Improving employee retention rates

Research by Glassdoor found that 53% of employees are confident that if they quit their current job, they would be able to find a comparable position within six months. This statistic clearly shows that if you want to retain good employees, you need to create a unique work environment that gives your employees a compelling reason to stay with your company.

Some of the most effective staff retention strategies include providing staff benefits, celebrating holidays and birthdays, rewarding and recognising a job well done, and creating a safe and supportive work environment. If staff are satisfied and happy, your efficiency and productivity, employee turnover rates, overall culture and customer satisfaction will improve.

What should you implement in your business?

1. Company benefits

   Offering employees transport to work, onsite healthcare, healthcare plans, gym discounts etc. helps you demonstrate that you care about more than just making money. These benefits show that you genuinely care about your employees’ health and wellbeing. It also reduces staff absences and sick days because when staff utilise health benefits they are more likely to be healthier and get sick less often.

2. Celebrations and recognition

   Celebrating holidays and birthdays and recognising employee achievements is another way to boost employee retention. These seemingly trivial actions make a big difference for employee satisfaction because they promote a culture of inclusion and achievement. Recognising significant milestones such as one year tenure and other employee anniversaries with the business will show employees that you value their loyalty.

3. Work environment and culture

   Creating a positive, safe, and supportive work environment is essential for staff retention. Creating a growth and development plan for each employee will also give them direction and help them to see a long-term career progression. When employees have goals and a career pathway they have something to work towards.

What are the benefits of implementing the above strategies?

1. Improved staff satisfaction

   We all know that satisfied staff are more likely to stay with the company longer, be more productive, take less sick days and be more likely to go the extra mile for your business. However, figuring out how to improve staff satisfaction can be challenging. Staff engagement activities are one of the most effective ways to boost your employee satisfaction levels. Hosting office lunches, decorating for the holidays and celebrating staff birthdays are all ways that you can show your staff you truly care and value them. One of the most important benefits of satisfied staff is a reduction in staff turnover rates as the average employee exit costs 33% of their annual salary.

2. Increased customer satisfaction

   When employees feel like you genuinely care about them and are invested in the business culture they are more likely to look after your customers well. Imagine walking into an office where all employees are smiling, looking after each other, and genuinely interested in the business compared to walking into an office where the employees don’t interact with each other or show any genuine interest in the company. These seemingly insignificant differences can have a massive impact on your customer’s perception of your business and impact their overall satisfaction.

3. Improved business culture

   Celebrating birthdays and holidays reinforces a work-family culture. By buying a cake or flowers for an employee's birthday, you are showing them you genuinely care about and value them. Further, decorating the office for holidays and hosting communal lunches can improve team bonding and promote a feeling of family and inclusivity at work.

   Although buying cakes, decorations and so forth can seem like an unnecessary cost, the benefits from these simple actions will certainly outweigh the cost implication. Further, planning and measuring the effectiveness of employee engagement activities can be a great way to track the overall impact on your business and reinforce the importance of such activities. The following article from Forbes looks deeper into planning and incorporating staff engagement activities into your business. Learn more about the importance of behavior and how to improve your company’s culture.