Staff Retention: The Three Trends Keeping Your Team Together
Brought to you by WBR Insights
In today's job market, it's your employees that wield the power. Thanks to unemployment in the US being at a low right now, the talent pool has shrunk significantly. This means fewer applicants for positions and less choice for employers.
Employees that don't feel valued are almost twice as likely to be looking for another job. Those who don't trust in the abilities of their supervisors are four times as likely. The loss of an employee costs a company, on average, 33 percent of that person's salary. Advertising, recruitment agency fees, screening, interviewing, and hiring, all cost a significant amount of money, which could be better spent elsewhere.
This makes staff retention strategies of utmost importance as we move into 2020. You need to make sure your employees aren't wondering how green the grass is on the other side of the fence. With that in mind, here are the trends human resources should be deploying in 2020 to keep your workforce whole.
#1 Create Multiple Touch Points
Employees who feel there is an opportunity for upward feedback and recognition are more likely to stay in their roles. Companies that fail to listen to feedback from their employees will find those people are 16 percent more likely to search for new opportunities.
To make the most of employees' desire to give their feedback, brands will need to create multiple ways for them to do so. Not everyone will be comfortable delivering feedback in person - especially if their immediate superior is the subject of said feedback. Therefore, in the future, you will need modern digital methods of gathering meaningful and anonymous feedback from your people. Surveys, online portals, and multiple reporting figures are all ways to achieve this.
However, the most important element is that you act on that feedback. While 60 percent of businesses do gather feedback from their staff, only 30 percent both look at the data and make the changes necessary. For example, if a high proportion of your staff have a complaint about a manager, then you could consider arranging some additional training for that person. Remember that feedback is about making improvements for the benefit of the whole business.
#2 Perks
With the current administration making severe cuts to the healthcare bill laid out by its predecessor, working-class people are more concerned than ever about being able to provide their families with first-class healthcare when it's required.
This creates an opportunity for your company to stand out by offering desirable perks such as healthcare, dental, and more. Free lunches etc. are great, but most employees would rather have tangible benefits that will save them money and create better lives for their families. Flexibility and paid time off are also highly desirable in today's workforce. Giving your staff the ability to work remotely, accrue additional time off, and have flexible working hours, are other great ways to keep your staff backing your brand.
The best way to find out which perks are important to your employees is to ask them. You can even give your employees the opportunity to craft their own perks package from a range of options, as many big brands do.
#3 Driving Work/Life Balance
Research has shown that maintaining a healthy work/life balance is a major driver of job satisfaction.
As time goes on, we are learning that the old-fashioned ideal of working all hours is not a healthy attitude to possess, and this will be addressed even further in 2020. People with a healthy balance feel more in control of their own lives, less stressed, and more motivated when they are at work.
Additional compensation following the completion of a large project which may have required overtime is a great way to give your employees a chance to recharge after a busy period and show them their efforts are appreciated. Maybe offering half-days on Fridays during the warmer seasons to let your staff get out and enjoy the sunshine could be a good way to engender good feeling.
This also includes allowing employees to attend career and professional development conferences and training sessions - getting them out of the office but keeping them engaged with work. Team outings also foster unity and contribute towards a greater work/life balance.
Final Thoughts
These are three great employee retention trends you can expect to see more of in 2020. The nature of work is changing. The power is in the hands of your staff, and those brands which can bring these strategies into the fore will have the best chance of maintaining the integrity of their teams.