According to data from the Society for Human Resource Management, 47% of HR professionals said employee retention was the top management challenge they face. Coming in second was recruitment. To put it simply, finding great employees is difficult – keeping them around can often be even harder.
Employees are the core asset of any organization, regardless of size or industry. Without your employees, your organization is nothing more than an idea. And as such, employers must invest time, energy, and resources into retention efforts. Of course, that’s easier said than done, especially in today’s volatile hiring and employment market.
A great option is to partner with a staffing agency and placement firm like Staffing Texas, a top staffing agency in Texas that can help you find – and keep – great people. Whether you’re looking for the contract staffing services of a temporary employment agency or interested in hiring for full-time roles, we can help. And when you combine the expertise and industry insight of a staffing firm with some strategic initiatives on your part, you have a recipe for retaining the top talent you’re looking for.
Here are seven strategies that won’t just keep your best people around, but ensure they’re happy and satisfied as well:
#1: Start with a Game Plan
Ask yourself a simple question: Why would an employee choose your company over your competitors?
Now, an even more important one: Would employees choose you over your competition?
Part of retaining employees – and the first step in creating a retention strategy that works to keep great people around – is having a game plan and building your brand. When employees interact with your company, either virtually or in person, they need to see a clear reason to choose you. This means prioritizing a positive company culture that employees can see and feel. It means providing room for growth and advancement (we’ll learn more about that shortly). And it means paying them competitively and providing compelling benefits and perks.
When you partner with Staffing Texas, you’re working with a staffing firm that values its employees and backs up that value with great benefits. Learn more about the benefits we offer our associates here.
#2: Gain Insight from the Employees
Do you ever wish you had an inside line to how your employees are feeling? You do – it’s your employees themselves. Employers must stay connected with their employees and job candidates in order to know how they’re reacting to your company. Getting feedback is essential, and effective. Sometimes, the best way to know how your employees are feeling is simply to ask.
How you do that is entirely up to you. Some companies find success by sending out anonymous surveys. Some will have management discuss it with employees during performance reviews. Some will take a less formal approach and simply have organic discussions by the watercooler. However it’s done, communicating openly and transparently with your employees and getting their feedback is the best way to alleviate any miscommunications. And that’s what ultimately reduces turnover and keeps your best people where they are.
#3: Boost the Onboarding Process
One of the leading reasons that new hires jump ship, or get swept up by a competitor before an employee signs on the dotted line, is because of an incomplete or ineffective onboarding process. In fact, according to the SHRM, 76% of workplaces aren’t onboarding their new hires the right way. And if there’s no onboarding at all, you’re very likely to lose that candidate entirely.
So, what can you do to give your onboarding process a boost? First, cut down on the paperwork as much as you can. No one likes filling out endless forms as they’re starting a job. You want to capture the excitement a new hire has about joining your company and getting to work. Set clear expectations for the first few weeks, and the first several months. Make onboarding about more than learning the ropes of the job itself – be sure to help new hires assimilate into the company culture by including them in activities and treating them the same way you do everyone else.
#4: Provide Opportunities to Grow and Develop in Their Role
Sub-par employees don’t tend to care much about growing their skillsets or advancing in their careers. Great employees, on the other hand, are focused on learning more and developing within their field. So, it only makes sense that you attract and retain better people when you facilitate that growth. Make sure that every member of your team has a path for growing in their profession – and earning more and gaining more responsibility as they do so.
It’s important to realize that not everyone is a people manager, and some people have no interest in leading teams. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have opportunities for advancement. Don’t make management the only career ladder that employees have to climb – create options for specializations, mentorships, and other arrangements that give people who aren’t interested in management a chance to grow in influence, benefits, and salary just like everyone else.
#5: Keep an Eye on the Management Team
Ask nine out of every 10 people who leave their job what their reason for quitting was, and they’ll probably give you a variation of the same answer: their boss.
Managers are so important because they set the tone for an entire team, an entire department – and even an entire organization. Get it wrong, and you’ll start turning off employees quickly. That’s why it’s so important to keep a close eye on your management team to make sure they’re not contributing to employee turnover, even if it’s unwittingly. Collecting feedback from your team – regularly distributing anonymous surveys works well here – is an important step for making sure your management team is helping to retain employees, not discourage them.
#6: Make Sure Recognition and Appreciation is Given
Think about how you would feel if you were never recognized or appreciated for the hard work you do. Would you be compelled to work harder? Would you stick around at that job?
No, probably not. So why expect your employees to do it?
Make sure that you recognize your employees’ hard work on a regular basis, and make sure they understand that you – and management – appreciate it. You can do this in a multitude of ways:
- Give shout-outs during meetings
- Create awards where employees are recognized in front of their peers
- Implement a point system where management and employees can reward each other for hard work
- Encourage employees to thank each other for their contributions
#7: Offer Flexible Work Arrangements
The working world has changed drastically over the past few years. The rise of remote work and flexible working arrangements has given way to a new way of working in many industries – and it’s not going away. Leaders need to embrace flexibility, not campaign against it.
Of course, fully remote work isn’t feasible in all industries. But if it’s possible, adding some measure of flexibility is a great way to retain your best employees – not to mention attract great people. Consider implementing flexible start and end times, or a hybrid schedule in which employees work some days of the week in-office and others remotely. When you give your employees even a little wiggle room, they’ll return the favor in loyalty. Take a hardline stance, and you’re only driving employees away.
An added bonus: Implementing a remote work option or other flexible work arrangements allows you to tap into an entirely new pool of qualified candidates that you weren’t able to access when you only hired for in-person work.
Final Thoughts
Turnover is costly to a business. In fact, it’s one of the costliest expenses an organization can incur. Even one bad hire can prove very, very expensive. And that’s why effective employee retention is so important. Thinking strategically about retaining employees from the very beginning is the best way to keep the people you want – and need – employed with your organization.
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Are you looking for top-tier employees who can help shape the future of your company? Partner with, Staffing Texas, to source, hire, and retain the best people for your organization’s needs. Contact us today to learn more about what we do and to get started.
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