How to Retain Talent for Your Organization

With unemployment at a record low, it truly is a buyer’s market. Because of this, employers’ focus should be on retaining the quality employees they already have rather than searching for new ones. Desperate organizations will begin to offer not only more money, but also better incentives to attract high-quality employees. So, the question is, how do you keep your best employees with your company and prevent them from looking for better opportunities elsewhere?

Appropriate Compensation. This is where employee retention starts. If you are not paying the going rate of the market, you might as well say goodbye to your best employees now. With the whole market searching feverishly for talent, other companies will be quick to snatch up your unhappy employees. They do this with compensation: generous salaries, benefits, and public recognition. The good news is that you can do it too.

The key is to move away from the review-and-raise cycle that, at best, offers a once-a-year grab at a raise. Progressive organizations keep an eye on specialty fields that may be growing faster than others, and they compensate accordingly. They also keep an eye on talent that brings exceptional quality to their organization and reward those people. Failure to do this will result in your organization settling for the leftover talent in the market.

Flexibility. While compensation plays a big role in retention, so does flexibility. As organizations continue to integrate into the day-to-day lives of their talent, the lines between work and home become blurred. To accommodate the needs of employees, it is vital to offer them more flexibility in telecommuting, work hours, and engagement. By being flexible and being less of an employer and more of a human being, you will gain more loyalty from your employees. Meeting an employee’s needs, within reason, allows for a much more symbiotic relationship.

Training. According to SHRM, the number one reason that people leave their jobs is because of their manager. And one of the biggest reasons for problems with managers is a lack of communication. To alleviate this problem, managers need to be expert communicators – setting expectations, deadlines, and requirements in a two-way model in which the employer and employee are directly involved. Managers have to be approachable, available, and engaged with the needs of their employees to ensure that they aren’t lost due to a simple lack of communication.

Managers can encourage career growth, teamwork, and loyalty among their employees by acting as mentors to them rather than micro-managing them. While training should be practical, it should also include impactful engagement along with set goals that encourage effective communication throughout the organization. In simple terms, this means making sure that everyone is on the same page with the same goals.

Creativity. Nothing hurts an employee – employer relationship like making people feel that they are part of a machine. The feeling that every employee is replaceable will ensure that all your employees’ resumes are up-to-date and that their spare time is spent on job search websites. Creativity in office operations, vacation, insurance, and retirement options allows the talent to see that their needs are being addressed. Regardless of the size of the organization, creative approaches can inspire talent to be more engaged, thus ensuring more loyalty.

Promotion. It should go without saying: if you don’t give your own people a shot at growth within your organization, you should expect them to be looking for a new job. Praise is great, but when managers do not allow their own people the opportunity for advancement, there’s always another company that will.

If your organization is struggling to retain its talent, it is time to review these five areas. Otherwise, you could continue pursuing new talent in a marketplace swarming with companies offering more than you are to grab high-quality employees. Making a positive impact in your employees’ lives leads to more company loyalty, as well as a happier workplace for everyone.