Employee loyalty is challenging right now; unemployment rates are low and companies have to be more competitive than ever to retain employees and to build loyalty.
We know salaries are important, providing competitive compensation is critical to retaining talent. However, non-monetary employee experience can be just as important in building employee loyalty as direct payouts, and these experiences can help control budgets as well as retention rates.
Here are a few suggestions we have to elevate employee experience and your retention rates.
1. You Could Empower Managers to Develop Employees.
No one teaches a manager how to manage. Usually top performers get rewarded with promotions that come with headcount. But it doesn’t need to be this way. Leadership or managerial training programs can be an effective way to give either new managers or people who will soon become managers a great foundation to begin the next phase of their career.
Providing career pathing to employees, especially when they are in a transitional phase of their career where they are looking for the next step is critical in keeping them. It proves to employees that their future lies at your organization and not somewhere else.
2. You Could Facilitate Healthy Behavior.
Work/life balance is still a major concern for employees. Since we carry our emails, often in our pockets, work doesn’t always go away. However, when an employer reaches out to look out for employees’ wellbeing, it proves to employees that the employer really cares about their life, even the part that has nothing to do with work.
We often discuss the benefits of an employee wellness program. That’s another topic for another blog, but (among other things) wellness programs are a great way to build a caring culture at your organization. A solid culture at your organization often can be enough to keep employees present at your organization.
3. You Could Give Employees Flexibility.
Modern business practices have brought work closer to home with the advent of cell phones and laptops. The flip side is that almost no one needs to be in the office to do good work. Giving employees flexibility to work where, when and how they want can be effective in retaining employees. If it’s not time sensitive and they are getting their work done, who cares where they are?
4. You Could Recognize Good Work.
Employee recognition can be a necessary part of any employee retention strategy. Promotions are occasional large-scale recognition efforts. However, in-between promotions, it’s important to recognize a job well done. Whether it’s a gift card for a smaller project, or an extra day off or even a trip for a bigger recognition piece, ensure that when your employees go above and beyond, your company recognizes that achievement.
Building up employee experience can take many different forms. When done right it can increase retention and employee loyalty which ultimately leads to more productivity across your organization.
