4 Proven Ways to Retain Top Talent

You go above and beyond what is required to provide exceptional employee benefits. Still, they’re leaving you. Why is this so?

Well, above-average salaries, good retirement plans, awesome equipment, and vacation benefits are important for attracting top talent, but they’re not enough to retain them in the long-run. In today’s overcrowded entrepreneurial world, you need to build trust with your top employees, make them feel appreciated, and build strong relationships with them.

Here are a few tactics that will keep your employees satisfied.

1. Make Workplace Diversity your Priority

Today’s workplaces are melting pots of people with different traits, interests, experiences, and backgrounds. Such approach lets you foster innovation and create a corporate culture that stands out.

However, unlike homogenous corporate cultures that are easier to manage and synchronize, diverse environments come with numerous challenges. Your goal is to help every member of your team feel welcome and yet, let them emphasize their individuality.

Now, there are numerous ways to create a diverse workplace.

For starters, promote gender equality and minority equality. Employers should finally put an end to any form of discrimination, as well as overcome the gender pay gap, provide valuable training programs for each employee, and promote work/life balance.

Hire differently-abled people. Many employers don’t understand what the disabled can do, The Guardian emphasizes. In their recent article, they remind us that only 46.5% of disabled people are hired in the UK. Oftentimes, they’re paid less than non-disabled people. Addressing these problems is the foundation of creating a diverse workplace. You can always consult a disability employment services provider to find a motivated employee with disabilities that right for your organization and help them put their knowledge to use.

Remember that you shouldn’t hire diverse teams only to show how cool and charitable you are. To fully integrate diversity programs into your corporate culture, you should manage your employees empathetically and teach them to respect their peers, regardless of their skin colour, gender, abilities, or education.

2. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Don’t wait for your employees’ feedback passively. Instead, schedule regular, in-person meetings with them and prove that their opinions really matter to you. Encourage them to talk to you. Put yourself in their shoes. Try to understand the main problems and challenges they face every day. Learn more about their needs, preferences, and expectations and try to adapt your management system and the overall workplace environment to their requirements.

In other words, try to be their coach rather than a manager. Only by being open and showing genuine interest in people you’ve hired will you be able to build stronger relationships with them and motivate them to stay longer at your company.

3. Provide Regular Feedback

Clear communication and transparency are key to employee satisfaction. Namely, your top employees want to know what exactly you expect from them and, most importantly, whether they’re meeting these expectations. Precisely because of that, the lack of regular performance feedback is one of the major causes of frustration among employees that may lead to their poorer performance and more resignations.

So, to increase transparency, you should first set clear performance metrics for assessing each employee’s contribution to achieving certain business objectives. Based on the key performance indicators you establish, create personalized reports for each employee, where you would clearly emphasize where they stand compared to what you expect from them.

Now, many businesses create performance reviews monthly or even quarterly. However, if you want your employees to improve their performance continually, then you should consider providing them with brief, weekly reports. According to some recent studies, employees that receive weekly performance feedback are more engaged and satisfied with their jobs.

4. Reward your Employees Regularly

Recent research says that only 41% of the UK employees feel aligned with their organization’s goals, while 36% of them leave their jobs within a year. One of the major reasons why this happens is the lack of recognition. Hard-working and loyal employees expect business to recognize their effort and reward it adequately.

Now, many employers choose monetary rewards like cash bonuses or raises. However, this is not the only option you have. Namely, the same research emphasizes that almost 60% of employees in the UK want their managers to provide them with personalized benefits.

There are numerous ideas you could leverage. Organize an awesome team building event. Provide flexible working hours. Give them the opportunity to work remotely. Throw them a birthday party. Take them to a fancy restaurant to celebrate major milestones. Prove you care about their opinions. No matter if you’re choosing a training program for them or a new piece of equipment, let your employees help you make the right decision.

Over to You

In today’s flourishing business world, dominated by social networks and search engines, finding a job has never been simpler. Therefore, it’s logical that top talent is constantly looking for new professional challenges, the ones with better salaries, growth opportunities, or management.

So, to retain your best employees, you need to provide them with more than these basic requirements. Instead, you need to focus on building strong relationships with them.

Create a unique culture, where each member feels welcome.

Talk to them regularly to understand what their expectations are.

Be transparent about your expectations and provide feedback continually.

Incentivize them for their loyalty and achievements.

And, I hope these tips will help you retain your top employees.

How do you keep your employees happy?