Dedicated, hardworking employees should never be taken for granted. After all, if you don’t show your finest team members the appreciation they deserve, they’ll have very little incentive to turn down more lucrative offers. As such, it’s in every business’s best interest to incentivize high-performers to stick around. Fortunately, this isn’t nearly as daunting a task as some companies make it seem. If higher retention rates are what your business strives for, consider the following pointers.
Don’t Hesitate to Promote Valued Team Members
If your company tends to be stingy with promotions, many of your top performers are likely to feel disheartened. Most of us like to feel as if we’re working towards something and that our efforts will eventually lead to something bigger. However, in the absence of promotions and pay raises, employees are liable to feel as if they’re stuck in a thankless rut. So, if you’re interested in boosting worker retention, there’s no time like the present to rethink your approach to promotions.
Employees that consistently put forth their best efforts and go above and beyond the call of duty should be rewarded with promotions that reflect their value to the company. If a team member’s title and salary are out of balance with their level of importance, don’t be surprised to see their productivity and general enthusiasm plummet. Furthermore, if your company garners a reputation for failing to reward hard work, you’re liable to see a considerable decrease in the number of applications you receive for open positions.
Provide Relocation Assistance
Relocating for one’s career – regardless of how passionate they are about what they do – is often a difficult decision. Unsurprisingly, many people are hesitant to pack up and move to different states – or even countries – for the sake of their work. This is doubly true for people who have families and roots in their respective locales.
So, if your company regularly requires employees to make big moves, it’s only fair that you provide them with ample relocation assistance. In addition to covering moving and travel costs, you should also pay for their lodging until they find a new residence. For companies that require employees to relocate overseas, it’d be time to look into helpful international relocation services. Additionally, this will help ensure a smoother transition for all parties involved.
Offer Enhanced Flexibility
While many employers still swear by the traditional eight-hour workday, a growing number of workers have come to regard it as unnecessary. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies and employees came to realize that certain jobs can be done effectively from the comfort and safety of home – and that requiring people to report to an office and sit behind desks for eight hours is nothing but outdated pageantry. Furthermore, in many cases, remote work has been linked to heightened productivity and enhanced employee satisfaction.
If your company still refuses to embrace remote work, you’re liable to see a number of your top performers seek out opportunities at companies that are on board with schedule flexibility. Remote work is particularly among employees with family-related responsibilities and workers who contend with physical and/or mental health issues.
Actively Encourage Feedback
It should come as no surprise that people don’t enjoy working for companies that trivialize their needs or make them undervalued. So, if your employees don’t feel as if their personal and/or professional needs are being sufficiently met, your worker retention efforts are likely to suffer as a result. To nip this in the bud, you should actively encourage employees to share any questions, concerns or grievances they may have and assure them that they needn’t fear retaliation. Additionally, to illustrate how dedicated you are to employee happiness, take care to enact changes based on the feedback you receive.
No business can afford to regard employee happiness as an afterthought – especially if the retention of top talent is among their foremost priorities. Unsurprisingly, companies with less-than-ideal working conditions tend to have low worker satisfaction and low employee retention rates. So, if you wish to set your business apart from the pack, it’s in your best interest to create a healthy, fulfilling environment for your team members. In addition to facilitating heightened productivity and motivated employees, this can do wonders for your worker retention efforts.
