How to Retain Your Best EmployeesEnsuring your top talent stays with you for the long haul

While attracting talent to your workplace is especially difficult in the current climate, retaining these employees in your business once they’ve been hired can be even more of a challenge.

Industries and workplaces in the UK have undergone a dramatic transformation in recent years.

Businesses are growing increasingly competitive to keep up with demand, which includes competing for the ‘best and brightest’ talent to make their company soar.

However, employees are now less likely to remain ‘loyal’ with one given company for five years or more—and this ‘job hopping’ phenomenon shows no signs of slowing down

Meanwhile, businesses remain bogged down in a costly and time-consuming recruitment loop.

The good news is that you can prevent a revolving door of staff by following some expert employee retention practices. 

Read on to learn the best tips and tricks to see how you can nurture your best employees—and ultimately prevent a brain drain of talent from your workforce.

Communication

At the heart of high turnover rates is a lack of communication. Evidence suggests that there are several things managers and senior members of staff could have done to prevent their staff from leaving. 

High on the list is encouraging open dialogue around issues such as salary, progression, flexibility and general job satisfaction.

Management can actively prevent employees from leaving by intervening before staff begin to feel dissatisfied. 

Yet business owners may also like to investigate management itself, since one study found 77% of employees cited ‘bad managers’ as their most compelling reason to leave.

While turnover cannot be entirely eliminated, if your business is suffering from high turnover rates, there could be a deep-seated problem within management itself which can be resolved with the right training.

Training and clear career paths

Candidates are often drawn to roles and companies that offer progression. However, when staff are starved from the opportunity to undertake further training, or when senior roles are offered to brand new recruits, it’s clear to see why employees become frustrated.

It is fundamental that your employees can see a future with your company if you want them to stay. Failure to invest in their personal development is more likely to see them driven to positions elsewhere as they'll believe their hard work has gone unnoticed. 

This is particularly true if new members of staff are offered the best positions and existing employees have been denied any training to advance themselves.

Benefits

Staff benefits are crucial when it comes to retaining staff members. Employees should be rewarded for the work that they do, and should feel recognised and appreciated all year round.

But a staff benefit does not need to be a generous cash bonus scheme. It can be as simple as a half day on Fridays once per month, a health and wellness programme, free fruit in the canteen, training resources, a gym membership or a cycle to work scheme. 

‘Work from home’ arrangements and hybrid roles are also in hot demand these days—and employees appreciate this flexibility when it is offered.

In other words, you don’t need to break the bank to keep your employees inspired in their work.

Celebrate consistent performers

In businesses with high turnover, management can often fall into the trap of investing all of their energy and resources into hiring or managing difficult employees. Meanwhile, employees who continue to deliver consistent results are rarely given the same consideration.

But employees who have become disengaged, even while performing steadily, are just as likely to leave.

Fortunately, managers can prevent a morale dip in their team by consistently checking in on their wellbeing and general satisfaction with the company on a one-on-one basis.

Hire the right people

Finally, the best way to retain staff is to ensure that you are hiring the right people in the first place. Staff continue to leave posts where they feel the role is out of their depth or is simply not challenging enough to match their skills and expertise.

It could be that your expectations are too high—or too low—when searching for the right candidate. So, examine your hiring procedures, your interview tactics and the job advert itself. 

Streamline the interviewing process with custom shifts for those involved in evaluating candidates. Software like Findmyshift can assist your management team by setting aside sufficient space and time to find and hire the right person for the job.

 

By following these tips from the get-go, you’ll be sure to establish a welcoming and nurturing workplace culture where your best and brightest employees will stay and thrive for many years to come.


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