17 Best Strategies for Employee Retention of All Time

Employee retention is one of the major concerns of HR employees and business executives. For them, it is more efficient to retain an outstanding employee than to recruit a replacement employee and undergo the whole process of training and orientation again. And if we are to talk about the costs, retaining an employee is more cost-effective than losing talent in the workforce over time. With that being said, companies rely on smart strategies for employee retention to keep their best employees and avoid outrageous turnover costs.

A successful strategy for employee retention needs to be aligned with the whole team’s point of view in terms of desires and goals. While no two employees are the same (each has different desires and goals), all of them want to feel appreciated and treated justly. Above anything else, they want to feel excited by their work and be compensated at or beyond market rates with good benefits.

17 Best Strategies for Employee Retention of All Time

But aside from doing the bare minimum as mentioned above, managers and HR employees need to implement strategies for employee retention in simple and subtle ways. If you are serious about retaining your best employees, you can follow these 17 strategies for employee retention that will help you reduce replacement costs and keep productivity and morale high.

1. Employee retention strategy should start during orientation.

From the very start, your new hires should feel welcomed by the whole company and set up for success. Let them know how they can contribute to the company and how it will help them prosper in their career. At the end of the day, the training and orientation you provide from the start can set the tone of the employee’s whole tenure at the company. 

2.  Provide your employees with the tools they need.

Your employees are more likely to stay when you listen to their needs. Not only will this help you simplify the processes in the company, but it will also make your employees feel that their voices are heard and that their comfort and needs are on your top priority.

You may set a suggestion box in your office so that everyone can participate in giving feedback and suggestions.

3. Provide mentors for those who need it.

For new hires, pairing them with seasoned employees is one of the best strategies for employee retention. Your veteran employee will serve as their resource and go-to person whenever they need to ask something. But make sure that the mentor doesn’t act bossy. Instead, they need to be someone that a new hire can lean on and will introduce them to the company culture.

4. Offer books for employees.

Some companies, like Buffer, provide everyone in their team an infinite supply of Kindle books. This is a fantastic and cost-effective way to motivate and retain your employees — especially the book worms. In this way, you are encouraging ongoing learning and reading for your employees which can also benefit the company.

5. Encouraging strategy for employee retention: giving positive feedback

We all know that positive and constructive reinforcement can help employees improve and do their best work. A study on Harvard Business Review stated that the ideal ratio between positive and negative feedback is 5.6 to 1. 

Provide your employees with positive feedback frequently to motivated them to do their best work. At the same time, you must also give them constructive feedback, especially when there’s a critical issue that must be nipped in the bud. 

6. Set a relaxed and casual mood in the office. 

The atmosphere in the office should be a perfect balance between professional and relaxed and casual. One way you can do this is to have a business casual dress code and a “dress down” day at least once a week. This retention strategy for employees is an incentive that is highly appreciated by employees. Plus, it puts employees at ease, giving them more motivation to work harder.

7. Give them a balance between their work and life.

What does your company culture promote? Be careful not to have a culture that promotes and encourages around-the-clock availability as it is not conducive to employee retention. Your employees have a life outside of their work and they need to have a healthy work-life balance. Encourage your employees to take their vacation leave. Ad if late nights are needed to finish a project, see if you can offer an extra day off to compensate.

8. Challenge your employees the right way.

One of the many reasons why employees leave a company is because they are bored doing the same thing every day. On the other end, assigning difficult tasks to your employees can make them feel ambivalent about their future in the company.

What you need to give them is a balance between challenging and engaging tasks. Determine what type of tasks your employees are more likely to excel at that they enjoy doing. Give them full responsibility for the project instead of micromanaging them. Additionally, make sure to provide them the tools they’ll be needing for the project.

9. Celebrate their success.

Whether it’s an individual or team success, one of the best strategies for employee recognition is acknowledging it. Take note that every milestone should be celebrated — from a massive sale to setting a new record. Seize the moment to celebrate with the whole team– you can opt for a company dinner or a Sunday outing.

10.  Offer them an employee retention strategy that could help them grow.

Some companies promote people outside their organization. Sadly, they don’t offer the same for the employees within their organization. When employees feel like they’re not improving in their careers, they become discouraged and are less likely to stay.

The best action plan is to keep your employees trained through seminars, mentoring, or cross-department training. If you are unsure of what type of training suits your employee best, then feel free to involve them in the discussion. 

11. Encourage creative ideas.

Although some companies say they promote creativity, they don’t really have any policies in place to support it. If you truly want to promote creativity in the workplace, you must have an action step to make it happen.

For example, this week, give your employees half an hour to brainstorm ideas or work on side tasks that interest them. Let them have fun, so that you can create a positive working environment where creativity can prosper.

12. Nurture respect in the workplace.

Nobody wants to stay in a job where they feel devalued and unimportant. More than ever, people like to work with a company that values and respect them. According to CEB’s Quarterly Global Labor Market Research, respect is the third thing they look for in a job.

Take a moment to inspect and retorspect– does your workplace value respect as much as your employees do? To foster a culture of respect, you can implement strategies, like giving feedback, recognition, and encouraging collaboration. 

Respect is not a hard thing to instil within the workplace. The simple act of saying “thank you” and “good morning” can be a great start towards a respectful and well-mannered organization.

13. Another important employee retention strategy is communicating efficiently.

Keeping a healthy and open line of communication is yet another obvious strategy for employee retention. Employees should feel like they can reach out to you about any concern without fear and second thought. On the other side, they are expecting you to be open with them about what’s going on in the whole company. Make sure that you keep an open line of communication with them by planning meetings and daily huddles.  

Placing an emphasis on internal communication can make your employees feel valued and motivated. In return, this boost their productivity and their output in their role. By having an open dialogue, not only do you strengthen your relationship with your employees — you also attract top candidates by such a healthy company culture that promotes open communication.

14. As much as possible, avoid immediate changes in the workplace.

We all know that changes are inevitable, but we can’t deny how stressful they can be. You may be tempted to introduce new systems and policies in our company to promote growth and strengthen quality assurance. But forcing such changes all of a suddent can greatly affect employee retention.

Oftentimes, we think of our employees as strong people who are capable enough to cope up with sudden changes. But as humans, employees may feel fearful too — fearful of their future in the company. 

Changes are necessary, but try to introduce one change at a time. In this manner, it can be more manageable for employees than implementing sweeping changes. If you have any plans to bring about any changes within the company, make sure to lengthen the timeline of completion.

15. Make time for team outings

Everyone loves outings. To boost the chances of employee retention, you can spend a bit of fortune for company outing or lunch. If you want, you can also hold some team building games in the office.

This is such a simple and easy strategy for employee retention that will surely work. And that’s because everyone loves to have fun. Surely, your employees will be more dynamic and efctive in their work when they enjoy the atmosphere of the workplace.

16. Foster collaboration in the workplace.

Collaboration is mutually beneficial to employees and the organization. For employees, it helps them pick up skills from their colleagues and build their skills by giving them the latitude to make smart decisions. For the organization, this can result to increased efficiency. By fostering collaboration, it enables businesses to finish important projects on time.

Most of all, it’s an important strategy for employee retention because it adds value to the way employees perceive their job. Collaborating with the whole team makes them feel good, especially when victories can be shared. Because of this, employees are more likely to stay in their job when they have a good relationship and strong ties with their colleagues and feel that they belong to something important.

17. Last but not the least employee retention strategy: provide rest periods for your employees

Oftentimes, we consider long hours in the office as something to be glorified and celebrated — like a badge of honor made to be worn. But remember, people are not machines. We all have the tendency to succumb to illness and mistakes when pushed too hard for too long. 

It’s a good thing to support an employee who want to leave a significant mark in the company. But while you’re supporting them, make sure that there are also many other employees who would pass out due to stress and overwork.

If you are serious about employee retention, it is important that you provide them with adequate rest periods. In this way, you will help reduice their stress and sick days. You can start your first action by adding an additional 10 minutes to their afternoon break. Then, you can observe if this makes any difference to their performance.

Why Strategies for Employee Retention is Important

Every successful business needs consistency in all aspects, and this includes their employees. When the company has a high retention rate, this results in less time and resources for training new staff. This means you have to go through the process of screening applicants, interviewing potential candidates, hiring, and training them. If they end up leaving, you will have to go through the whole process again.

An increased employee retention can help eliminate the problems caused by employee turnover. It can also help you preserve institutional knowledge, foster teamwork, and keep your top employes from moving to a competitor. But the benefits don’t stop there. Employee retention can also help the company increase productivity and revenue, better their customer service, and improve employee satisfaction.

By implementing these 17 strategies for employee retention mentioned above, you can reap the countless benefits that come with it. Just be sure to revisit your employee retention strategies at least once a year, and you’ll be able to keep talented employees happy about working for your company.