First of all, we need to understand what Employee Retention is. It is the efforts put in by the organization to hold on to their employees, by creating a work environment conducive to the current staff to encourage them to stay with the organization. Some of the Best Employee Hiring and Retention strategies are listed below :
Hiring the Right People: It is estimated that 80% of employee turnover is due to bad hiring. It is the skill of the hiring department to identify the right talent and hire that person under the best possible terms and conditions. A wrong hire will be a huge burden on the organization in terms of cost, reputation, time, and effort.
Help in their Growth and Development: The employees’ short and long-term goals should be fulfilled by the organization. One way would be by arranging in-house training programs.
Encouraging Open Communication: An atmosphere should be created for employees to freely express their opinions or question their leaders and voice their concerns, without fear of reprisal. An Open Door Policy will go a long way in achieving this.
Provide out of the box benefits: Most people work for better benefits. So if something is offered beyond the regular vacation or sick leaves, they would be happy with financial incentives or sabbaticals, employee stock options, etc.
Appreciating Employees: Employees feel good when they are appreciated for any good work done or any other achievements. Apart from the regular Rewards & Recognition programs, if there is a handwritten thank-you note from their big boss, it would delight them and spur them to achieve greater goals.
Creating a stress-free atmosphere: Employees under stress perform below their average. Stress can be personal or work-related. If it has to do with work-related, efforts should be made to resolve it and the excess workload if any should be shared by the team members. In case of personal stress, again the Manager can pitch in by understanding the issues and guide them if possible or refer them to the HR team who can professionally handle such situations.
Bonding with employees:The Manager should ensure that all the employees share a good rapport among themselves and with the Manager so that there is teamwork and it becomes easier to achieve the end goal. There can be lunch outings, celebrating the team members’ personal milestones, etc., so that every employee feels that the organization is with them through thick and thin.
Providing Monetary Benefits: Monetary benefit is the most attractive of all benefits for an employee. Most employees quit due to a lack of compensation. It is important that there is a firm appraisal mechanism and decent salary hikes are given in a timely manner to keep the employees motivated.
Thus to put it in a nutshell, the importance of retaining good talent cannot be stressed more. Organizations should do what it takes to retain their talent as a high Employee Turnover will cost a lot.
