Staff Retention Strategies: 6 Ways to Boost Your Retention Rate

• Higher job satisfaction
• Better employee engagement
• Smoother onboarding experiences and better training
• Lower training costs
• Better overall employee experiences
• A stronger company culture
• Improved brand reputation
• Increased productivity
• Improved customer care or experience

Employee experience is a strong determiner of retention. Employees who feel like they have a future and mobility within a company are more engaged. They feel more involved in the company’s success. Employees who are adequately compensated are much more likely to stick around. Investing in staff retention not only improves your employees’ quality of life, but also shows that your organization cares.

Putting a number on turnover: How to calculate your staff retention rate

According to Willis Towers Watson’s 2022 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey, 44% of employees classify themselves as job seekers. That’s nearly half of workers who are either currently looking for a new job or plan to be soon. A strong job market allows workers to seek the best possible opportunities.

Statistics like this are good to know, but they don’t give you an accurate understanding of your organization’s individual retention rate. It takes a little data gathering and number crunching, but it’s worth the effort. Calculate your staff retention rate annually or even monthly in order to uncover trends as they unfold and make changes to increase retention if necessary.

First, decide on the time period you’d like to focus on. A month? A year? Next, find out how many employees your organization had at the beginning of this time period as well as the number of employees who stayed employed throughout this duration. Don’t include new hires.

Determine your retention rate by dividing the number of employees at the end of the time period by the number of employees at the beginning of the time period. Multiply this by 100 to calculate your retention rate. Here’s a formula for reference:

Number of employees at end of time period / Number of employees at beginning of time period

X 100

= Retention Rate

While retention rates will vary based on industry, type of role, and other factors, a high turnover rate indicates a larger problem. Is it issues with your company culture, inadequate compensation, or other problems that are driving away talent? It’s time to get to the bottom of it and create lasting solutions.

Staff retention strategies: 6 smart ways to improve your employee retention rates

Determining your organization’s retention rate is a key step in the right direction. Now that you’ve done so, it’s time to implement a plan to improve it. Here are six smart ways to improve your staff retention rates:

Hire the right people from the very beginning.

Taking the time to hire the right talent from the beginning makes all the difference. Start with a solid job description and be very clear about job responsibilities, expectations, and requirements. Craft a deliberate interview process in which you take the time to get to know the candidates and determine whether they are the right fit for the role as well as for the organization. Don’t feel rushed to hire the first applicant in order to fill the position– waiting for the right candidate to come along is worth the wait.

Invest in great management talent for leadership positions.

In order to retain your best staff members, be sure to invest in your best managers. An old adage says that people don’t leave companies, they leave managers, and there is a lot of truth to that. In fact, a GoodHire survey revealed 82% of surveyed workers would potentially quit their job because of a bad manager. Investing in great talent for leadership positions and continuing to help them grow as managers is an excellent way to retain talent.

According to GrowthForce, you must invest in your Middle Managers because they can make or break your business. Middle managers play an important role in the day-to-day operations of a business and serve as a bridge between upper management and lower-level employees.

How? Here are some ideas. Be sure to provide managers with ongoing growth opportunities to develop their leadership and mentorship skills. Make sure your business has an excellent peer-to-peer support system in place for managers. Finally, be sure to prioritize the connection between managers and employees so that employees feel supported.

Provide great compensation and benefits to attract top talent and keep them around.

In order for companies to attract– and retain– talent, they simply must offer competitive pay and benefits packages. The search for a better salary has long driven job change. A competitive job market offers workers even more leverage when it comes to pay and benefits expectations. If your organization wants to avoid the high costs of turnover, you must offer competitive pay and a desirable benefits package.

Compensation is more than wages or a salary. It includes benefits, bonuses, and incentives. Total compensation packages may also include things like health insurance coverage, long and/or short-term disability insurance, retirement contributions, paid time off (PTO), flexible work schedules, remote or hybrid work alternatives, stock options, and more.

With 55% of employees leaving for jobs with higher compensation, according to Lattice’s SOPS Report, now is the time to do your research and take a comprehensive look at your organization’s compensation package to make sure your staff members are competitively compensated. Create a people-focused strategy that incentivizes employees to stay with your organization. What do you have to offer that your competitors don’t?

Acknowledge and reward employees’ accomplishments.

When employees feel like your organization doesn’t value them, they’ll begin looking for opportunities elsewhere. People want to feel appreciated for the work they do. Whether an in-person thank you, an email, a company shout out, or whatever other incentive program your organizaton has in place, showing your gratitude makes a difference. Celebrating employee contributions improves retention.

Here are some simple ways to acknowledge and reward employees’ accomplishments: