How Employee Engagement Raises Retention Rates

To the chagrin of employers everywhere, there is no such thing as a lifetime work contract. Employees can and do transfer from job to job, employer to employer, with little remorse for what they leave behind.

Regardless of age, most employees remain in a single position for just 4.6 years, and Millennials give a job just two years before finding another opportunity. Overall, 76 percent of full-time workers are actively searching for a new job, leaving 48 percent of employers with vacancies they can’t fill because of high rates of attrition.

To end this expensive trend, many employers are placing greater emphasis on employee engagement strategies, working to build a powerfully positive employee experience that will keep more workers around for the long haul.

The following five strategies are effective at engaging workers and improving retention to ensure a profitable, productive workforce.

Focus on Value Propositions

Brands spend outrageous amounts of cash developing value propositions that keep customers coming back, but employee value propositions rarely receive any attention at all. For one reason or another, your current employees agreed to work for your company, and many of them have continued working for several years.

You should conduct interviews to determine what aspects of the brand first drew them to employment and work to build those value propositions to retain those valuable employees. You might develop a system for recognition or rewards, grow your community service impact, and other changes to excite and engage employees.

Another option is to hire industry-relevant top inspirational speakers to come talk with your workforce about their ambitions and inspire them to greater heights within your company. Get your employees excited about working for your company again.

Develop Results-Based Recognition

Economists and other researchers continue to uncover more evidence that demonstrates how profoundly effective rewards and recognition are at improving retention and productivity. Thus, you should consider constructing a results-based recognition program to make rewards even more powerful engagement tools.

These systems require specific, measurable goals achievable by sales and non-sales employees; upon meeting or exceeding objectives, teams earn bonuses, which can be monetary or otherwise. A well-organized results-based recognition program also informs employees about their place in the business and their impact on the brand’s overall success.

Empower New Employees Quickly

The sooner your employees feel engaged with your business and brand, the longer they are likely to be content with their positions and productive in their jobs. In fact, as much as one-third of new employees are likely to start another job search within six months of being hired. Therefore, it is vital that you begin establishing connections with your new workers as early as possible.

Onboarding programs that are thorough and thoughtful can successfully address new hires’ questions and fears and integrate them effectively into the organization. New employees are less likely to leave when they understand how their work impacts the brand’s broader success, when they feel supported by a network that is helpful and encouraging of their career, and when they settle quickly into the existing workplace culture.

An onboarding program that fills these needs will engage employees faster and retain them longer. Plus, these strategies also tend to shorten the time it takes new hires to become productive in their jobs, which means employees engaged in this manner can be more profitable, as well.

Offer Leadership Training

While some baby boomers continue to bemoan Millennials’ work ethic, the younger generation is swiftly overtaking the workforce. In fact, this year, a whopping third of millennial workers will seize control of leadership positions, becoming managers, directors, and executives answerable for an organization’s success.

Most Millennial workers are more than eager to gain more authority and autonomy in the workplace; however, not all Millennials are prepared for the immense responsibility leadership roles require. Therefore, you should consider promoting your promising young workers ― after training them for the higher positions. Leadership training, mentorship programs, and other such initiatives are relatively rare in the workplace, and offering them will engage the younger generation in ways few employers are willing to do.

Care for Your Employees

The final employee engagement trick might seem simple, but few organizations have mastered the art of being kind and showing care for employees. Your business relies entirely on your workers showing up and being productive, and your workers are well-aware of that fact. The least you can do to show your appreciation is allow them to be comfortable ― perhaps relaxing the dress code and allowing comforts like personal music or desk décor.

You might also provide creative benefits packages, such as telecommuting options and schedule flexibility, as well as wellbeing programs that help your workers become and stay healthier. Workers recognize when your care is genuine and repay it with stronger loyalty to the brand.