2021 Employee Retention: Strategies, Techniques, and Plans

Finding the right staff for your organization can be extremely difficult— but that’s only half of the challenge. You’ll also need to work as hard as possible to retain your current staff members. Competitors can easily poach your current employees; it’s increasingly important to analyze your staff retention and employ strategies to prevent high staff turnover.

In this post, we’ll be taking a closer look at staff retention and its importance. We’ll also explore strategies you can use to improve your current staff retention rates.

Employee Retention Definition

So, what is employee retention? This term refers to how well an organization can retain its current crop of employees.

While companies place a lot of focus on recruitment, they are starting to realize just how critical it is to ensure they retain as many employees as possible. Businesses now invest considerable money in retaining staff.

If you haven’t taken a closer look at your current staff retention rates, it’s probably a good idea to start now. By looking at your past hires and their average length at the company, you can help determine if you’re currently experiencing an excellent staff retention rate. It may also be worth calculating the average training cost per employee— this can help you assess how losing staff impacts your business.

Importance of Employee Retention

Employee retention is essential for an organization of any size. If you’re unable to retain staff, it’s usually an indication that you’re not promoting the right environment in your workplace. Below, let’s explore some of the clear benefits of increasing your employee retention rate.

Lower Training Costs

If you’re hiring a new employee, the training costs can be massive. While you may not have to pay for formal education or training, the amount of time it takes for someone to get up to speed can cost your company money. Other staff members will also need to invest time and resources training your new employee.

If you’re hiring for a technical role, the training costs can be even more expensive. If you lose a staff member, you’ll have to hire someone new and repeat the same level of investment.

More Efficient Output

If you want to keep your output at top efficiency, staff retention is crucial. If you’re always hiring and retraining staff, your production is drastically reduced. Retaining trained staff is particularly important if you’re engaging in long-term projects. Having to hire and train a new staff member during a complex project may prove to be next to impossible.

Less Risk

Hiring new staff to replace a long-term employee has its risks. You can only learn so much about someone during the recruitment process — it’s best to keep hold of staff that you can trust.

Employee Retention Strategies

There are plenty of different things that you can do to increase your chances of retaining employees. Below, let’s take a look at some standard employee retention techniques that organizations can use in the workplace:

Salary, Benefits, and Everything in Between

In reality, everyone works for money. While you can offer other great benefits to your employees, the compensation needs to be competitive in your industry. If people feel undervalued by your organization, they’re less likely to stay.

Consider the costs of replacing someone when you decide on their compensation package. You can save a lot of money by simply providing people with a competitive salary from the start.

Clear Communication

If you’re running a large organization, communication might be an issue. It’s vital that staff members feel they’re receiving clear communication about expectations and projects. By auditing managers and communication channels, you’ll be able to ensure that everyone is effectively receiving the information they need to be satisfied with their jobs.

Seek Feedback

You should always be seeking feedback from employees. You need to foster an environment that allows employees to speak openly about their experiences in your organization. You’ll have a hard time retaining staff if they feel trapped in silence.

Build a Company That Impresses

While salary is significant, ambitious people also want to work for a company that they can be proud of. This provides them with substantial experience on their CV, as well as the career satisfaction they’re looking for. By building a company that has a strong brand and set of values, you’ll be able to offer more to your employees.

Employee Retention Plan Template

An employee retention template can help you outline a clear plan for retaining employees and reducing staff turnover. There are tons of great templates online, but we’ll take a look at a small one right here in our post. Remember: You should customize a template to suit your particular needs.

Designate Different Employee Groups

One of your first steps should be to divide your company into different subsections. This will allow you to determine which groups of people require which employee retention strategies. For example, senior management will have different requirements than entry-level employees.

Use a Comprehensive Approach to Custom Retention Plans 

Make sure to consult with different levels of management to see what they think will contribute to a solid retention plan. Ask for guidance on what your staff members want from your organization. Your staff’s input will help you build custom retention plans for different parts of your organization.

Develop Feedback Forms

You should develop precise feedback forms that allow staff to provide information at specific intervals throughout the year. You can use this feedback to address shortcomings.

Quarterly Meetings with Checklists

It’s essential to remain consistent. Setting up quarterly meetings with clear agendas can help you keep your finger on the pulse of your organization. Make sure to set checklists that help your quarterly meetings remain consistent.

Seek Improvement

As always, it’s essential to seek improvement continuously. If you’re in a competitive niche, you need to be offering the best workplace environment in your industry.