It cannot be overstated just how important employees are to the continued prosperity of your business. After all, they are the literal lifeblood of your company, seemingly insignificant but in huge part responsible for the fluent operation of various departments, sections, and branches of your enterprise. 

For instance, you might be aware of digital marketing and its impact on consumer behaviour, but it is crucial to realize that behind those highly-converting marketing campaigns are real people who develop them. It’s thanks to their hard work, your business has ample opportunity for further growth. As such, most if not all of them are invaluable to your company’s future. But the hard reality is that employees tend to leave. They are, first and foremost, human beings and, as such, have their own dreams and aspirations, sometimes not tied to your workplace.

Fortunately for you, there are ways to significantly increase the employee retention rate of your enterprise, including offering flexible work arrangements, giving them a periodic raise, creating opportunities for advancement, and being open to their feedback. Read on and discover what to do to convince your employees that staying with you is the best option!

employee retention rate

Photo by Clayton Cardinalli on Unsplash

Offer Flexible Work Arrangements

Most of us recognize the importance of a good work-life balance. No one wants to go home and find that they have to give their entire life to their workplace, not to mention that we all need time to relax and recuperate in order to be productive. As such, it’s not surprising that many employees are looking for jobs that offer flexible work arrangements. They want to be able to control their own schedule, to be able to leave work early to take care of an emergency at home, or to stay a little late if they have something important to finish.

You might think that this is a bad idea because you want your employees to work as much as possible, but here’s the thing: studies prove that giving your employees the option to control their own schedule is actually beneficial for your business! Essentially, they want the ability to decide how and when they work without asking for permission from anyone. As such, if you want to improve your employee retention rate, it’s worth giving them flexible work arrangements.

Give Your Employees a Periodic Raise

One of the biggest reasons employees leave their jobs is simply because they feel they’re not being paid enough. They’re tired of being stuck receiving the same payment every month and being unable to improve their standard of living further. And since many of them don’t have other sources of income, they feel like there’s no point in staying at a job that doesn’t pay them enough.

As such, one of the best ways to keep your employees happy is to give them a periodic raise. Ideally, you should do this once every six months or once a year, depending on your company’s performance. Of course, you should only give raises to employees who are doing an excellent job and deserve a better salary. If you decide to offer raises, you should also be ready to explain to those who don’t perform up to standards what exactly they need to improve in their performance.

Create Opportunities For Advancement

If you have all your employees working at the same level, it’s understandable that they might get bored. After all, at one point or another, you find yourself asking yourself if there’s any point in continuing with your current work when there are so few opportunities for advancement. As such, if you want to make sure everyone stays motivated and productive at work, it might be worth creating some opportunities for them to evolve as specialists.

For example, you could allow them to take on more responsibilities. Perhaps they start out as a business analyst but eventually become a project manager or even a C-level executive. And while it might be tempting to ensure that there’s only one manager per department at first, try to open up opportunities for promotion as well. While you may think that having the same staff of employees year after year will result in stability and efficiency, it’s essential to keep in mind that stagnation is the enemy of productivity and innovation.

Accept Constructive Feedback

Finally, if you want to improve your employee retention rate or to keep your employees happy for as long as possible, it’s important to listen to their valuable feedback. The most effective way to do this is by actively seeking it out. For example, if they seem unhappy with their current schedule or workload, consider changing it. If they are constantly asking for more money, go ahead and give them a raise. In short, treat them like the professionals they are and ask for their input whenever possible.

Conclusion

Hopefully, the above tips will help you improve your employee retention rate. Just remember that while the success of your business depends on the productivity and enthusiasm of your employees, they deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. 

And while it’s important not to let them become complacent, it’s also important to recognize their value and to give them the opportunity to grow both professionally and personally. After all, as mentioned above, they are the driving force behind the success of your enterprise!