Five Tips for Retaining Key Employees
Over the past year, countless people found themselves working from home, assisting their children with remote learning, or taking on a new side hustle to make ends meet during some of the most difficult economic conditions in recent memory. Now, with the worst of the pandemic behind us, many people are reexamining what’s most important to them in terms of both life and career as they prepare to transition to a new normal. During this period of transition, it’s likely that many individuals will consider making a career change, with many leaving their current jobs to pursue new opportunities or to focus on new priorities like family, hobbies, etc.
While organizations are often quick to dedicate time and resources to recruiting and hiring new employees, they may neglect to focus on the retention of their existing workforce.
At the same time, many organizations are looking to add employees that will help them expand their reach or grow their business during a time of economic recovery and growth. While organizations are often quick to dedicate time and resources to recruiting and hiring new employees, they may neglect to focus on the retention of their existing workforce. This can be a critical mistake, as the loss of key employees with expertise and organization-specific knowledge can severely disrupt and delay the forward progress of an organization. Below are five tips for retaining your key employees during this critical period of change which some have started calling, “The Great Resignation.”
Listen to what your employees want. Perhaps the most important tip for retaining your key employees is simply to listen to what they want. We often make assumptions about our employees’ priorities (e.g., pay, benefits, flexibility), but the truth is, there’s no way to know for sure unless we ask them. Employee surveys can be extremely helpful for learning about what your overall workforce values. However, it can also be helpful to dig deeper with individual employees through conversation or even formal stay interviews. It’s important to note that organizations should be prepared to act on the employee input they collect because insincere attempts to gather employee feedback are likely to backfire, leading to increased frustration with the organization.
Provide recognition. One of the simplest ways to lessen the likelihood that your key employees will leave is by recognizing their hard work and value to the organization. This can be accomplished through formal employee recognition programs but is often just as easily achieved through informal means. Taking time to say thank you or shining a light on a job well-done can have a huge impact on employee morale. Make sure that you and other leaders in your organization are making a concerted effort to recognize the contributions of direct reports on a regular basis.
Offer competitive salary and benefits. Although we like to say they aren’t the only things that matter, salary and benefit offerings usually play a large role in a person’s decision to remain with their current organization or pursue an opportunity with a new one. During this period of economic recovery, wages are likely to rise as employers compete for qualified candidates to fill a growing list of job openings. Now is a great time to conduct a compensation analysis if you haven’t done so in the past or if it’s been a few years since you compared your salary and benefit offerings against those of the external marketplace. The rest of the tips mentioned here probably don’t matter much if you aren’t offering a competitive salary and benefits package. In addition, enhancing compensation should encourage employees to remain with your organization.
Provide flexibility and work-life balance. For many individuals, the pandemic focused their attention on important things outside of work, and the necessity of working from home created flexibility they had never experienced before. It’s absolutely critical that organizations find ways to continue to provide flexibility for their employees and allow for work-life balance. This can be accomplished by reducing workloads, providing additional time off, allowing for flexible schedules, and accommodating employees who wish to continue to work from home for at least a portion of the week. Organizations that force employees back to the office and the rigidity that often accompanies it may find their employees leaving for organizations that are more willing to embrace flexibility and hybrid work environments.
Offer opportunities for growth. Even if organizations are doing everything else right, employees may still leave if they don’t have opportunities for growth and advancement. Most high achievers, the employees you want to keep around, desire new challenges and increasing responsibility in their careers. Where possible it’s important for employers to provide a clear career development path so employees can continue to develop and obtain new skills or knowledge. In smaller organizations where career paths are not as easily defined, it’s important to provide employees with additional responsibilities and stretch assignments that will allow them to grow. Bored employees are likely to look for new opportunities even if they are largely content with everything else about the organization they work for.
These are just a few of the many ways you can help ensure that your most critical employees stick around for the long haul. We hope these tips are helpful as you and your organization navigate “The Great Resignation.” If you would like to learn more about your employees’ preferences through an employee survey or need any other support related to retaining your key employees, feel free to reach out!