Employee Retention, and why it is such an important topic for employers

In the first of our Q&A Video series, we spoke to expert HR Consultant, Sarah Birkenshaw of Quest Consulting, and asked her some questions about Employee Retention.

What is the main reason that people are leaving their employers?

Poor Management

A recent Gallup poll showed that a massive 50% of people left their job due to poor management. People are promoted to line management positions because they are good at their jobs, but often not given any training to actually be a manager. Businesses need to recognise this and to invest in their managers and give them the skills to do the job effectively.

Lack of recognition

Employees want to feel valued at work, and if they feel they aren’t getting the recognition they deserve they could start to look elsewhere. This can be easily fixed and doesn’t mean expensive pay rises. A simple thank you for a job well done, or some other form of recognition, done in a timely manner will go a long way to making them feel valued.

Lack of career progression

It can be difficult in smaller companies to offer upward progression, if you have a relatively small or flat hierarchy. However, you can look at investing in your people to develop their skills through training.

How can I improve employee retention within my company?

Recruit well

Sounds obvious, but you need to make sure that you recruit the right people in the first place, that you want to retain.

Train your managers to be managers

Don’t assume that just because people are good at their job that they will be good at being a manager. Management is a completely different skillset and you should invest in training to ensure that your managers have the right knowledge to do the job effectively.

Actively manage personal development

Make sure that you give feedback, both positive and constructive, quickly and professionally. Don’t wait for formal review time to give the feedback as this can be damaging. If there’s a problem then you can come up with a solution quickly and move on, if its positive feedback for a job well done, then why wait? Also take the opportunity to have a plan for areas where the employee needs or wants to develop, and review it regularly to ensure that progress is being made.

Review your benefits package

Benefits don’t have to be expensive. There are loads of employee benefits to choose from and some of them cost little or nothing. Think about flexibility you can offer employees or benefits that support their wellbeing. Better still, ask employees what they want and give them an opportunity to tailor their benefits package to meet their needs.

What more could I do to improve my company’s employee retention?

Employee engagement surveys

A great way to get a feel for how your employees are feeling is to ask them regularly. An employee engagement survey can help you to understand how you’re doing as an employer, if there are any big issues that you need to fix, and how you can move forward in the future.

Exit interviews

If you do find yourself in a situation where an employee has decided to leave, conduct exit interviews and be open to learning from the outcome. You can’t act on everything you hear but there may be some obvious things that you can change, or you may spot some themes when conducting these interviews every time someone decides to leave.

Review your employee experience

This may take a little time, but it’s really worth doing if you want to maximise your employee retention. Map out your processes from the initial recruitment of an employee right through their ‘life-cycle’ until they leave. Once you have this documented you’ll be able to spot areas where you might have problems, and prioritise the areas that need fixing.

In this market, where recruitment is difficult it’s worth taking the time to focus on your retention and making sure you are doing your best to retain your employees. If you need help with recruiting your next employee please get in touch.

If you are looking to work with a proactive HR company who can help you with the whole employee life cycle, please get in touch with Sarah.

LinkedIn -  sarah@questconsultingservices.co.uk - https://www.questconsultingservices.co.uk/