Every business has to deal with employee turnover. That said, some businesses experience more turnover than others. And at some point, employee turnover can become a legitimate problem.
Are you frustrated with the level of turnover at your business? Looking to reduce employee turnover? This article has you covered on worker retention.
1. Pay Competitive Wages And Salaries
While some individuals might get some sort of personal fulfilment out of their careers, most go to work for one reason: to make money. If they're not making the amount of money needed to lead happy lives, they will attempt to find it elsewhere.
This is why it's imperative that you offer competitive wages or salaries. Paying a salary of $45,000 for a job that typically commands $60,000 is a surefire way to lose employees quickly. They'll use your company as a temporary stepping stone, gaining much-needed experience and then using it to secure higher-paying work elsewhere.
Wondering how to establish competitive salaries? The key is to assess salaries for similar jobs in your area.
If your employees are making similar salaries to similar employees in their area, they'll have no reason to leave your company (provided that you're treating them with dignity and respect, of course).
2. Offer More Benefits
One of the easiest ways to reduce employee turnover is to offer more benefits. The more compensation an employee receives, the harder time he or she will have of walking away from it.
Now, what kinds of benefits can you offer? The traditional benefits are health insurance and 401(k) matching. Together, these benefits help employees to save money and pad their retirement funds.
However, there are a number of other corporate perks you could offer as well. One option is to offer dental insurance; Another option is to offer work-from-home opportunities. You could also offer bonuses based on performance.
These benefits stand to vastly improve the quality of an employee's life. As such, they'll have an incentive to stay put.
3. Hire the Right Employees to Begin With
Different companies have different cultures. Whereas some are characterized by teamwork and freethinking, others are characterized by isolation and strict standards. So, while some employees will fit in with a specific culture, other employees won't.
Your job is to find the ones who fit into yours. After all, you can't expect to fit a square peg into a round hole.
Do you prefer ample and forthcoming communication? If so, you should probably stay away from shy and socially awkward individuals.
Do you prefer to have employees who follow the rules exactly? If so, you should probably avoid ultra-competitive types.
By hiring the right employees initially, you ensure that they stick around for a while. In other words, you keep employee turnover to a minimum.
4. Show That Advancement in the Company Is a Legitimate Option
Decades ago, it was common for employees to advance up the ranks of their respective companies. While this still occurs to an extent, it's much less common than it used to be.
So, what happens instead? Employees leave their companies in pursuit of better work at other companies.
While this is never entirely avoidable, there are things you can do to ensure your employees that advancement within the company is a legitimate option. One option is to provide advanced training. Another option is to offer pay increases in exchange for added responsibilities.
In essence, you need to show your employees that they're not wasting their time at your company. They need to know that there's a reachable milestone and that it can be reached through consistent hard work and high performance.
5. Provide Praise
It's important to remember that employees are more than just employees. They're human beings with human emotions and must be treated as such. If an employee feels like just another cog in a machine, he or she will grow dissatisfied and will eventually leave to pursue work elsewhere.
The question you might have is: how do you prevent your employees from feeling this way? The key is to lavish praise when it's deserved.
If an employee does a particularly good job on a project, you need to show your appreciation. While verbal praise is generally sufficient enough, you might consider something a little more tangible (ie. a bonus, a meal, etc.).
6. Loosen up on Your Employees' Schedules
Working 8-5 day in, day out can be monotonous, to say the least. While some employees appreciate the structure of an established workday, other employees despise it.
As such, you should consider loosening up employee schedules. Allowing employees some freedom as to when they do and don't work is a surefire way to stoke their appreciation for the job. It will allow for an ideal work-life balance, thus reducing stress and resentment.
In other words, it will make your employees happy. And when employees are happy, they stick around.
7. Lighten Things Up from Time to Time
While the primary purpose of work is to, well, work, it doesn't have to (and shouldn't) be all work all of the time. If you want your employees to enjoy their jobs (and thus stick around), you need to lighten things up from time to time.
Throw office parties. Bring in doughnuts once a week. Allow for regular communication among co-workers.
You don't want your employees to feel as though they're sitting in a prison. You want them to enjoy what they're doing. Employees who enjoy their jobs tend to keep them.
Looking for Tools to Help Reduce Employee Turnover?
While the tips above will go a long way to reduce employee turnover, they are only the tip of the iceberg. Looking for more help in reducing employee turnover? We have a bevy of tools and informative articles here on Bootstrap Business for you to utilize.
