Retention Strategies every organization must follow

In my career span I’ve been discussing about the turnover over ratio and attrition reasons most of the time. In the high competitive market, retaining talent is utmost important factor. Generally, we wait until an employee puts down his papers and has made up his mind of leaving the company, but there is very less chance of retaining them once employee has fixed up his mind of leaving. Hence it is very important from my point of view to touch base with an employee from the time to time to get the insight about what keeps an employee engaged/disengaged/motivates/demotivated/keeps happy so we can derive retention strategies based on that.

Important Retention Strategies

  1. Retention to be start from recruitment:

    Whenever a candidate is offered a particular job, candidate starts making an impression of the company in his mind. The hiring process should be transparent, clear and effective job description to be provided, interview process should be well designed. It is truly said that if the first impression is good, candidate tends to be as engaged with organization as much. Also candidate referral ration will increase with good candidate experience.

  2. Onboarding:

    Precise onboarding practices helps in effective retention. Once the candidate is on-boarded with proper values helps in building long-term relationship with an employee. Ineffective onboarding may result in early attrition and negative results. After onboarding training proper performance checks, assigning buddy & mentor to a new joiner, implementation of 30-60-90 days training program, new joiner connect, progress checks by supervisor helps in effective results.

  3. Give them challenging work

    By continually giving your top performers a new target to work toward, you can keep them engaged. This strategy also helps them further their careers, allowing them to acquire new skills and achievements. The positive impact on their overall employability will make top performers more loyal to your company.

  4. Cross-functional training

    Once an employee becomes an expert in one area, you can open them up to cross-skilling opportunities. This will ensure that the employee doesn't jump in search of another job.

  5. Provide career advancement

    People do not just work for money, they equally expect growth and career advancement. Career progression & advancement opportunities can be provided to keep employees engage to the organization. Promoting from within not only provides a clear path to greater compensation and responsibility, it also helps employees feel that they're valued and a crucial part of the company's success. Various Individual development plans can also be effective tool. Offering few educational course for development will also help. "The need for new skill sets and evolving roles are in demand at rapidly growing rate, so putting someone on a career path that doesn’t have any room to develop is not only a career-limiting move for the employee, but a business-limiting move for the company."

  6. Offer benefits and Perks

    Personalized benefits can be an excellent way of retaining your employees, as it gives them a sense of security about their future and a better quality of life. Benefits and perks play a large role in keeping employees happy, engaged and healthy. But benefits can go far beyond healthcare coverage and paid sick leave. Flexible work schedules, the opportunity to work remotely and paid leave policies also go a long way. Along with Rewards & recognition program, timely survey can be done amongst the employees to know their perspective about which kind of benefits and perks employee wish to pursue.

  7. Open & Dynamic culture:

    Open & transparent work culture always motivates employees to stick with the organization. Open- door policy encourages employees to ask questions, express ideas & opinions, build relationship with managers. Open house forums can also be one of the best medium.

  8. Reward & Recognition:

    The contributions of average-performing employees shouldn’t be ignored. By adopting a social reward and recognition platform, you can make them feel appreciated in the workplace – and thereby less likely to quit.

  9. Addressing the Performances:

    Low-performing employees might have hidden potential that is not being utilized correctly. They could be working in the wrong department, while their aptitude lies elsewhere. Or they simply might require additional training. Following 3 steps can be taken for poor performance:

    • Identify skill gaps
    • Develop Skills using PIP (Performance improvement plan)
    • Encourage them

  10. Succession Plan:

    Succession planning creates a talent pipeline, preparing today’s top performers for future leadership roles. Involving this employee group in your succession plan can be a good idea for retention, as they know exactly where they are headed in the company.

  11. Design a progression track:

    Not every employee will be interested in taking on managerial roles. Some may want to become specialists in their current area of expertise and grow within the same function. If your company places a ceiling on the career progression of specialized skill sets, these employees are likely to start looking elsewhere for growth opportunities.

  12. Correct Expectation of the job:

    Employees who enter the job with incorrect expectations are most likely to leave in the first few months. Or, if your company offers a competitive pay scale and benefits package, they might try to stay on, but at below-average performance rates. So setting up the right expectation is very necessary for getting the best productivity.

  13. Feedback Mechanism:

    Every organization may not practice pattern of delivering effective and critical feedback at regular time interval. For Development of an individual sharing of feedback at such interval is very important. This will not only improve an individual performance but also organization growth and development can be achieved by following feedback mechanism.

There can be many strategies surfacing time to time but on a wide-ranging, these practices/strategies can be followed for reducing attrition and improving retention.

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