One in five workers will seek a new job in the next six months, so employee turnover causes are on the minds of employers who want to know how to improve employee retention and motivation. After all, workers who leave their jobs can impact costs, change the workplace culture, and lower productivity. It’s no wonder employers concentrate on turnover.
Employee turnover is on track to increase by 20% in 2022.
However, with so many employers being laser-focused on employee turnover, not enough are considering the related concept of employee retention. Undoubtedly, keeping employees longer over the lifespan of a business leads to lower staff turnover. But shifting to a retention mindset can take time, resources, and technology.
Companies that focus on their culture enjoy a 72% lower attrition rate.
Combat turnover by shifting to a retention strategy and create an environment where employees want to stay. First, take a look at employee needs. Then, explore how you can keep staff longer, using employee retention strategies designed around workers’ needs.
Why Do Employees Stay?
Managers think they know what makes employees stay put, but they’re often wrong. Employers focus solely on transactional factors, such as compensation and benefits, while employees also consider relational factors.
Fifty-three percent of employers say they’re managing higher attrition than in previous years and expect it to continue to worsen.
Employers can’t manage attrition when they’re unsure of what employees desire. We’re breaking down some top reasons employees keep their current jobs, and highlighting two key ways you can ensure you’re giving them what they need while increasing retention in the process.
Financial Compensation Is Part of the Package
Top employees have plenty of opportunities for a higher paycheck, so it’s crucial to realize that while money isn’t the only thing retaining them in their positions, it’s still important. Salary is the top consideration for job hunters, with 31% saying they give it more weight than any other factor.
Benefits Ease the Journey
Salary and benefits are important up front, with 64% of employees saying an excellent compensation package is non-negotiable at the stage when they consider taking a role. However, benefits themselves go beyond financial compensation. Benefits are part of workers’ other key desires, from work/life balance in the form of generous leave policies to personal well-being perks, such as remote work, gym memberships, and education benefits. And it’s working, with four of every five workers preferring their current employer to add benefits rather than offering a pay raise.
Empowerment Rules in the Workplace
Workers want challenging work that gives them purpose and lets them make valuable contributions. That includes avoiding repetitive, rote tasks that aren’t engaging. Instead, they want the power to make decisions and solve problems. They want to know their boss appreciates them. When people feel valued, they’re more likely to stay on board.
Increase Retention by Meeting Employee Needs
Executives who want to improve employee retention must focus on meeting employees’ needs by creating a culture that prioritizes compensation, benefits, and empowerment. How? There are two crucial ways to get started.
- Focus on Employee Experience (EX): Incredible EX leads to greater engagement, which connects workers to the organization and their coworkers while providing feedback that can propel them forward in their careers. It’s a springboard to empowerment and employee satisfaction. Ultimately, no employee wants their work to be frustrating, repetitive, or disempowering.
Employee experience encompasses communication, feedback, and empowerment. It’s no wonder EX will be a priority for 92% of organizations over the next three years.
Good EX means focusing on employee well-being, supporting onboarding with straightforward education and forms, allowing for remote work, improving communication and collaboration, offering education and career development, and incorporating feedback. Look for gaps in these areas of company culture and devise ways to make improvements.
- Lean on Tech: If your Human Capital Management (HCM) system can automate transactional and repetitive interactions between you and employees, you’re already ahead of the competition. Rely on tech to track career growth, training, and evaluations. It can also help with onboarding, time off, and compensation, offering clear feedback on performance, so workers always know the path forward.
If you don’t already have an HCM system, look for one that:
- Simplifies the onboarding experience for new hires
- Gives employees self-service access to key employee information
- Lets workers manage their needs on mobile from anywhere
- Allows data to flow between all your systems to minimize repetitive data entry and quickly solve problems
- Calculates benefits deductions retroactively, so you can meet employee needs faster and mitigate issues as soon as possible
PrimePay at your service.
Shifting your mindset isn’t easy. However, by thinking about employee experience, leaders can uncover innovative employee retention strategies and beat high turnover. When they do, they’ll enjoy the reward: a pipeline of engaged, long-term workers ready to drive future growth.
PrimePay can partner with you to offer support throughout the entire employee lifecycle. Learn more about how PrimePay can help you streamline HR processes.
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