High employee turnover poses multiple challenges for HR managers, executives, and team leaders. It’s expensive, and results in lower employee engagement.
That’s why employee retention should be a core aspect of your business strategy.
So, how do you keep your best employees engaged and committed, beyond occasional salary raises and perks?
This guide covers 10 effective employee retention strategies you can implement now. Let’s get started.
Disclaimer: The information below is accurate as of April 9th, 2024.
What is employee retention?
Employee retention describes an organization’s ability to keep its employees engaged, satisfied, and committed for the long haul — positively impacting the bottom line.
A strong company culture and job satisfaction are key factors in achieving this. It’s about making the workplace so appealing that new employees want to join and stick around for the long term.
Retaining your employees goes beyond merely keeping them on the payroll.
You want to foster a positive work environment and create a culture where your employees feel valued and motivated to perform at their best.
Now, let’s explore why employee retention is important for your business.
Why employee retention is important
The financial impact of high turnover can be immense, putting your company culture at risk as well.
The cost to replace a new hire can be up to 60 percent of their annual salary. This excludes the time and resources spent on the onboarding process and interviews.
Beyond money, a stable workforce fosters organizational knowledge and continuity, strengthening a positive corporate culture that, in turn, contributes to higher levels of customer satisfaction.
On the flip side, high employee turnover messes things up — teams become disjointed, you lose specialized skills, and your company’s reputation in the job market can take a hit.
That’s why focusing on strategies to keep your employees happy and sticking around is a big deal.
Next, let’s discuss the top 10 best practices that can help you do just that.
10 best employee retention strategies:
In an era marked by rapid job-switching and the constant allure of ‘greener pastures,’ mastering the art of employee retention is no small feat.
Source: Gitnux
Here are 10 strategies that can make a meaningful difference in your employee retention efforts:
Strategy #1: Giving your employees the tools needed to succeed
All too often, organizational support for employees is confined to verbal affirmations, annual performance reviews, and occasional rewards or bonuses.
While these are important, they only scratch the surface of what true employee empowerment can look like.
True empowerment involves providing your team with the right tools and resources they need to excel in their roles.
Take, for instance, a team member named Alex, who’s navigating his career path in your organization.
With a robust LMS, like Docebo, in place, Alex encounters a tailored learning journey. This includes precise training, content, and development opportunities that adapt and evolve with him.
Engaging Alex with gamification elements — like badges, leaderboards, and points — also adds a playful, motivational aspect to his learning. Which further entices him and his colleagues to willingly dive into additional training.
Imagine the ripple effect this would create across workplace morale and retention rates, when learning is exciting and personally rewarding.
What to Do Next:
- Consider adopting a learning platform, like Docebo, which offers dynamic, personalized, and engaging learning experiences.
- Integrate gamification into your learning and development strategy to boost motivation, engagement, and voluntary training.
Strategy #2: Giving positive feedback
Feeling valued at work is a key factor that directly impacts employee retention.
According to Gallup and Workhuman, employees who sense that their contributions are acknowledged are 56 percent less likely to explore other new job opportunities.
In challenging periods, like the global pandemic, recognizing employees for navigating tough situations is both kind and strategic.
Some genuine appreciation shown by managers can lead to a 69 percent increase in the likelihood of employees putting extra effort into their work.
So, striking the right balance between positive and negative feedback is essential for creating a supportive work environment.
What to do next: Regular meetings to discuss performance, set goals, and give feedback are crucial for employee development and satisfaction.
While negative feedback has its place for growth, lean more heavily on positive remarks to help build a culture of employee recognition and loyalty.
Strategy #3: Encourage employees to be creative
Encouraging creativity goes beyond merely allowing for ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking. It involves creating a culture where new ideas are welcomed, and experimentation is rewarded.
This simply means giving your employees the time and space to explore different approaches to their work, and offering resources that spark innovation.
Being creative can sometimes result in failure, and that’s okay. What’s important is to create a work environment where your employees feel safe to take calculated risks without fear.
What to do next:
- Avoid springing creativity demands suddenly in meetings. Instead, establish routine channels or platforms where employees can share their ideas.
- Encourage professional development by giving employees the room to think creatively and solve complex challenges.
- Reward creativity with small gestures like gift cards or an extra day off to encourage creative participation.
Strategy #4: Foster respect
Respect is a fundamental need and a top motivator for many employees.
Employees who feel respected are more likely to stay engaged, collaborate effectively, and stick with an organization long-term.
In a survey of nearly 20,000 employees worldwide, respondents ranked respect as the most important leadership behavior.
Plus, 26 percent of employees are more likely to become departing employees if they feel there’s a lack of respect between colleagues.
This emphasizes the need for company values rooted in mutual respect and employee well-being.
This sense of respect should flow both ways, including relationships among peers as well as between managers and staff.
Instilling a work culture that respects every individual’s worth and contribution sets the stage for an environment where employees can stay and thrive.
What to do next:
- Encourage open dialogue where every voice is heard. This goes hand-in-hand with fostering creativity and collaboration.
- Celebrate both small wins and big milestones to make everyone feel valued and respected.
- Make it clear what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior, both in professional interactions and social settings within the organization.
Strategy #5: Giving employees a chance to grow
Sometimes, organizations get so focused on bringing in new talent for key roles that they forget about nurturing their internal talent. This can lead to employees feeling stuck and stagnant in their careers.
According to Zippia, 76 percent of employees are looking for opportunities to expand their careers.
When employees think there are limited chances for growth, they start losing enthusiasm and loyalty.
But, here’s the good news: continuous development opportunities show employees that their growth matters.
These opportunities will positively impact their career advancement and career path options within the organization.
Plus, it shows employees that their growth matters and that the company is committed to helping them climb the career ladder.
What to do next:
- Make the career progression within your organization transparent, so employees can see their growth potential.
- Take advantage of platforms like Docebo, which offers hyper-personalized learning paths, to create targeted training and upskilling opportunities.
Strategy #6: Promoting inclusion
Fostering an inclusive workplace goes beyond ticking the diversity box; it’s about creating an environment where every employee feels seen, heard, and valued.
According to a study by Deloitte, workplaces that recruit and retain diverse top talent see 22 percent lower turnover rates.
Plus, research by Limeade Institute also shows that employees who feel included are 43 percent more committed to their organizations.
Whether it’s recognizing various cultural holidays or sharing diverse perspectives in team meetings, take active steps to honor the uniqueness of your workforce.
What to do next: Make diversity and inclusion training a part of your employee onboarding and continuous education program. Docebo can assist you in delivering this critical content consistently across your organization.
Strategy #7: Promoting a healthy work-life balance
Ensuring a healthy work-life balance has moved from being a ‘nice-to-have’ to a ‘must-have’ in organizational culture.
72 percent of people consider work-life balance a key factor when choosing a job, emphasizing the need for companies to prioritize this element for talent retention.
Failure to ensure a healthy work-life balance can result in mental health issues, burnout, lower productivity, and higher turnover rates.
So, actively promoting a healthy work-life balance can help keep your team happier and also make your organization a more attractive place to work.
What to do next:
- Make sure your team knows that flexible schedules and taking time off to recharge are encouraged and good for their wellness.
- Implement policies that help employees strike a better balance between hard work and a fulfilling personal life.
Strategy #8: Making your team feel connected
In a global study of over 11,800 participants by Qualtrics, a sense of belonging emerged as the strongest driver of employee engagement.
Hence, creating opportunities for connectivity helps you build an environment that encourages teamwork and nurtures a sense of belonging. This will also contribute to keeping your best talent in-house.
Remember, a connected team is a more motivated, productive, and loyal team — a winning formula for employee retention.
What to do next: Consider organizing regular team-building activities, both online and offline, to foster relationships and team spirit among team members.
Virtual coffee breaks, weekly team updates, or even a simple group chat can go a long way in making your employees feel more connected.
Strategy #9: Offering a competitive wage
Offering competitive wages sends a message to your employees that their skills and contributions are valued, and also deserve fair compensation.
An SHRM survey revealed that 92 percent of employees consider compensation and benefits critical to their job satisfaction.
So, ensuring your salaries are aligned with the market — while providing a livable income — is crucial to maintaining a stable, satisfied, and productive workforce.
Simply put, invest in your employees and you’ll be investing in the longevity and success of your organization.
What to do next: Regularly review industry salary benchmarks and adjust your wage scales accordingly to ensure they meet or exceed the average.
Pair this with transparent communication about pay scales and growth opportunities, so employees know what to expect and how to advance.
Strategy #10: Avoiding sudden changes in the workplace
Changes at work can make people nervous. It’s like suddenly changing the rules in the middle of a game.
So, if you’ve got to shake things up, do it step-by-step to help everyone get used to the new way of doing things.
The thing is, stability matters, especially for current employees. So, if you have to make changes, always give them the lowdown to maintain employee morale.
What to do next: Catch up with your team members one-on-one during these times. It’s a good chance for them to ask questions or share any worries they have.
This keeps everyone on the same page and helps them feel secure, even when things are shifting.
Now, let’s highlight how to seamlessly tie together all these strategies we’ve laid out.
Boost employee retention with an employee experience solution
While the strategies we’ve highlighted are effective on their own, they can be even better.
A leading learning platform like Docebo can help human resource managers manage employee feedback and improve employee well-being from day one. Here’s how Docebo works as your game-changer:
Level up employee skills and satisfaction
According to ClearCompany, 76 percent of employees seek career development opportunities which could also lead to a 34 percent rise in employee retention rate — if you give your employees such opportunities.
Docebo Content robustly supports this for your employees, with access to an expansive library from over 150 global publishers, enriching learning with courses, summaries, audio lessons, and certifications.
Simply put, Docebo helps you amplify skills development and improve employee satisfaction by fostering a dynamic, continuous learning environment.
Boost employee engagement and retention
An unengaged employee is more likely to jump ship. In fact, an analysis of 3 million employee surveys underscores that ‘learning and development opportunities’ rank second in driving engagement.
Around 80 percent of people feel learning new skills would make them more engaged.
Docebo Skills helps meet these needs, by moving away from rigid central management to spotlighting each individual’s current skills, and dynamically paving personalized learning paths.
This way, Docebo proactively fuels career growth, strengthening both employee engagement and retention.
Measure and improve employee efficiency
Peter Drucker once emphasized, “What gets measured, gets improved.” With Docebo Learn Data, HR can deep-dive into comprehensive analytics by integrating learning data and KPIs with other business metrics from platforms like Salesforce and Workday.
This means you can link completion rates with employee turnover or training time with feature adoption, all through clean, organized, and analytic-ready data.
Docebo provides the tangible insights needed to target, and improve areas of employee efficiency — leading to better employee retention.
Optimize your resources better
According to Gartner, only 13 percent of employees are fully satisfied with their workplace experience — while only 35 percent agree the information they receive from HR is relevant and timely.
Thus, improving employee experiences should also strategically optimize your organizational resources.
Docebo helps achieve this by automating workflows to help streamline program administration. It also integrates with various platforms (such as HRIS & HCM systems) and reduces admin costs related to talent development.
With Docebo, HR teams can automate more tasks, freeing up more time and resources for strategic initiatives that impact employee retention, and improve their experience.
Now over to you
We’ve explored various strategies to boost employee retention, from career advancement, to giving positive employee feedback, to improving employee well-being.
But the key to successfully implementing these strategies lies in having a comprehensive solution that can manage and improve your employee experience from day one.
Ready to create a workplace culture where employees thrive? Schedule a demo today to see how Docebo can help you empower, engage, and retain your team.