With the increased competition for top talent, customer retention and engagement can help companies save on hiring costs and the time and effort put into finding top talent. According to a Gallup survey, 50% of employees suggest that a manager could have prevented them from leaving. This exemplifies the importance of being proactive in ensuring employee retention.

Understanding Employee Retention And Why It Matters

Customer retention is an organization’s ability to retain its employees year after year and prevent them from leaving for other companies. A company’s talent strategy is the foundation of its growth. Any organization will struggle to grow without the right people, and high employee turnover can derail that strategy.

So, why should businesses put efforts into retaining people? There are several benefits of customer retention. These include:

• Disruption to daily operations. Your HR department will go into triage mode whenever your top talent leaves. They start focusing on finding new employees to fill the vacancy. When this happens so often, it can lead to total dysfunction in the department.
• Stronger company culture. If employees constantly leave, this can be draining to other employees, who are left in an atmosphere of dysfunction and uncertainty. Conversely, a company with higher employee retention leads to a stronger and more positive culture because there is less disruption and more cohesion.
• Better employment engagement. Higher employment support can lead to better engagement when the same team joins to solve challenges, likely creating greater bonds and improved engagement.
• Retained institutional knowledge. Employees who work long in an organization get exclusive knowledge of the processes and systems. New employees may not have access to this knowledge.
• Lower recruitment and training costs.  You must keep recruiting, hiring, and training replacements if you have a high employee turnover. On the otherhand, a stable workforce means you will spend less on hiring and training.

How Is Employee Engagement And Retention Related?

Employee engagement is your staff’s emotional commitment and mindset, depending on their previous work experience. It’s an indicator of the level of emotional commitment of the employees to their work.

So, how is a higher employee engagement related to higher retention? The reason is simple. If an employee loves his job, he will likely remain there for long. Employers addressing issues causing a high employee turnover leads to improved morale, a higher engagement rate, and retention.

Tips On Employee Engagement And Retention 

So, how do you improve employee engagement and retention? Here are several tips:

1. Have an excellent onboarding strategy

The onboarding stage is what offers employees their first impression of a company. Without a good onboarding process, new employees will likely feel uncertain about their future in the company. When they feel neglected, they are likely to have a low engagement level, leading to low retention.

Positive interactions during the onboarding process make employees feel valued, appreciated, and welcomed. Therefore, when you develop an onboarding strategy, your employees will hit the ground running, increasing customer productivity.

2. Foster a positive company culture

One factor affecting company engagement and retention is the company culture. If an organization has a positive culture, employees feel good about their work and are likelier to continue working there. It also encourages employees to continue learning and improving.

According to a recent LinkedIn and Imperative study, when people feel connected to their workplace, they become more committed and perform better. On the other hand, disengaged and overstressed employees are more likely to fall sick.

There are several ways to foster a positive company culture. These are:

• Identify your organization’s core values.
• Stand by your company’s value to gain trust.
• Have clear and consistent expectations.

3. Make your employees feel valued

While workplace happy hours and feel-good Fridays can help your employees have a positive work culture, these might not work if your employees don’t feel valued. According to a study by the American Psychological Association(APA), customers who feel appreciated at the workplace are motivated to be more productive.

A good employee engagement and retention strategy should offer recognition and highlight employees’ accomplishments. Employee achievement is a sign that a company appreciates its employees. You can use different recognition strategies, such as verbal praise, team acknowledgment, and personalized rewards. You can also ask employees for input on how they want to be recognized. An employee benefit plans specialist can help you hone in on a benefits plan for your employees, so they feel more inclined to stick with your company over the long run.

4. Get employee feedback.

No matter how hard you try, getting it right in improving employee engagement and retention can be hard. You can ask for your employee’s feedback to seal any loopholes in your engagement and retention strategy. Remember that collecting employee feedback is part of engagement. 

Employees will feel appreciated when they see their views being considered and implemented. On the other hand, it can give you insights into their experience and expectations and show you areas you can improve on to reduce staff turnover.

5. Promote a healthy work-life balance.

Promoting a healthy work-life balance is one way to keep employees engaged, motivated, and more productive. This allows employees to recharge and have better health. Therefore, encourage flexibility with your employees and provide them with the right support systems to enable them to manage challenging tasks.

You should always remind your employees to disengage and break from work. Set clear boundaries regarding their work hours and personal time. Provide flexible working methods, like remote work, to help them handle personal matters during their free time.

6. Offer a competitive pay

Employees change jobs because they are lured by competitive pay elsewhere. You can prevent this by giving them competitive pay within or above the market rates. A higher salary may translate to a higher employee engagement rate. You should also have thoughtful perks that reflect your employees’ needs. Additionally, to keep up with modern engagement strategies, consider creative approaches like buying YouTube subscribers to boost your brand’s online presence. Ensure you also focus on employee needs, such as a wellness package, healthcare, and personal development programs.

In Conclusion

Employee engagement and retention can help improve productivity at the workplace. With the above tips, you can be assured of engaged employees who will stay with your company for long.

Guest writer.