Acquiring the best talent for your company is all well and good, but if your company is unable to retain those talented individuals for the long run, all your recruitment efforts will be for naught.
Millennials now surpass Generation X as the largest workforce, and unfortunately, millennials are more than willing to leave a job that doesn’t align with their personal values and goals.
An astonishing 50% of millennials say that they would have no problem leaving their current job within two years due to general unease and pessimism about social institutions. So then, how do HR professionals take the necessary steps to ensure that their workforce doesn’t experience regular turnover, especially after they have worked so hard to acquire young talent in the first place?
Evaluate your employee training
Employee training programs are undoubtedly important to any business, as it prepares new employees for their daily activities and responsibilities within the company.
However, it is important to ensure that the training program at your company is not only effective at training employees for the tasks that they will be performing, but also that it works to act as a retention tool in and of itself. It is vital that the experience reinforces the idea that they made the right choice by coming to your company.
Building a successful employee training program requires that a business dodge the pitfalls that plague so many employee training programs. Avoiding bulk training programs can help to elevate all employees rather than make job training feel like a classroom wherein the bulk of trainees follow the path of least resistance.
Additionally, it is important to have achievable goals within the employee training program while also listening to feedback from participants so that the company can see what is and isn’t working.
A business can also use models like The Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model in order to evaluate just how effective the training that their employees are receiving actually is. A dismal 11% of employees say that they regularly apply the skills they learn in employee training programs and
The Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model seeks to improve on that figure. It does so by looking at how employees responded to the training itself, whether their skills improved afterward, if they are able to apply what they learn in employee training programs, and what benefits the company receives as a result of employee training.
Looking at these factors allows a business to successfully measure the success of an employee training program and to address any issues within it that might lead to less retention of talent later on.
Creating positive company culture through community engagement
Happy, engaged employees result in happy customers, and one of the best ways to cultivate a happy and engaged workforce is to foster a positive company culture.
Great company culture not only provides a workplace in which employees are glad to come to work but also one in which they want to stay and grow within the company. Not only does positive company culture incentivise staying within a company, but it also increases productivity and creativity.
Positive company culture isn’t just about providing employees access to perks within the office intended to create a fun environment. Young workers are increasingly focused on finding jobs wherein the company culture aligns with their own personal values and goals.
For this reason, offering up programs within the company that allow employees to give back through charity and volunteer work is increasingly common in the corporate world.
There are many approaches in this vein to improve your organisation’s culture. Some common ideas to consider include:
Informing employees about volunteer opportunities
In office newsletters, notify employees about opportunities that may spark their interest. You may also opt to create channels for workers to share volunteer opportunities they’ve discovered with their peers, such as in Slack or on a simple cork board in the break room.
Create volunteer “social gatherings”
If certain volunteer opportunities appeal to many workers at the office, consider making a company social gathering of it. Collaborate with the organisation in question to set a date and time for willing employees. This can make for a powerful team-building activity.
Offer employees time off to volunteer
The simple fact is that it can be difficult to find time to do volunteer work when balancing family life and a full-time job. In recognition of this, offer employees time off to help the community.
Find volunteer opportunities that may boost work performance
If charitable work gives those interested a chance to sharpen specific skills, consider how those skills might benefit employees in the workplace. This could be a great way to convince reluctant employees to give volunteer work a shot.
Host volunteer sessions at the office
If you can collaborate with a charity or volunteer group to bring work to your office, you could host volunteer sessions at the office. This is a great way to get everyone involved.
Companies that take a good look at what their employees value and then provide it to them show their employees that they are in turn valued by the company itself. This results in positive morale and attitudes and can impact employee loyalty, subsequently improving retention.
A well-developed company culture increases overall employee satisfaction and can lead to the sustainable growth of the company and its employees with it.
Image: Unsplash
Ensure excellent leadership
Another surefire way to increase the effectivity of your staff retention strategy is to make sure that employees have excellent leadership to look up to. Good leaders within a company embody the company’s ideals and are a source of inspiration to everyone working under them.
When employees see someone in a leadership position that they want to emulate and could potentially see themselves filling the same role, they are far more likely to stay within a company to try and achieve that goal.
Propping up the best leaders within a company can be challenging, as there is usually no lack of those angling for a leadership position. However, keeping an eye out for some of the qualities and characteristics that make for a great leader can make things go a bit more smoothly.
Leaders who inspire great employee retention possess good communication skills, self-awareness, and the ability to grow and change as the needs of the company change. Additionally, great leaders are capable of creating a culture in which feedback is not only encouraged but actively sought out, whether negative or positive.
Having great leadership within a company increases employee engagement, and the more engaged an employee is, the less likely they will be to start looking at other options.
Engaged employees are more productive and profitable, provide better customer service, tend to positively influence other employees, are more enthusiastic about their work, and therefore are more likely to be comfortable staying in their role. Overall, increasing employee engagement through solid leadership not only improves retention rates but also improves the company overall.
In summary
Improving employee retention can pose a real challenge, but companies that are able to take a good look at their organisation and make the necessary changes within it will find the task much easier than those that don’t.
Retaining great talent can be as simple as ensuring that employee training programs are effective and engaging, making employees feel comfortable and knowledgeable within their new roles.
As well as promoting a positive workplace culture that aligns with their goals and values, and putting the best people in leadership positions.
