According to Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index, 41 percent of employees are likely to consider leaving their job within the next year. Can you afford to lose almost half of your workforce? The retention of your employees is often out of your control, but there are ways to improve retention rates.

Work on the company culture.

Employees who feel valued and appreciated will be more likely to stay with a company for an extended period of time.

A company culture that includes interconnected employees and transparent leadership is key to retention.

If you notice an employee struggling with something, ask them if they need help or want someone to talk to before it becomes a problem.

This will show them that their concerns are heard by management and will prevent these issues from becoming major problems down the road.

Consider hiring new talent that fit well within your existing team dynamic.

If new employees are not a good fit for how your company operates, retention will decline.

You want the best of both worlds — high retention and great hires! Find ways to improve on-boarding processes.

When an employee is trained properly from day one, they will be more likely to feel successful in their role which increases retention.

Take a look at your company retention rates and see what areas you can improve on to increase retention overall.

If retention is not up to par, take action immediately before it’s too late! Work on the issues that are causing employees to leave in mass quantities so you don’t have an exodus of talent within your company.

Create greater freedom and flexibility in the workplace.

Be flexible when it comes to working hours or the application of policies.

If your employees are more productive working from home, allow them to work remotely as needed.

This will increase retention because they feel like you respect their time and schedule enough to give them the flexibility that they need at work.

Give employees room for creativity within their roles if it doesn’t interfere with their tasks.

Employees who feel like they have a chance to be creative and show off their skills will remain satisfied in their role because retention is based on job satisfaction as well!

Create an environment of transparency and mutual respect.

According to Gallup, employees with clearly defined values and goals are more likely to remain happy at their job.

If your company is bogged down in bureaucracy or inflexible policies, consider revamping how you work so that retention rates improve drastically.

Manage the workload of employees by assigning tasks logically rather than arbitrarily.

Know when to recruit more help!

If employees are overloaded, retention will decline.

Employees want to feel needed and challenged at work but only if they have the time to complete their projects properly.

Create a timeline for each project so that deadlines can be met without overwhelming employees with too much on their plate.

There are so many reasons why employees have taken on another job or have at least considered it. The pandemic has allowed people to take a good look at their life and evaluate and reflect on what is important to them and what is not. When looking at their job or career, many felt that they were not supported by management, that they enjoyed working from home, that there was not a defined career path for them, that they did not really enjoy their job or the work they were doing, or that they were simply burned out.

Employees are looking for more when it comes to culture, compensation, and flexibility. What are you doing to make sure your employees, especially top employees, are engaged and want to continue working for you? 

For more information, read Mineral’s blog on what employees want!