Here is a hard pill to swallow – your best employees can leave your organization for whatever reason and at any time. The only thing keeping them around might be your work culture, colleagues, or boss. This is clear, so why are organizations and HR departments getting retention wrong?
1. Many organizations leave the responsibility to the HR department.
2. Numbers now paint retention strategies. There's nothing to cater to the changing demands of the new generation of employees.
3. Retention feedback is collected during exit interviews when it is too late to change.
What needs to change? Employers must develop methods that keep touch with employees and build one on one trust with leaders and the organization. And this is how:
KNOW YOUR EMPLOYEES' MINDS!
To know your employees' minds, you must foster a healthy communication culture from the bottom up and vice versa. This is especially vital now that employees struggle to balance work, caregiving duties, and personal care.
Look at 2022, for example. 69% of working caregivers changed their work schedules to balance their duties, while 70% experienced work challenges. For this reason, at least 61% of caregivers made an employment shift.
And do you know that the number of Google searches that target excuses to miss work increased by 630% in 4 years? Your employees are not okay, and active communication allows you to assess the state of your employees, their wellness, and their willingness to continue working for your organization.
Creating a working culture that makes it easier and less stigmatizing for employees to communicate challenges makes it likelier that they will prefer to stay. That is, practice active leadership to offset quiet quitting.
Start with your leaders. Are they active in their management styles? Are they creating a culture that builds relationships with their subordinates? Is there an open line of communication where employees can share their challenges without stigmatization?
Teach your leaders how to be present to understand employees better. If your leaders have experienced issues like mental health because of work or work and caregiver responsibilities, let them share their experiences.
Once you know what your employees are thinking and going through, offer the proper support. This is where offerings like employee benefits that cover caregiver and mental health come in.
Hire health workers and organize teambuilding workshops to address working challenges occasionally and offer on-demand educational content or in-person therapy sessions.
BAD BOSSES MAKE EMPLOYEES QUIT
Do you know quiet quitting is mainly fueled by lousy management? It happens not because employees are unwilling to work harder or apply themselves more but because managers have no skills to build healthy relationships with their subordinates.
Uncaring and uninspiring leaders inspire turnover. Practices like making demands, consistently monitoring activities (where privacy is not given), and making threats chase good employees. Practice healthy management, and you'll keep your employees.
For instance, words affect how we feel. Say the right thing, and your employees become productive and engaged. Say the wrong thing and your employees will be unmotivated and subsequently be looking at alternative workplaces.
Words like "I know I can count on you," "What's getting in your way," "This is why we are doing this," and "How is your family?" go a long way toward fostering healthy relationships between managers and employees.
MAKE THEN STAY WITH INTERVIEWS
Employees now expect more from employers than in prior years. Offers like remote or hybrid working, upskilling opportunities, and trust are no longer options for most employees.
So, how do you know whether you are satisfying this new drive for autonomy, flexibility, and growth? Stay interviews. They make you a problem solver by helping you identify what's working for your employees and what isn't.
But to get it right, give the responsibility to your leaders (let your human resource representatives take the bench on this one). It's psychological warfare where you want employees to see this as a care strategy and not a performance assessment so that they can offer authentic responses and suggestions.
Ask the right questions too. For instance:
• Don't hesitate to ask if your employees look forward to coming to work. Let them give reasons that support their answer.
• You know growth and development are essential for employees. So, ask them whether they are learning or growing in their positions.
• Find out why your employees are still in your organization and if they've ever considered leaving. What are their reasons?
• And for the kill, ask if you can do anything to make their working experience favorable.
EMPLOYEES WANT APPRECIATION AND RECOGNITION
It's human nature to want to be appreciated. Your employees are no different. So don't wait for them to have the highest sales score for you to appreciate them. Create a culture of appreciation that is effective and sustainable.
And to get it right, don't assume you know what your employees want (more money is not always the answer).
Picture this: Mary has worked for your company for 3 years. She's never been late, is always smiling, and offers your customers excellent service. Her colleagues know this, but because of her introverted, quiet nature, your manager doesn't.
In that case, a recognition program where peers recognize each other is perfect for Mary. Then ask yourself how Mary would like to be recognized (public recognition might take her further into her shell). The reward can be anything, from:
• Upskilling her career path
• Letting her choose her working hours
• Adding bonuses
• Offering full payment for higher education
• Offering an excellent retirement plan
• And if she wants, make her a company representative within the firm.
The bottom line, different employees want to be recognized differently. Also, different employees have different abilities that serve your organization properly. So, create a recognition program that appreciates every employee's contribution.
Pro Tip: Before developing your recognition program, create goals to govern what is being recognized. Make this matter and align it with your organization's values, mission, and objectives.
BUILD YOUR TRUST
The bread and butter of employee retention strategies are now plain vanilla to a generation of employees whose demands keep changing. To successfully break the mold, you must transfer the issue of employee retention to significant parties like organizational managers and leaders. And then assess the makeup of your workforce.
Different employees experience different challenges. Therefore, they need different support solutions that meet their needs. The key to identifying struggling employees is to foster an environment of freedom of expression with adjacent support and care practices. So, build your trust!
As far as offering suitable employee benefits is concerned, let Zupnick $ Associates help. We know how to create the perfect packages to boost retention.
1. Many organizations leave the responsibility to the HR department.
2. Numbers now paint retention strategies. There's nothing to cater to the changing demands of the new generation of employees.
3. Retention feedback is collected during exit interviews when it is too late to change.
What needs to change? Employers must develop methods that keep touch with employees and build one on one trust with leaders and the organization. And this is how:
KNOW YOUR EMPLOYEES' MINDS!
To know your employees' minds, you must foster a healthy communication culture from the bottom up and vice versa. This is especially vital now that employees struggle to balance work, caregiving duties, and personal care.
Look at 2022, for example. 69% of working caregivers changed their work schedules to balance their duties, while 70% experienced work challenges. For this reason, at least 61% of caregivers made an employment shift.
And do you know that the number of Google searches that target excuses to miss work increased by 630% in 4 years? Your employees are not okay, and active communication allows you to assess the state of your employees, their wellness, and their willingness to continue working for your organization.
Creating a working culture that makes it easier and less stigmatizing for employees to communicate challenges makes it likelier that they will prefer to stay. That is, practice active leadership to offset quiet quitting.
Start with your leaders. Are they active in their management styles? Are they creating a culture that builds relationships with their subordinates? Is there an open line of communication where employees can share their challenges without stigmatization?
Teach your leaders how to be present to understand employees better. If your leaders have experienced issues like mental health because of work or work and caregiver responsibilities, let them share their experiences.
Once you know what your employees are thinking and going through, offer the proper support. This is where offerings like employee benefits that cover caregiver and mental health come in.
Hire health workers and organize teambuilding workshops to address working challenges occasionally and offer on-demand educational content or in-person therapy sessions.
BAD BOSSES MAKE EMPLOYEES QUIT
Do you know quiet quitting is mainly fueled by lousy management? It happens not because employees are unwilling to work harder or apply themselves more but because managers have no skills to build healthy relationships with their subordinates.
Uncaring and uninspiring leaders inspire turnover. Practices like making demands, consistently monitoring activities (where privacy is not given), and making threats chase good employees. Practice healthy management, and you'll keep your employees.
For instance, words affect how we feel. Say the right thing, and your employees become productive and engaged. Say the wrong thing and your employees will be unmotivated and subsequently be looking at alternative workplaces.
Words like "I know I can count on you," "What's getting in your way," "This is why we are doing this," and "How is your family?" go a long way toward fostering healthy relationships between managers and employees.
MAKE THEN STAY WITH INTERVIEWS
Employees now expect more from employers than in prior years. Offers like remote or hybrid working, upskilling opportunities, and trust are no longer options for most employees.
So, how do you know whether you are satisfying this new drive for autonomy, flexibility, and growth? Stay interviews. They make you a problem solver by helping you identify what's working for your employees and what isn't.
But to get it right, give the responsibility to your leaders (let your human resource representatives take the bench on this one). It's psychological warfare where you want employees to see this as a care strategy and not a performance assessment so that they can offer authentic responses and suggestions.
Ask the right questions too. For instance:
• Don't hesitate to ask if your employees look forward to coming to work. Let them give reasons that support their answer.
• You know growth and development are essential for employees. So, ask them whether they are learning or growing in their positions.
• Find out why your employees are still in your organization and if they've ever considered leaving. What are their reasons?
• And for the kill, ask if you can do anything to make their working experience favorable.
EMPLOYEES WANT APPRECIATION AND RECOGNITION
It's human nature to want to be appreciated. Your employees are no different. So don't wait for them to have the highest sales score for you to appreciate them. Create a culture of appreciation that is effective and sustainable.
And to get it right, don't assume you know what your employees want (more money is not always the answer).
Picture this: Mary has worked for your company for 3 years. She's never been late, is always smiling, and offers your customers excellent service. Her colleagues know this, but because of her introverted, quiet nature, your manager doesn't.
In that case, a recognition program where peers recognize each other is perfect for Mary. Then ask yourself how Mary would like to be recognized (public recognition might take her further into her shell). The reward can be anything, from:
• Upskilling her career path
• Letting her choose her working hours
• Adding bonuses
• Offering full payment for higher education
• Offering an excellent retirement plan
• And if she wants, make her a company representative within the firm.
The bottom line, different employees want to be recognized differently. Also, different employees have different abilities that serve your organization properly. So, create a recognition program that appreciates every employee's contribution.
Pro Tip: Before developing your recognition program, create goals to govern what is being recognized. Make this matter and align it with your organization's values, mission, and objectives.
BUILD YOUR TRUST
The bread and butter of employee retention strategies are now plain vanilla to a generation of employees whose demands keep changing. To successfully break the mold, you must transfer the issue of employee retention to significant parties like organizational managers and leaders. And then assess the makeup of your workforce.
Different employees experience different challenges. Therefore, they need different support solutions that meet their needs. The key to identifying struggling employees is to foster an environment of freedom of expression with adjacent support and care practices. So, build your trust!
As far as offering suitable employee benefits is concerned, let Zupnick $ Associates help. We know how to create the perfect packages to boost retention.
Let's Flip The Script And Get Retention Right This Time Around!
Elton Mwangi
Author:
