4 Employee Retention Ideas to Improve Turnover Rates

Are you losing employees just as fast as you’re hiring them? If so, the first step is to figure out why people are leaving their jobs and then take action to improve turnover. Here are some of the best employee retention ideas to get you started:

A BambooHR study of 1,005 U.S. employees aged 24 and older found that the top three reasons people quit their jobs were because:

1. Their boss was mean
2. They changed their mind on the type of work they wanted to do
3. They performed different responsibilities than their employer originally hired them for

Researchers also noted that other reasons employees leave jobs are because they feel overwhelmed, neglected, under-appreciated, bored, they’re underqualified or they fail to receive enough training.

Here are a few employee retention ideas to keep turnover rates low:

1. Develop brand champions

We’ve discussed this concept in a previous article, but it’s worth mentioning again. Why? Because brand champions love working for their companies and they want others to feel the same way.

2. Be transparent

Sharon Florentine, a senior writer at CIO, suggested a number of ways employers can improve retention rates. One included improving the level of transparency between management and lower-level staff. She believes management should encourage employees to ask questions and that higher-ups should make employees feel comfortable about discussing their problems openly.

3. Change the culture

Developing brand champions and strengthening your office culture go hand-in-hand. A strong company culture is one where employees enjoy walking into the office every morning and find the environment conducive to learning, growth, productivity and success.

4. Recognize your employees

Employees leave companies when they don’t feel appreciated. As we’ve mentioned before, recognition is a key way to retain valuable employees and it’s absolutely FREE! Actively recognizing employees’ achievements increases employee happiness and engagement, and in turn, employees are more likely to stay put. Recognition is one of the most consistently effective employee retention ideas out there.

How to Handle Job Abandonment

No matter how hard you try to improve your office’s working conditions, sometimes employees leave their positions without warning. Therefore it’s critical that companies have a plan in place to handle job abandonment.

Here are some steps to take:

1. Create a job abandonment strategy

This strategy must be clear and concise and managers should provide a copy to all employees. Employers should also schedule time – at least once a year – to go over the policy so employees understand their rights and responsibilities.

2. Be fair

Firing employees immediately after they fail to show up to work may be a bit extreme, especially if you don’t have all of the facts. A 72-hour window, however, is more appropriate. During this time, reach out to the employee by email, text and phone, if appropriate, and follow up with the employee’s emergency contacts if you can’t reach them. If the employee fails to respond during this time, it’s fair to send him or her written notification (either email or certified mail, or both) about the termination and their rights to challenge the case.

3. Have a backup plan in place

If an employee unexpectedly leaves the company you may suddenly have a large hole to fill and hiring a new worker doesn’t come cheap. A study conducted by American Progress found that it costs 16 percent of an employee’s annual salary to replace someone earning $30,000 or less. That number rises to just over 20 percent for more advanced positions receiving $75,000 or above.

You may be able to cut hiring costs by knowing where to find employees and how to attract them, as well as by hiring the best employees quickly offering them competitive benefits packages.

If job abandonment is an issue, it’ll take some time to turn your office environment around. However, following the steps and adopting the employee retention ideas outlined in this article should make it a bit easier to do so.