How to boost staff retention

Holding onto star talent can be difficult in this competitive market. Staff aren’t staying in jobs for 10-15 years like previous generations. Instead, the new average tenure is around 2-3 years. High staff turnover is often a sign that something needs to be adjusted.

Investing in recruitment and training is a costly exercise and not something you will want to be doing frequently. Here are some tips and incentives you can use to boost staff retention.

Set clear expectations

A common employee complaint is having expectations of their role mismatched with those of their employer. Make sure your employees know exactly what you require them to do so there is no confusion. This can be tracked by weekly check-ins to see how they are progressing and set objectives for the week ahead. If you require them to begin taking on more responsibility, maintain open communication about your changing expectations and offer incentives. If employees have a clear view of what is expected and know that they will be acknowledged, they can see a clear growth plan for their career and will be more likely to stay with your company for that journey.

Let employees showcase their talents

Continually encouraging your employees to demonstrate their industry knowledge to other employees or other industry professionals is a great way to show how much they know or have grown within their role. Employees often seek out other roles if they have hit a growth or learning ceiling in their current one. Try running monthly cross-training sessions where staff get to show thought leadership while training other staff. Alternatively, research any industry competitions you can enter your staff in to help drive employee motivation and job satisfaction.

Open communication

Promoting a workplace culture where employees feel comfortable voicing their concerns or suggestions is an important factor in employee satisfaction. If you sense someone is feeling stressed or anxious, offer to have a casual talk over coffee to hear them out.

Control workflow

The fastest way to employee burnout is excessive workload with no relief. If employees are working overtime or seem stretched past their capacity, this is a sure sign that their workload is unsustainable. Be careful to spread the workload evenly and not to punish your best workers with more work without any added incentive. Assess whether it is worth bringing in new staff or contractors to help share the workload.

Office culture

With staff returning to the office after lockdown, they are getting to enjoy chats around the coffee machine and endless cookies and treats. Providing a well-stocked rest area is a small but effective way to keep staff motivated to keep coming into the office.

Competitive pay

Paying competitive salaries can be difficult when budgets and funds are tight. However, the cost of replacing staff is often more expensive than offering a raise through recruitment and training costs. Employees often find they can gain a 5-15% salary increase by simply moving from one company to the next – making jumping ship attractive. While creating an enjoyable work culture is important, employees are still highly motivated by their bottom line. If you aren’t sure if you can afford to offer raises, try offering cash bonuses based on performance. Monthly or quarterly cash gift cards to recognise standout employee performance is a good alternative for keeping staff motivated and loyal.

Finally, help keep your employees’ stress down, motivation up and coffee in their cup to see greater staff retention.