Employee retention is more than just a human resources issue; it’s a strategic priority for any business. High turnover can be costly, both financially and in terms of morale.
Retaining your top talent ensures continuity, productivity, and a thriving company culture.
Here are some best practices for keeping your employees engaged and loyal — both through cash incentivization and otherwise:
1. Start with Understanding Your Employee Needs
To retain employees, you must first understand their expectations from you and others, as well as what they desire from work. Here are some actionable ideas for leveraging this strategy to keep good employees:
Invite Open Communication
Use anonymous employee surveys to gather honest feedback on employee satisfaction and workplace issues. You can even create forums or digital platforms where employees can share ideas and voice their opinions.
Additionally, scheduling regular one-on-one check-ins with managers and employees where they can openly discuss individual concerns and aspirations without fear can go a long way. If you notice that despite asking for feedback, employees are hesitant to give it, check out this article for tips.
Actually Do Something With Their Feedback
Collecting feedback is only the first step; acting on it is what truly matters. Once feedback is gathered, analyze it thoroughly to identify common themes and prioritize issues based on urgency and feasibility. Communicate openly with employees about how their feedback is being addressed, sharing a clear plan of action, including timelines and responsible teams.
Following up regularly with employees is crucial to confirm that the implemented changes are making a positive difference. Keep the feedback loop open for further refinements, showing a commitment to continuous improvement.
2. Focus on Building a Positive Work Culture
A positive work culture is a cornerstone of employee retention. Here are some ways to create an environment employees want to be part of:
Promote Safety & Belonging
Comfort in the workplace starts with the physical. Begin by ensuring workplace safety and ergonomics, creating spaces that are physically comfortable such as desks, chairs, screens, computer keyboards, mice, etc. Also create comfortable spaces for collaboration and socialization, like closed office spaces for groups to brainstorm or inviting break rooms.
You can also create safety and inclusivity by establishing zero-tolerance policies for harassment and discrimination to reinforce that everyone has the right to work in a respectful and inclusive environment. Here’s our DEI policy, for an example.
Encourage Professional Social Connections
You want your teammates to like one another and have a friendly relationship in the workplace. You can help to retain happy, social employees by organizing team lunches, outings, or social events to build camaraderie. Another great idea is to create employee-led groups or clubs based on shared interests.
3. Identify Your Best Executive Talent & Evaluate Their Compensation
Ask yourself the question, “Who can I not afford to lose?” Then, determine what your competitors and the marketplace pay for those same positions.
At Kreischer Miller, we can access numerous compensation databases to help you better understand what the market is paying. If you discover that your company is paying below market for your top performers, you’ll want to give serious consideration to increasing your valuable team members’ salary or compensation. If you find that you are paying what the market dictates, make sure you communicate this to your employees.
Remember, money isn’t everything, but it matters. Ensure your salary structures are transparent and competitive within your industry.
Additionally, offer non-monetary benefits such as wellness programs, extra vacation days, flexible work hours, or retirement plans. These incentives demonstrate that you value your employees’ overall well-being.
4. Invest in Your Team’s Future Growth & Development
Top talent often seeks growth opportunities to climb the ladder or deepen their specialization knowledge. Here are some ways to invest in your employees’ development:
Offer Continued Learning & Training
Equip them with the tools and opportunities they need to build up their resume. Here are a few best practices to incorporate:
- Professional Training. Provide access to workshops, online courses, and certifications. You could even cover costs for industry-relevant education or conferences.
- Skill Diversification. Allow employees to work on cross-departmental projects to learn different positions or responsibilities. Provide resources for developing soft and technical skills.
Having your team think about continuous improvement can help create a sense of purpose and spark motivation.
5. Reward Your Employees’ Efforts & Successes
Everyone likes to feel appreciated. Here are strategies to recognize and reward your employees’ successes to help you retain long-term talent:
Recognize Milestones
Recognize when your employee hits goals you’ve set for them or they’ve worked with you to set for themselves. One way to do this is to implement a formal Recognition Program. You can create monthly or quarterly awards for outstanding contributions and use peer-nominated awards to foster camaraderie. Or, consider highlighting successes in a monthly newsletter or meetings.
In addition to celebrating goals, don’t forget about things like work anniversaries, birthdays, and other celebratory events like holidays. Paid lunches or team outings can help them feel connected and contribute to having fun.
Offer Tangible Rewards
Having the occasional pizza party is nice, however, your employees may prefer to receive individualized perks for their efforts. Consider granting bonuses, gift cards, or extra vacation days for exceptional performance. Or, allow employees to choose rewards that suit their preferences.
6. Build & Support Strong Leaders
Employees often leave managers, not companies. Provide leadership training to ensure managers are effective, empathetic, and supportive.
Then, establish mentorship programs to connect employees with experienced leaders who can guide their growth. Strong leadership inspires trust and loyalty within the team and can be one of your best practices for retaining good employees.
7. Foster Employee Engagement
Engaged employees are more likely to stay with your company, especially after a particularly disruptive events like a merger or acquisition. Organize team-building activities to strengthen relationships, and offer opportunities for employees to innovate and contribute ideas. When employees feel engaged, they become advocates for your company.
The most innovative, fastest growing, and desirable companies to work for ensure they are engaging employees in company initiatives. This can help employees better understand how their individual contributions affect the company’s performance. Agile teams and cross-functional collaboration are among the primary reasons top performers stay or go.
Other companies we work with have invited high-potentials into C-suite private meetings. Even though these tactics are not cash-related, exposing them to your company’s top executives and providing opportunities to be more involved in high-level decision-making can go a long way toward helping your top performers feel more valued within the organization.
8. Learn From Employees Who Leave
Even with the best retention strategies, some employees will leave. Conduct exit interviews to understand their reasons and gather insights into potential areas of improvement. Use this feedback to refine your retention practices and prevent similar departures in the future.
Build a Thriving Workforce with Kreischer Miller Talent Advisory Services
With the war for talent swinging back into employees’ favor, forward-thinking companies will be proactive in evaluating their workforce and thinking of ways to increase employee engagement and satisfaction levels for their best talent.
Kreisher Miller’s Talent Advisory practice is here to assist with your team's success. Using a data-backed approach, we measure your employees’ key driving motivations, enabling you to make better hiring, retention, and team optimization decisions. Please contact us to learn more, today.