee retention. Natural light and silent surroundings play a huge role in employees’ productivity.
2. Employee Orientation
Employee onboarding and orientation should be conducted with a whole-hearted attitude of providing complete familiarity with the company’s culture. This trains employees to perform and thrive for the organization in the long run.
3. Mentor-Mentee Relationship
Employees should be assigned mentors to have regular discussions regarding their work, challenges faced by them in professional life, etc so that they feel valued by the organization.
4. Compensation
Employee compensation has been one of the major reasons for employee turnover. However, it is also not necessary to provide compensation in the form of a salary hike only. It can be either in the form of bonuses, health care benefits, or retirement plans to give your employees job satisfaction.
5. Various forms of Perks
Not just monetary benefits can give your employees job satisfaction but also perks in the form of flexible schedules, and a remote work option weekly can work magic for employee retention.
What is meant by Employee Retention Policy?
Employee Retention policy is nothing but rules and regulations set by an organization to prevent its employees from quitting the organization. It can be defined as a set of company guidelines to keep employees engaged and loyal to their organization.
There are various types of employee retention policies with different goals. Some are focused on employee productivity monitoring software that improves employee experience, employee engagement, employee satisfaction, employee development, etc.
An example is Google’s employee retention policy which focuses on employee satisfaction and employee development. It is famous for its “20% time”, that is to say, employees are free to utilize 20% of their weekly time on their favorite project or any new idea that they are interested in.
This activity not only gives them a break from their monotonous schedule but also maintains their flow of creativity in professional life.
Any employee retention policy needs to be in synchronization with employees’ ease of adjusting to that. Since every department and every employee is different, so are their reasons for retention. Therefore, every feedback counts.
Every suggestion counts, no matter even if it is difficult to execute. Your employees should always have your ears. Being heard also means being valued.
What do you think can be the rate of Employee Retention in the Global Market?
Before going into the details of employee retention rate, let’s understand what is meant by employee retention rate.
Employee retention rate can be defined as the percentage of employees sustained on staff from the beginning of a certain time to the end of that same period.
How can you calculate the Employee Retention Rate for your Organization?
Well, it is a cakewalk to calculate the same!
Imagine your organization having 200 employees at the beginning of Jan 2021. By the end of Dec 2021, the employees left 150 in number.
Employee Rate = 150/200 * 100 = 75%
The retention rate of your organization can vary depending on the industry the latter is in.
For example, the retention rate of the retail industry is lower due to its higher employee turnover which in turn is because of holiday-dependent employment.
What does the Retention Rate for your Business Reflect?
After calculating the retention rate for your organization, you can categorize the type of employee turnover, i.e. whether it is voluntary or involuntary. Such insights can help your HR department to work on the parameters such as job satisfaction, and employee engagement.
Some Prevalent Employee Retention Challenges
1. Salary Dissatisfaction
Salary dissatisfaction is one of the prevalent employee retention challenges. Who doesn’t work for bread and butter primarily? Every one of us. However, salary should not always be understood with monthly compensation. Conditional favors like extending loans at a low interest rate, and being supportive during hard times of your employees compensate for salary dissatisfaction.
Also Read: Average Salary in India
2. High Job Opportunities in the market
Due to lucrative offers available in the market, employees tend to hop from one organization to the other. Such scenarios are common where employees are highly dissatisfied with their current job placements.
3. Loopholes in HR Recruitment
Hiring candidates who justify the job roles they are being hired for is a good deal to happen. On the other hand, if the hiring process is not conducted well enough to hire the right candidates for the job role, then later it becomes the reason for employee turnover.
4. No Culture of Job Rotation
Due to the monotonous routine of doing the same job tasks, employees feel the need for a change in their tasks as per their region of interest. Therefore, organizations should be flexible enough in their employee retention approach to adapt to the changes suggested by their employees.
5. Lack of Professional Growth of Employees
Nobody wants a halt in his growth. Therefore, organizations should initiate providing professional courses to their employees to prepare new talents, hence bringing employee satisfaction and engagement.
Also Read: Employee Time Theft at The Workplace
Employee Retention Example
- Creating competitive compensation
- Meaningful network at work
- Appreciation and rewards for employees from time to time for good performances
- Organizations should focus on creating People’s first place
- Promotion of work-life balance
