Why is Employee Retention Important? | Employee Engagement for Employee Retention

In the tight talent market out there, one of the most important considerations of many organizations is the challenge of Employee retention. While finding efficient employees is a strenuous work, replacing them when they leave is another major task. On top of that, the costs of employee turnover are reaching skies with as much as 2.5 times an employee’s salary depending on the role of the employee left.

In addition to these, there are other soft costs, such as training cost, lower productivity till the new employee picks it up and hence decreased engagement and the cultural shifts could also add to them. Considering this whole mess, organizations are keen on employee retention tactics that help both the employees and the management.

Employee Engagement and Retention

When the employees of a company are engaged, instilling such culture can keep the people on-board and make them feel committed to the organization. Money, whether in the form of salary, incentives, allowances, increments, or maybe extra benefits is not the only driving force that makes today’s employees heartfully willing to work for the company. There are many other things to be focused upon like the working environment, open communication between the employees of the company, opinions being valued and better career development.

So, it depends upon the overall experience they get in the office premises. Unfailing employee engagement strategies are those that focus on how to improve those working conditions of the employees and keep them enthusiastic, satisfied, and committed to the organization.

Due to the reasons like low employee retention, an organization’s success rate can come down. With higher employee turnover rate, the reputation of the organization goes down. Though the organizations that seek employee feedback also have retention rates lower than the others, it’s the organizations that are serious about instilling a real culture of employee engagement, are seeking benefits. According to the surveys, engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave the organization.

The organizations with high employee turnover rate get benefitted from the employee engagement efforts they put in. The habit of employee engagement concerning the wellness of their employees, not only attracts great employees, but also keeps them. When a co-worker leaves an organization, it is likely that the other people around would also think of leaving the office and search for job opportunities. When it is about a skilled and talented professional employee, this tendency is higher. The organizations should focus on employee engagement strategies to prevent the risk of employee turnover.

Tips for employee retention

Though every employee is unique, they desire to be appreciated, treated fairly, get excited and challenged by their work, and want to get paid fairly well than in the market, with good benefits. It is not just making the employees happy or paying them well off that reduces the turnover, but making them to be a part of organization’s success and increasing the feel of belongingness in them increases their levels of commitment and chances of retention.

Joining and Training

Employee retention should be focused from the day of joining. Employee on-boarding process is the important step in creating an impression in the employee’s mind. Welcoming the employee, giving a clear job description, providing mentorship, offering them help with their work etc., come under the employee on-boarding experience. The training and support you provide them from day one are a point of consideration. Though the person is experienced, in order to have a stress-free starting experience and to avoid initial hiccups with the new modules, offering a training period for 15 to 30 days is beneficial.

Perks and Packages

Giving a clear description on all the financial benefits the employee gets, like salary, bonuses, paid time off, insurance benefits, health benefits and pension plans etc., lets them have a sense of financial security. Make them clear about the additional perks offered to them like free lunches, coffee, tea and snacks availability, shopping coupons, cab facility, smart phones and security systems etc., along with the wellness offerings such as psychological help in stress management, team coordination and other issues at work, physical health concerns such as the facilities to play games and sports, and gym facilities and the timings for them.

Paying the employees for the conferences and training programs they attend on behalf of organization, funding their office tours, and the additional pays they get for some work on their day-offs and extra-time at office, also help the employee retention. Ancillary benefits like dental checkup, optical checkup or wellness checkup make employees feel your concern towards them.

Encouraging Work Environment

Open communication is the main asset that helps an organization to stay ahead. Allowing the employees a chance to report on problems, ideas, questions and concerns helps them to have clear problem solving ways. Giving honest feedback and offering help for the betterment of work, makes an employee feel so obliged to the company. In case, the employee lacks in expected performance, offer them necessary training, but don’t let performance issues affect their self confidence. Value their morale and keep their spirits high as that’s the way to win the hearts of your employees.

Also, maintaining clear communication on company’s happenings, department direction and the individual’s contribution towards the organization makes the employees feel their work is being valued. Every employee has concern towards the career. As a part of training and development, ensure that the employees are aware of the further job opportunities in the company itself. This strengthens their commitment towards the organization.

Rewards and Recognition

The organizations should focus on meeting the complex needs of the employees. In any individual, feeling satisfied and successful with own progress helps in the improvement of self-esteem and self-confidence. But getting appreciation and applause from others improves our confidence and the willingness to do more. When we don’t get any kind of appreciation from others, it would eventually lead to negativity, low self-confidence and inferiority regarding our lives.

This is why recognition plays a bigger role. This recognition should be there for the employee’s work, commitment and also for the feedback. When the feedback of the employee is valued, it aids for the employee engagement in the organization. Recognition and rewards make a great impact. Though small in size, if the frequency of the rewards is high, that counts.

Recognize the highest performers in the office and reward them with incremental vacation days. As you can be confident enough that they can finish the allotted work in time, it would be fine to grant them extra holidays. This also inspires others towards hard work. Celebrating birthdays, offering gifts as a token of appreciation, giving days off, or tour packages in small budgets etc. makes them feel belonged. If you are troubling to create a positive work environment and want to engage your employees to help them put their best efforts, we are here to help you.

Wellness Hub has a team of psychologists who put in their best efforts to bring you an employee wellness program, EWA meaning Employee Wellness Audit. Our flagship product EWA helps you engage your employees and make them more efficient and productive.