Employee Retention - A critical aspect to ensure stability and success of your Business
The Microsoft 2021 work trend index revealed that 41% of the global workforce is considering to resign this year. Covid 19 has brought about enormous changes in nearly every aspect of human lives. Industrial sector is not left behind. It introduced the Work from Home system, isolated people from their colleagues, gave them a chance to reconsider their goals in life, follow their hobbies and learn new skills. It is worth mentioning that the number of people trading in cryptocurrency has gone upto 106 million. Salary cuts, rising expenditure, increased work hours followed by stress and uncompromising leadership led to an increase in difficulties and sufferings of the employees. The outcome was Great Resignation which peaked in April and is continuing still. 20 million U.S. workers quit their jobs which is highest since 2000. Numbers are also on a rise in the U.K. and Germany. Coming to India the situation is not that severe still, but surely glimpses of it are appearing in some pockets of the economy.
Needless to say, the undesirable consequences of a turnover are manifold. It leads to an increase in the cost of training new workers and the time required for recruiting. Further it lowers the morale of existing employees who start questioning their own purpose of carrying on. The people who resign take their experience and skills along with them which results in lower productivity and shifts in organizational culture. The burning necessity of the hour is employee retention. Retention of talent, experience and skills to ensure growth. This is, however, a tough task where data driven steps have to be taken with an element of creativity.
We have listed some strategies to help you out:
- Analyze data: As mentioned above taking data driven steps is the key. Analyze the reasons for turnover in the company and tailor the retention program based on your findings.
- Communicate: Understand your team members’ motivation, needs and thoughts on improvements through feedback. Inform them about the steps the company is willing to take. Earn the trust of your employees by implementing those steps even at a slow pace.
- Think like a startup to build an organizational culture: A trend is seen that more and more people are getting attracted towards startups. In a startup all the working members are made an integral part of the organization. Everyone’s voice is heard and opinions are valued. Consequently there is greater unity and high energy. Such features of a startup can be incorporated in bigger established firms to make their employees feel valued and respected. This reminds me of a quote by Sir Richard Branson “Train people well enough so they leave, treat them well enough so they don’t have to.
- Promote Employee Engagement: Engaged employees have a sense of purpose in their role and know well how they are contributing towards the betterment of the organization and their own personal self. Such a person is more committed towards the job. Stats say resignation is the highest in the 30-45 aged group. The reason might be that people get bored doing the same task. Training people with new skills can promote engagement. Another way is to encourage creativity. Google has a 20% program in which their employees are given opportunities to work on side projects that interest them.
- Encourage a healthy work-life balance: Covid-19 has changed the notion of ‘work-first’ to ‘life-first’. Employees now prefer to work from home, fewer working hours and days to devote more time to family, friends and their own personal selves. Besides, physically, mentally and emotionally well-rested workers are the ones who perform effectively. Establish regular work hours, policies for working on weekends or work from home programs to reward employees with work-life balance.
- Review salary, compensation and benefits: With the increasing demand for workers in the job market, companies are proposing attractive salaries to lure candidates. Financial crunches due to salary cuts or loss of jobs during lockdown have compelled people to look for or shift towards high-paying jobs. Therefore it has become imperative to rethink salary and compensation policies. Also non-monetary rewards such as praise, respect and growth prove crucial in retaining employees.
The above strategies are the most important and relevant considering the Post-Covid times. Numerous other factors such as providing a safe and healthy work environment,etc, too, should be taken care of and prioritized depending on the organization’s needs. To conclude we would like to quote Mark Zuckersberg: “Treat your employees right so they won't use your internet to find a new job.”
AMS Human Resources Pvt. Ltd. works as a partner with organizations and with its expertise and extensive experience in the field of Human Resource Management provides advisory services to help the organizations tackle problems, keep up with the trends and implement the relevant strategies to ensure growth and success.
For any queries related to your HR worries, you can reach out to us on +91-9890835165 or mail us at info@amshr.com
