Many organizations have dubbed 2021 and 2022 as the two years of “Great Resignation”, with a record-breaking number of workers leaving their jobs within this timeframe. This trend is expected to continue in 2023, with over half of workers (56%) likely to look for a new job in 2023 compared to 2022.
Numerous data sources revealed that compensation was the main driver for these high employee turnover rates. Other reasons include poor company culture, burnout arising from working from home during the pandemic, inflexibility, and lack of recognition, among others.
While these statistics and turnover outlook may seem dismal, the majority of voluntary turnover is actually preventable. Here are some foolproof and effective retention strategies that organizations can explore to retain employees while driving a culture of recognition and high productivity levels.
Fostering positive corporate culture
Research has revealed that close to one-third of new hires will leave their current employers within the first 90 days, with most citing misalignment on culture and role expectations as the primary reasons. To counter this, it is imperative for organizations to build a positive corporate culture that properly showcases the organization’s mission and values. Promoting a positive corporate culture is one of the best ways to attract quality and motivated candidates that are aligned with the overall organization’s goals. At the same time, it builds engagement and commitment with existing employees.
Organizations can foster and reinforce a strong corporate culture by promoting open communication, transparency, as well as recognizing and rewarding achievements. Further, encouraging teamwork and open collaboration among departments, and providing ample learning and development opportunities for employees creates a supportive workplace environment that values continuous improvement. A positive corporate culture that reflects the organization’s brand also demonstrates to the public that the organization is authentic and committed to its vision and values.
Offering competitive compensation and benefits packages
Compensation and benefits packages are often one of the biggest push factors for employees to leave the organization. Yet, this is also one push factor that employers have some control over. Regular benchmarking of compensation and benefits packages against the organization’s peer competitors and similar roles within the industry offer insights on whether existing salaries and benefits are competitive.
In addition to market benchmarking, organizations also need to review individual compensation elements to determine whether they are attractive in retaining existing employees. This may include offering performance-based incentives, bonuses and flexible benefits such as healthcare, additional leave offerings, and retirement plans to boost employee satisfaction and engagement.
On top of offering competitive compensation and benefits packages, organizations also need to enforce a robust total rewards philosophy and ensure that it is well-communicated to employees. Establishing a strong talent management process that rewards high performers and corrects pay imbalances can reduce compensation-related turnover. Maintaining transparency as well as implementing a comprehensive total rewards package showcases the organization’s commitment to ensuring that its employees are appropriately commensurated based on their skills sets and value contribution.
Providing ample growth opportunities
Aside from compensation and benefits and poor corporate culture, the lack of career growth opportunities is also one of the key reasons why employees quit. Organizations that demonstrate their commitment to employees’ career development and professional growth will foster a culture of engagement and loyalty among employees. When employees see that there are ample opportunities for them to advance, learn new skills and build their professional network, they are more inclined to remain in order to tap on these resources. Further, providing true growth opportunities through internal promotions as well as lateral or cross-border movements is particularly effective in incentivizing employees to stay.
Introducing flexible work arrangements
In the post-pandemic era, employees are increasingly concerned with job flexibility. In fact, organizations that support flexible and remote working conditions reported around 25% lower turnover rates. Flexible work arrangement does not solely include remote work or telework. It could also mean flextime, where employees are required to work a stipulated number of hours, but can choose when those are, as well as part-time schedules, compressed work weeks or in-office rotation with co-workers within the team. While working conditions may vary across industries, organizations can still offer flexible and hybrid work options to employees while maintaining similar productivity levels as traditional working conditions. Offering flexible work arrangements can help employees to achieve better work-life balance, which can ultimately reduce work burnout and boost retention rates.
Turnover within the organization is inevitable. However, it is possible for organizations to reduce employee turnover rates while keeping their high performers and top talent. To combat high turnover rates, the solution is to adopt a proactive and multi-faceted retention approach that addresses employee engagement and satisfaction levels by offering growth opportunities, competitive compensation and benefits packages, as well as flexible work arrangements. Frequent review of existing retention strategies also ensure that HR and business leaders can take immediate steps to address and improve them. Doing so leads to more satisfied employees, who are likely to be more productive at their jobs and remain with their employer for an extended period of time.
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