As the workforce and work models continue to transform in 2022, businesses need to focus on an employee retention plan more than ever. The need to ditch the traditional tactics and explore innovative employee retention strategies has never been more pressing.
There’s no denying that attrition has been on the increase in recent years, with many businesses experiencing a high rate of employee turnover. This has been attributed to the economic climate, as well as the influx of new technologies, that have made it easier for employees to take-up other opportunities at a moment’s notice.
A study shows that this trend is expected to continue in 2022 and beyond, with more employees looking for new jobs due to a variety of reasons including:
- Increased pay
- Flexibility in working hours
- Better work culture
- Additional benefits (health insurance, stock options, etc)
In today’s competitive job market, it is more important than ever to keep your employees happy and engaged. Whether you run a startup or a large enterprise, you need to understand how to attract and retain top talents.
With that in mind, we have assembled a list of 13 innovative employee retention strategies for 2022. This practical employee retention guide can help you retain your top talent so that they stay with you for the long haul.
What is employee retention?
To understand employee retention, you need to first understand what employee churn is.
Employee churn refers to the number of people who leave your company in a given period (usually a year). This can be caused by a variety of factors, including low salaries and benefits, poor management practices, lack of career development opportunities, or even something as simple as an underwhelming lunch break.
Employee retention is the exact opposite of employee churn. According to our employee retention guide, it is defined by the process of keeping your employees happy, engaged, and invested in their jobs.
But employee retention is not just about preventing people from leaving—it is also about making sure they stay with you long enough and bring the best of their potential everyday at work. The ultimate goal is to have as few people leaving as possible—that is, to have low turnover rates and high employee satisfaction rates.
Why does your organization need employee retention strategies?
If you are looking to increase your profits and retain your employees in today’s competitive work environment, an innovative employee retention strategy is a must.
Employee retention strategies focus on retaining the talent you have worked so hard to find and develop. These strategies can help you keep your best talent by fostering a feeling of trust and appreciation among your workforce.
A simple employee retention rate formula to calculate your organization’s retention rate is to divide the number of employees that stayed with your company through the entire time period by the number of employees you started with on day one. Then, multiply that number by 100 to get your employee retention rate.
Employee retention is unarguably a critical part of business operations. It can mean the difference between thriving and surviving. When the right employee retention strategies are implemented, it can help you keep your best employees on board.
The benefits of having strong and innovative employee retention strategies are therefore clear:
- It saves money in the long run (because turnover costs money)
- It improves productivity and efficiency (because teams work better together when they trust each other)
- It increases job satisfaction because it leads to higher morale).
Now that you know the importance of employee retention strategies, let’s look at some of them that are helping organizations succeed.
Top 13 innovative employee retention strategies
Loyal employees are one of the most critical and foundational anchors of any organization. Therefore, retaining such talent is important to building a revenue-generating organization. To engage your best employees, you need to implement employee retention strategies that are data-driven, innovative and impactful.
Let’s take a look at some of the most innovative employee retention strategies:
1. Hire candidates aligned with the company’s values
Hiring on the basis of company values is one of the most effective employee retention strategies. If you want your employees to stay, you need to hire people who are aligned with your company’s values.
According to a study by Harvard Business Review, 80% of a company’s employee turnover rates may be attributed to hiring practices that are not aligned with a company’s core values.
This is because employees who align themselves with the core values of their organization can feel more connected to it and are more likely to stay when they feel that their work is meaningful and aligns with their own personal values.
The best way to implement this strategy is by making sure that candidates are aware of all expectations from them during the interview process. Employers need to have a clear understanding of the kind of personality they want for each job role before they start interviewing.
Once you know these key mandates, it will be much easier to find candidates who share those values and fit into the organization’s culture. Many organizations rely on psychometric tests to gauge fitment.
2. Build a solid onboarding strategy
A strong onboarding strategy is one of the most effective techniques for employee retention. It’s a great opportunity to show employees how important they are to the organization. Empowering new hires with information about their benefits, as well as highlighting opportunities for growth within the company will help them feel like their career growth will not be stagnant. Onboarding is important in retaining employees. So how do you create a high-yielding onboarding strategy?
Once employees are a part of the organization, make sure new hires feel excited to be part of the team with a proper orientation and clarity on work responsibilities. This can help build clarity between the organization and new employees.
Additionally, once they’re on board, make sure they have an effective orientation program that helps them feel prepared and confident in their role as well as where they fit into your company’s culture. This will give them the tools needed to succeed in their role from day one!
The bottom line is that onboarding isn’t just a way to get new hires up to speed—it’s critical to building goal clarity and long-term relationships between organizations and their talent pool.
3. Encourage career enhancement and skill development opportunities
Employees are the backbone of your company. They are the ones who bring the ideas, drive motivation, and passion to make your business a success. However, when they feel stuck in their careers, they are more likely to look elsewhere for greater satisfaction.
If you are looking to retain your employees, it’s important to let them know they have opportunities for career enhancement and skill development. Employees want to feel like they are growing and learning at work—it makes them feel valued, and it helps them stay engaged with their work. Providing advancement opportunities within the organization is one of the most effective employee retention ideas.
This can be done by leveraging employee retention tools that offer learning and development. Employees can also take on extra responsibilities within the company if they showcase the required potential. This type of approach will help organizations improve employee retention and make sure that they do not lose out on talent due to lack of progression opportunities within their business model.
HR leaders can take certain steps to help their employees feel like they are growing in their professional lives. Some of these include:
- Providing training opportunities for employees who want them
- Making sure that you are offering opportunities for advancement within the company
- Letting employees know about opportunities for other positions within the company
4. Allow employees to take ownership
One of the key drivers of employee retention is trust. It’s no secret that millennials are more likely to leave their jobs than any other age group and that turnover costs companies an average of $10,000 per employee. As a result, many companies have started implementing policies that encourage accountability and responsibility in their employees.
What if you were able to foster this sense of ownership without micromanaging or even promoting? What if your company could continue operating normally while still fostering a culture of accountability and ownership?
The answer lies in allowing employees to take ownership of their work, whether it’s by giving them more autonomy over projects or simply trusting them enough to do their jobs. This can be accomplished through:
- No micromanagement – managers don’t check up on employees every minute and step of the way
- Promoting accountability – allowing employees to take responsibility for their own mistakes
- Responsibility – involving employees in decision-making processes
- Ownership – giving employees opportunities to take charge of their work comprehensively.
By allowing your employees these freedoms, you’ll transform them into future leaders who will feel they are trusted and empowered enough.
5. Create a non-toxic work environment
A great way to retain your employees is to ensure mutual trust, humility, and integrity among employees and management, and definitely by promoting a non-toxic work environment.
Factors such as favoritism, unhealthy competition, fear-inducing leadership, absurd rumors and more, create a toxic work-environment. This further leads to employee absenteeism, high employee turnover, dissatisfied customers, high stress levels and unhappy employees. Evidently, HRs must understand the value of encouraging a non-toxic work culture to turn their new recruits into long-term assets.
A non-toxic work environment also helps retain employees by promoting an atmosphere of inclusion, where everyone feels safe talking about their problems and asking for help when they need it. This work-culture goes a long way in fostering inherent loyalty rather than building a team that is only looking forward to the monthly paycheck.
Creating a non-toxic environment allows your organization to attract great candidates and bring out the most progressive results. A healthy work-environment motivates employees to act as the brand ambassador of the company and take responsibility for their daily tasks.
6. Encourage team building activities
Conducting team-building activities is a great way to improve employee retention and it is one of the most effective strategies for employee retention to encourage team interaction.
A recent study found that employees who have a strong sense of community at work are happier, more engaged, and more productive. Not only that, but they are less likely to leave their jobs than their peers who do not feel as connected to their colleagues. Team building activities also help build a sense of community among the staff and encourage them to take ownership over their projects and ideas.
In addition to improving employee retention, team building activities assure employees that they have someone to lean on, it builds their trust and it makes them feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves.When employees feel like they belong on our team, they’re more likely to be invested in the success of our company.
Host regular team-building events such as the following as a part of your employee retention strategies:
- Team lunches or outings
- Game nights
- Innovative idea sessions
7. Give rewards and recognition to retain your employees
Giving rewards and recognition is another great way to keep your employees happy and engaged. In addition to making them feel good and appreciated, this also improves employee retention.
It is important to recognize your employees for their achievements, both grand and small-scale. A simple thank you email can go a long way in making your employees feel appreciated and valued, which is one of the most thoughtful things you can do as a manager.
In addition to acknowledging individual accomplishments, it’s also a good idea to recognize your team as a whole. This not only helps build morale among your staff members, but also helps them see how their work fits into the bigger picture of your organization’s mission.
We recommend having an “Employee of the Month” award as a part of your employee retention plan, where you can recognize the most valuable members across teams. This is one of the most innovative employee retention strategies as it helps keep your staff motivated and engaged in their work, which will ultimately lead to more productivity and better results for everyone involved!
8. Pay a competitive compensation
Compensation is one of the most important aspects of hiring and retaining talented employees. Paying your employees rightful compensation should be the first priority of your employee retention plan.
There are many reasons why this is true, but here are some of the most important:
Competitive compensation helps you attract and retain top talent – If you offer competitive compensation, you are more likely to attract qualified candidates.
Competitive compensation helps keep employees happy – When employees feel like they are being paid fairly, they tend to stay at their jobs longer and be more productive. This is because they have less reason to leave their job because of low pay or poor benefits than if they were underpaid or not given any benefits at all.
Competitive compensation can help reduce turnover costs – A competitive compensation can influence employees job satisfaction levels. When employees are being paid fairly, they stay motivated intrinsically and go the extra mile to complete a task. Competitive salaries lead to low employee turnover, and encourage a high morale among the workforce.
9. Prioritize mental well-being
If you are looking for ways to improve employee retention, you must prioritize mental well-being. According to a study, employees who feel mentally happy are more productive and have better relationships with their colleagues and customers. A healthy workforce is a productive workforce, and when employees feel supported by their leaders, they are more likely to stay with the company.
If your job is not making you happy, why would you want to stick around? Investing in mental health initiatives is a great way to keep employees happy and engaged.
Of course, it’s not always easy for employees to prioritize their mental wellbeing over other obligations—especially when they’re working long hours or dealing with difficult customers or colleagues. But, there are some simple ways you can support your employees in their journey towards mental well-being:
- Encourage them to take breaks throughout the day where they can relax and recharge (even if it’s just five minutes).
- Give them opportunities to learn healthy lifestyle habits (like mindfulness meditation) or participate in team activities outside work.
- Offer flexible work schedules so they can enjoy both personal and professional lives.
- Introduce employee retention tools that offer employee assistance to ensure their employees can freely raise concerns whenever needed.
10. Incorporate a flexible work environment
One of the most important things you can do to retain valuable employees is to offer a flexible work environment.
A flexible work environment should allow employees to dedicate their time to work and family. It also makes them more productive because it allows them to focus on what they need to do without worrying about missing appointments or taking care of other important things in their lives.
Employees who are able to work flexibly will be more likely to stay with your company because they do not feel forced to work and feel valued by their employer. Additionally, a flexible work environment allows employees to balance family life with their professional lives more easily, which can make them feel more fulfilled in their roles. This will lead to lower turnover rates, saving money and increasing productivity for the business overall.
This particular retention strategy for employees is important for teams with distributed members or global hires.
11. Encourage open door policy
Open door policies can help improve employee retention by creating a more open and transparent environment.
Simply put, it’s an open policy that encourages employees to come to their manager or HR head with any issues or questions they have. This could include questions about their performance, requests for more training or development, and even personal concerns they might have.
The first step is to define who will be involved in the process. This should include leaders, managers, HR professionals, direct reports, and employees.
Next, it is important to establish clear goals for your open-door policy. What are you hoping to accomplish by opening up lines of communication? What changes do you want to see in the workplace as a result of this policy? How does everyone feel about this initiative? What issues might come up along the way?
The last step is to implement the open door policy by making it visible throughout the organization. Employees should be encouraged to speak up when they have concerns or have ideas for improvement– even if they don’t think those concerns are important enough for upper management’s attention!
12. Scheduled use of employee engagement surveys
When it comes to effective and innovative retention strategies for employees, surveys can provide a wealth of data that can be used to improve your retention rate.
But how does this work?
Let’s say you want to know whether your employees are satisfied with their current job or not. You can use an employee engagement survey to find out the existing mood.
In fact, surveys are a great way for workers to voice their concerns and provide feedback on important issues. Surveys can also help identify unhappy employees or the ones at risk of leaving. The data received by conducting these surveys can help organizations plan accordingly. Employee engagement surveys are one of the most innovative employee retention strategies that helps in getting deep insights into employees’ state of mind.
The data serves as a guide for addressing problems before they escalate into bigger concerns. And when that happens, organizations need not worry about losing good employees because they know what’s going wrong and how to fix it before it escalates.
Improve employee retention with a simple-to-use employee engagement survey tool like Leena AI’s Employee Engagement solution that allows you to not only easily set up employee surveys in a matter of minutes but also have them run on a schedule that works for you.
13. Support employees’ personal life and create a sense of belongingness
Employees are more likely to stay at your company if they feel the organization understands that they have a personal life. A feeling of being cared for encourages them to stick around and bring their best work to the table.
For example, you can offer flexible hours, allow employees to work from home or give them the option of working from a coffee shop. This will allow them to manage their time and responsibilities more easily, which helps them feel less stressed about work.
You can also create a sense of belongingness by creating a positive atmosphere. Set up events where everyone can get together and bond (like holiday parties or happy hour). This will not only improve morale but also make your staff feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves.
Conclusion
Employee retention is becoming a critical issue for companies, but this cannot be solved by implementing a single strategy. HRs need to be proactive, measure, and continually improve – thus the need for innovative employee retention strategies. And, this employee retention guide can be a starting point for you.
There is no single strategy or act that can be used to retain employees; instead, companies will need to develop a comprehensive approach that incorporates employee training, communication strategies and more.
This is when Leena AI can help!
Leena AI is an AI-powered employee engagement platform that can help you measure your employee engagement levels and track them over time. It serves as an employee retention tool that provides insights on what drives employee satisfaction, the actions needed to improve it, and how your company fares against other companies. It also provides recommendations for actions based on data-driven insights and the best practices being adopted by the industry.
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schedule a demo now!Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 5 main drivers of employee retention?
Employee retention is one of the most important aspects of any company’s success. The right employees can be a huge asset to your business, but losing them can be just as costly. Here are the five biggest drivers of employee retention:
- The work itself
- Career growth potential
- Benefits and perks
- Company culture
- Company leadership
How can employee retention be improved?
In order to improve employee retention, employers need to offer opportunities for professional growth within their companies. This can be accomplished by giving employees more responsibility over time, or by sending them to conferences or workshops that will help them develop new skills. Employers should also make sure that their employees know that their ideas are valued and encouraged—this will help them feel more empowered at work and less likely to leave because of it.
Why is employee retention important?
Employee retention is important because it helps businesses save money, avoid turnover-related costs, and ultimately keep their employees happy. A high employee retention rate indicates that the organization is trusted by its employees. Calculating and improving employee retention rate allows organizations to operate more effectively and positively.
Why is retention important in Human Resource Management (HRM)?
Retention is important in Human Resource Management (HRM) because it has a direct impact on the productivity levels of the organization. If the employees are happy and engaged, they will be more productive, to better business outcomes for the organization.
