How to Improve Employee Retention in Your Company

Employees are your organization's most valuable asset. Recognizing hard work, keeping an open line of communication, and staying transparent about where the company is headed are just a few ways to keep your employees happy and your turnover rate low. But if you aren't doing your part to make them feel valued, don't be surprised if they decide to call it quits. Here are some of the best strategies you can implement to improve employee retention at your own company.

Employee Empowerment

Encourage your employees to take full ownership of their own responsibilities. Hire experienced and talented people who know very well how to do their job, and have your managers convey trust, facilitate and support. Empower them as much as possible and make everyone feel like an entrepreneur in their own area of competence (with the potential to grow outside of their original area of competence).

Conducting Stay Interviews

Instead of waiting until the employee leaves the organization to find out what was going well, what could have been better, and what kind of relationship that person had with their manager, meet with team members annually to discuss these items. Ask for feedback on recent events, give a heads up on events to come, answer any questions, etc.

Allow Them to Communicate Anonymously

Giving and receiving feedback from your team members regularly is critical. Team members want to know how they are doing, how they can progress within the company, whether they're valued and how they can add value. Improvise a way that will allow team members to communicate anonymously to the entire company.

Avoid Micromanaging

Talented individuals don’t need micromanagement. Allowing employees to take on projects they haven't participated in before or have no experience in allows for growth and encourages them to take initiative. Push your employees to take calculated risks and try new things. If they succeed, then they have experience to add to their resume. If they fail, then they learn. It’s a win-win either way.

Check-in Regularly

Give them the opportunity to discuss their strengths, career aspirations, and the items they struggle with to show your workforce that you're dedicated to their professional growth and addressing their concerns. In most cases, attrition can be greatly reduced through regular check-ins with your employees and these meetings take no longer than 5-10 minutes.

Transparency

Be transparent about how your company is succeeding, provide clarity on what can be improved, recognize who had a direct impact and offer direct data to support the claims. This strategy is often feared by leaders but can drastically increase retention and employee loyalty when done correctly. Leaders who speak to employees on these topics can secure a tenured workforce.