The rate of unemployment is at record low levels. While this is great news for employees, business owners are struggling to maintain a steady workforce. The decision to leave a job is never taken lightly. Even so, millions are quitting theirs in search of something better. This sort of turnover is incredibly expensive. It can also hugely impact the atmosphere within your business. To keep your staff working for you, here are six sure-fire ways to improve employee retention.
Write Accurate Job Descriptions
When a candidate applies for a position in your business, they do so based on a description of the job that you provide. This means that, when someone is offered a role, they expect the responsibilities of it to match what was previously conveyed. When they don’t, it naturally causes some frustration. The easiest remedy to this issue is to write accurate descriptions, to begin with.
Hire The Right People
As you’re screening potential new hires, you should look out for signs of a job-hopper. Although there isn’t anything wrong with switching jobs, especially when it provides career advancement, you want your staff to stick with you. It’s important that you look for individuals who are interested in growing with your business, rather than gaining experience to take to a position elsewhere.
Establish A Collaborative Culture
Collaboration is the key to a successful business. As well as improving the productivity and efficiency of your workforce, it also creates happier individuals. Because of this, you should establish a culture that encourages collaboration. You could invest in a computer solution, like communication tools, for example. Creating an open-plan office space also has many benefits.
Allow Flexible Work Hours
Although it would certainly make things easier, not all of your employees are going to do their best work at the same times throughout the day. While some of your team will be more productive in the morning, others prefer to work late at night. Instead of expecting every member of your staff to work the same hours, you could allow them to create their own schedules.
Show That You’re Grateful
Everyone deserves to be appreciated for the hard work that they do. If you barely mutter a “thank you” to your staff, they’re going to begin to hate working for you. To avoid this, you have to show just how grateful you are. While you should already provide a competitive salary, you must also consider offering other employee benefits, like insurance, vacation days, and discounts.
Give Them A Voice
The best way to keep your staff from jumping ship is to ask them what would stop them. Rather than guess what your employees want, you could introduce a suggestions box in the office. This would give every member of your team a voice, without making them speak to anyone directly. For this that prefer to do so, however, you could also establish an open door policy.
Turnover can cause a lot of problems within a business, so improve retention with the advice above.