Afraid Your Employees Are About to Jump Ship?

Good employees are the most valuable asset you have, right? So in this competitive job market, what are you doing to ensure your employees are satisfied and engaged enough not to jump ship?

With the unemployment rate at such a low level, workers are more willing to change jobs for pay increases or better benefits or a better fit. These days, employees aren’t staying in a job as long as they used to which means retention is getting harder and harder. Therefore, the need for worker retention strategies is more important now than ever!

Employees leave a job for many reasons – some preventable and some unavoidable – with some of the biggest reasons being 1.) a bad manager, 2.) an opportunity to make more money and 3.) no opportunity for growth. The key to retaining employees is knowing the factors and proactively taking steps to contactually improve the employee experience and avoid losing great talent.

Here are tips on how to retain employees and gain more in the future:

1. Offer better compensation. It’s a wage war right now and even a small increase in wages can be enough to entice employees to change jobs if they don’t feel invested in their current companies. Be sure to be frequently evaluating your compensation levels compared to your competition or you are more likely to lose highly skilled employees. A poll by 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair found that money is the biggest motivator for employees and 35% of respondents said it’s the most important thing when looking for a new job. You need to be paying employees what they are worth before they find a better offer and it’s too late for you to convince them to stay.
2. Realize generational differences. Compared to older generations, millennials tend to change jobs more frequently and to leave a job after a brief period of employment rather than remaining loyal and staying with the same employer for years on end. That is due in part to the increasing burden of student loans. But employers also need to recognize that millennials and baby boomers most likely value different things in the workplace so they may be more successful at employee retention. It’s critical to keep millennials engaged with what is going on in the company. Team building, effective communication and providing a sense of direction are all key components to earning the loyalty of the younger generation.
3. Present opportunities for learning and growth. Retention has a lot to do with your company’s responsibility of providing a strong culture and high engagement for your employees. You need a career plan for each employee. When employees join a company, managers should take the time to discuss their long-term opportunities for growth and advancement. Successful companies give employees frequent chances to voice frustrations, share concerns and receive feedback. Weekly one-on-one meetings can also make a significant difference. Training and mentoring programs give employees the feeling the company is investing in them and that helps form a stronger employer-employee relationship. And when employees see their jobs as relationships, they’re less likely to leave without a second thought.

It is definitely a workers’ market and nobody wants to be caught off guard with news from a great employee that they are leaving the company. So take the time to understand the reasons why employees leave and address the issues. If you invest in your employees and their well-being you will definitely get a return on that investment!