Becoming the company you want to work for is a good mindset to have when thinking about how to retain employees in the age of the Great Resignation.
It is also important to put yourself in your hypothetical colleagues’ and future employees' shoes. Some team members will leave your organization sooner than you'd like, after all, statistics show that 25% of all full-time employees plan to look for a new job with a different employer after the pandemic. However, you can at least make their decision to leave a little tougher.
Reasons Your Employees Could Be Leaving
The reasons your employees are leaving could be vast, however, the following are the most commonly stated reasons most employees state for wanting to leave their current working situation:
- Feeling overworked and unsupported: Asking employees to work too many hours or take on too many tasks without the help or the tools they need can lead to frustration and burnout.
- Lack of recognition: It's human nature to want to be recognized for one’s hard work. Therefore, not feeling recognized or worse having another employee who is given the credit they have earned can make an employee want to leave.
- Unclear job descriptions: Every employee should know what their job entails, in the greatest detail. There should be no question whether a particular task is part of your job. Having an unclear job description or a job that frequently changes as far as expectations can cause confusion and anxiety.
- Limited opportunity for advancement: Most employees want to feel like there is a possibility for advancement from their current position. If employees feel that this isn’t a possibility, then they will begin to consider their position a dead end.
- Lack of support or communication from management: Proper management should always support employees, and should communicate with employees with regard to expectations.
- Dissatisfaction with company culture: A workplace should be a healthy environment that supports employees’ wellbeing. Statistics show that lonely employees produce lower quality work and are twice as likely to consider quitting.
How to be the Company Employees Never Want to Leave
To promote employee retention, and become a company that employees don’t want to leave, put the following tips into action:
- Onboarding and Orientation: This should be a time when companies should clearly communicate company vision, goals, culture, and expectations for individual roles including growth opportunities inside the organization.
- Employee Benefits Package: Giving employees a good benefits package will increase the likelihood that they will remain happy and satisfied in their current work environment.
- Create an Appropriate Work-life Balance: Getting the job done is of course important. However, work isn’t more important than health and wellness, and you should create a working environment that allows for proper work-life balance.
- Acknowledgment of Milestones: Every employee should feel that they are appreciated and there should be acknowledgment of milestones once employees achieve them.
- Flexible Work Arrangements: Make sure that you as an employer give your employees the option of flexible work arrangements. This means allowing them to work from home or work flex hours. Getting the job done should be the goal, working a traditional 40-hour workweek isn’t necessary to do this and being willing to be flexible will help you retain employees.
- Employee Development and Training: According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, 94% of employees say they would stay at their current employer if said employer invested in their long-term learning. In other words, employees want to be developed and trained to continue to advance within a company.
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: All employees should feel they are able to be themselves while at work, and not have their personality or beliefs impeded by company rules and regulations.
Need Expert HR Help Achieving Your Recruitment and Retention Goals?
TPC can help provide guidance, plans, and systems in place for your business that will make the necessary changes to help attract and retain quality employees.
