Employee retention is crucial for your organization if you want to stay competitive in today’s environment.
If you thought the Great Resignation was dialing down this year, think again. The U.S. saw a record 4.53 million workers quit their jobs in March 2022, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
With workers weighing their options and looking for something better – flexibility, benefits, higher compensation, or a different title, to name a few – you need to be offering and rewarding top talent if you hope to retain them. According to Willis Towers Watson’s 2022 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey, a significant 44% of employees are “job seekers”.
The real cost of employee turnover
Replacing an employee can cost an average of 6 to 9 months salary. It varies by wage and role, but suppose you hire someone at $60,000 a year – that translates to $30,000 to $45,000 in expenses!
However, other factors reverberate through the organization. For example. employee turnover can cause low employee morale; watching coworkers leave will cause other employees to question if there are better opportunities for them too.
This snowballs into lower engagement and productivity overall, affecting your company culture. As job seekers assign more and more value to company culture, this will make it more difficult to attract talent.
How to retain employees in 2022
Talk to your workers
This one tops the list because if your organization isn’t already doing this, you need to make it a priority today.
The simplest way to gauge how happy your employees are, what they feel you’re doing right, and what they think you’re doing wrong is to ask them! Frequent face-to-face meetings and continuous feedback are key here.
Sending out anonymous surveys is an effective way to encourage workers to open up about how they really feel about company processes and culture. But, of course, this is just collecting data – the second part is to take action and implement changes according to the feedback you receive.
When making these changes, exercise caution and do so slowly – allowing time for your employees to adapt to the new processes. Again, this is not a one-time practice; as you make adjustments, continue collecting feedback and tailoring your actions accordingly.
These discussions should take another form, too – in 2022, many employees are prioritizing career advancement and want to work for a company that can help them achieve their long-term professional goals.
According to a study by Quantum Workplace, only 38% of departing employees saw professional growth and career development possibilities for themselves at their companies. Assuming these opportunities exist for your employees, discussing potential career advancement with them is important.
One last form of communication that can provide great insights into your organization is exit surveys (or interviews). Understanding why talent is leaving can help you pinpoint areas of improvement and inefficiency that you can then change.
Optimize the onboarding process
Onboarding is an essential part of retaining talent. With the pandemic disrupting the traditional work environment, a recent survey of HR professionals revealed that 94% have onboarded employees they have only interacted with virtually, and a shocking 10% admitted that they were not sure how the new hires were adapting.
Whether your organization has chosen to adopt remote work, hybrid work, or return to in-person attendance, there has never been a better time to evaluate and enhance your onboarding process.
Ensuring your new hires are engaged and comfortable can make the difference between losing them or retaining them.
Prioritize DEI
Not enough can be said about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in 2022. Again, communication is key – speak to your employees to find areas of improvement.
Once you have identified the right DEI initiatives for your organization, you need to develop a strategy and milestones to track your progress. Defining clear DEI metrics and KPIs is the only way to ensure your efforts are being rewarded. As you take action, your employees should feel more included, happier, and less likely to leave.