5 Tips for Improving Employee Turnover Rate and Retention

When you’re busy crunching numbers and trying to find ways to improve your bottom line, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that your business is made up of people. At the end of the day, without your team of hardworking employees, your company wouldn’t be where it is today.

Losing good people can be extremely costly — especially when it becomes a trend. High employee turnover can harm your company’s performance, productivity, culture, and bottom line. In fact, experts estimate that it can cost upwards of twice an employee’s salary to find and train a replacement.

So how do you lower your employee turnover rate and improve employee retention? Here are 5 tips to help you do just that!

1. Hire the Right People

Employee retention starts with hiring the right people from the start — people who value your business and fit into your company’s culture.

Hiring and training new employees takes time, money, effort, and resources, so it’s important to be purposeful in your recruitment process and make sure you’re hiring people who will not only succeed but also stick around. Someone’s resume can tell you a lot about what kind of employee they’ll be, and you can often identify a job hopper just from looking at their employment history.

Vet candidates thoroughly and focus your interview questions not only on their skills and qualifications (what they can do for you) but also on what they’re looking for in an employer.

2. Provide Opportunities for Advancement

When it comes to long-term employment, most people are looking for more than just a job; they want a career. Employees are far more likely to stay if they feel like there’s room for personal growth and advancement within the company.

Promoting from within is a great way to show your employees that their hard work and dedication are appreciated — that their commitment to the company is not only recognized — it’s rewarded.

Providing ongoing training, establishing an employee development plan, and giving employees opportunities to learn new skills, work with new people and technologies, and expand the scope of their responsibilities can also go a long way in making employees feel like the company is invested in them and their success.

3. Offer Competitive Compensation and Benefits

Money certainly isn’t everything, but it does matter. Offering competitive pay and generous benefits not only serves as an incentive for potential new hires during the recruitment process, but it also makes existing employees feel valued and appreciated.

Loyal, hard-working employees are hard to come by, and they generally have options, so it’s important to show your appreciation in the form of praise, paid time off, bonuses, rewards, health benefits, and retirement plans if you want them to stick around long term.

It’s a good idea to do some market research and be aware of what your competitors are offering in terms of pay and benefits. This will help you set competitive salaries and incentives without overpaying.

4. Be Flexible

The phrase “work-life balance” is used so often that it’s almost become a cliché at this point, but that’s because it truly is essential if you want your employees to feel fulfilled and happy in their roles. People want to know that their employer understands and respects that they have other responsibilities and commitments outside of work.

COVID-19 has forced businesses to evolve and adapt in ways they otherwise might not have. While the pandemic has been disruptive and difficult for many businesses, it’s also shown the value and cost savings of allowing employees to work from home. A recent Gallup poll revealed that three in five employees who have been working from home during the pandemic would like to continue doing so as much as possible, even once the risk subsides.

Continuing these policies and offering your employees the option to work from home or set their own hours can help build a culture of trust and appreciation, which will likely improve productivity and make your employees want to stick around.

5. Ask for Feedback

Sometimes, an employee’s decision to leave is beyond your control, but the last thing you want is to lose good people because of things that could have easily been addressed. You can’t find a solution to a problem you don’t even know exists.

When an employee does leave, it’s a good idea to conduct an exit interview to gain insight into why they decided to move on. Understanding the reasons employees are leaving is the first step in improving employee retention. Have a standard set of questions so that all exit interviews are consistent. This will allow you to see patterns and identify specific issues that need to be addressed.

Make sure your employees know their opinions are valued. Reach out in the form of surveys, questionnaires, and routine meetings/check-ins. If you’re concerned about employees holding back for fear of losing their job or not getting a good recommendation, consider setting up an anonymous suggestion box or send out anonymous questionnaires.

Ready to start implementing employee-retention strategies?

The experts at Rush Recruiting & HR have extensive experience helping businesses like yours find and keep great people — people that fit into your company’s culture and thrive in the work environment you’ve built. We can help you identify and implement employee-retention strategies that are specific to your business and industry and help you improve your employee turnover rate.

Call us at (503) 481-1285) today to get started.