Keeping your current employees engaged and motivated can be hard, especially in larger organisations. In such a competitive market employees can be approached many times for new opportunities, so it is important to have your employees emotionally engaged to their work. Here are a few pointers on how to increase employee retention.
Leadership – Engagement starts at the top, management affects how engaged employees are, in turn effecting how likely they are to stay at the company. Leaders might underestimate how much of an influence they have on their company’s retention levels. They need to be engaged with their teams and provide a safe space for them to share their honest opinions. Employees work for people not companies.
Work-life balance – It is important to provide a work-life balance for your employees, stress and long hours can be detrimental to someone’s work ethic as well as mental health. There is now a demand for a new cultural focus on health and wellbeing and employees are less likely to tolerate such conditions. Moreover, if someone is overworked their productivity in the long run declines and their job satisfaction will decrease. Employees often feel pressured to work longer hours and not take vacation time, so making an environment where time off is encouraged will make them feel relaxed and increase productivity.
Flexible working environment – Employees are more likely to consider opportunities with a great work life balance, big factors to this are flexible working hours and environment. Now more than ever, people are working remotely or are looking for a hybrid position. It has been known a bad commute can be a big factor into employees quitting their job. Giving your employees control over their work and flexible schedules, will increase their productivity and likelihood to stay with a company. If you give your employees a little trust and leeway, you’ll get trust and loyalty in return.
Pay attention to feedback – Communication is important within a company and in developing a team. Regular one-to-one meetings gives an employee opportunity to really say how they are feeling and highlight any issues they might be having. You can really gauge their happiness and job satisfaction. It’s an opportunity to see if their expectations are met and what you can do to rectify this is not.
Inclusive culture – An inclusive culture can positively affect an employee’s performance as well as their well-being. A diverse work force increases creativity and provides them with a sense of belonging to a company. It is important for employees to feel appreciated and get recognition for their hard work. A way to do this is publicly showing recognition by presenting an employee’s accomplishments or creating annual awards, where they can be appreciated in front of management.
Employee growth opportunities – One of people’s main motivators within a job is career growth and development opportunities. If employees remain stagnant in a role, they will want to seek new challenges outside their current organisation. It is important to set out a clear development plan and structure that employees know they can work towards. It doesn’t always have to be a new title and pay rise, but small things like new projects or responsibilities that offer a challenge can make a difference.
Even little changes can make a big difference to how appreciated an employee feels.
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