Strategies for Reducing Employee Turnover

How to combat your organization's revolving door of employee turnover.

Once you hire the perfect candidate, how do you hold on to them?

More and more companies are willing to spend more money to find and recruit the right candidates, knowing that their investment will pay off once they find that one, stellar employee.

But it’s not enough for a company to invest in recruiting top talent – the real ROI lies in retaining those top performers for years to come.

Every organization experiences employee turnover, but some organizations find that they are consistently unable to retain their top employees.

Fortunately, there are some simple steps employers can take to encourage high-performing employees to stay with their company:

Start by attracting the best candidates.

One of the best ways to combat employee turnover is to simply get out in front of it. Take this opportunity to look over your company’s compensation package, and do some research on what comparable companies in your industry are offering their employees. Competitive benefits packages not only attract the best employees, they also encourage them to stay.

Invest in growth and potential opportunities.

Are you fostering an environment that promotes professional development and training? More and more, candidates are considering opportunities for personal and professional development as a desirable perk. And if employees don’t see potential to move up in your company, they’re much more likely to look for other opportunities.

Make an effort to keep employees engaged.

Employee engagement has become a bit of a buzzword amongst HR professionals in the last few years. Is your company doing a good job of engaging your employees?

Consider offering more opportunities for employees to give feedback on your organization, and actually do something with that information. The more valued your employees feel, the more connected they’ll feel to your company.

Implement a company-wide recognition and rewards program.

Recognition and reward programs don’t need to be extravagant. There are simple things you can do, like recognizing employee anniversaries at staff meetings, that your staff will definitely appreciate.

Review your performance management process.

Your best and highest-performing workers not only want to know what they’re doing right, but also how they can improve. If you don’t have a performance management system in place, implement one immediately. If you already have a process, make sure that it’s working. Consider having more than just an annual performance appraisal, and make sure the process is a constructive exercise for both managers and employees.

Make work fun.

This last strategy may not apply to all workplaces, but it’s definitely a becoming a trend. If you don’t see yourself building slides or instituting a company naptime, or whatever it is tech companies are doing these days, brainstorm about other perks you can offer your employees. Have company-wide contests, create a company bowling team, or participate in theme days. Whatever perks you decide to offer, make sure they are relevant to your company’s mission and values.

Employee retention is not a quick fix – employers need to be willing to invest time and resources into developing long-term strategies. The ultimate goal of an employee retention plan is to create an organizational culture that keeps your top-performing employees engaged and happy.