How to Retain Your Employees – Eight Tips

Which factors make the employees want to stay – or seek new opportunities elsewhere? And what should the company consider to retain its valuable talent? We’ll guide you!

Losing competent coworkers comes with a high price. Recruiting and training a replacement is costly in terms of time, money, and resources. With a high staff turnover, there will also be a risk of creating tension in the work group and damaging your employer brand. In other words: there are many reasons to maximize the conditions for your employees to thrive and stay with you. Here are eight tips (and one bonus tip) on what you should think about as a manager and employer.

How to Retain Your Employess – Eight Tips for Managers and HR

1. Let the Employees Grow and Develop
   What do you like most about your job? What talents do you wish to develop? Which new work tasks would you like to take on? Is it perhaps time for a new role at the company? As a manager, looking into your coworker's interests and strengths, and offering them different ways to grow and develop, is, according to research, an essential key to motivated employees who won’t pursue other jobs elsewhere.
   
   Read more: Eight Tips for a Successful Competence Management
   
   
2. Mind the Work-Life Balance
   When Swedish employees are asked what makes a good employer, the work-life balance tops the list year after year. Exercising during working hours, flexible working hours, the possibility of working from home once a week… There can be many ways of ensuring a healthy balance, so the tip here is to listen to your employees and find a model that works for you through dialogue.
   
   
3. No Micromanaging
   Participation and influence are important elements in a well-functioning work environment and thereby an important part in retaining your employees. As a manager, you have everything to gain in a climate where your employees’ ideas and initiatives are rewarded. Also, try putting aside the micromanaging and let the employees (within certain given frameworks) decide for themselves how and when the work should be done. When you, as a manager, let go of the reins a little, the probability is high that you will get a boost for trust, loyalty, and creativity in your team.
   
   
4. Notice the Potential of Every Employee
   Are all employees where they should be? Does someone have talent and knowledge that is not being used? As a manager, one crucial task is ensuring your coworkers reach their full potential. Check in with each employee occasionally to find out how they view their areas of responsibility and work tasks. Do your employees feel that their talents are recognized and come to their full potential? If not, is there anything you could change?
   
   
5. Show Appreciation
   Positive reinforcement, appreciation, cheering…regularly receiving confirmation and gratitude for our work efforts are essential for our motivation and job satisfaction – it also lays the foundation for a climate where we can give and receive constructive feedback that challenges and develops us. Yet another crucial piece in maintaining a thriving workplace and retaining employees, in other words.
   
   
6. Make Time for Laughter and Community
   Gather your coworkers for a mutual breakfast once a week, schedule a walk during lunch, or arrange an after-work (physical or digital)... Different social activities where the team gets an opportunity to hang out, laugh, and talk about other stuff than work is something many employees value – and that can improve motivation, community, and work results.
   
   
7. Provide Regular Feedback
   How are you using your staff appraisals? Make sure to put some extra effort into the preparations and make sure to ask the right questions – and you, as a manager, will get a good insight into how your employees like working at your company and how they imagine their future with the company. In addition, keep in mind that one or two annual appraisals are usually not enough, but feel free to supplement with other forums for feedback, for instance frequent pulse surveys.
   
   
8. Develop Your Leadership
   Leadership has decisive importance for well-being in the workplace – and deficiencies in this area are one of the most common reasons employees search for a new job. After all, a functioning leadership is also the very basic condition for the points we mention above to be fulfilled. Managers who are present, responsive and make employees feel valued are most successful - which, of course, is anything but a quick fix. However, with an organization that prioritizes present leadership and offers their managers support and education to continuously develop in their role, you have good conditions for succeeding.

Bonus tip: Let Technology Help! Do you and your colleagues want to work more proactively with the company’s staff retention? With today’s smart tools, there are excellent opportunities to follow up on data, analyze patterns and causes – and take the proper measures at the right time. Our HR-dashboard, for example, is a fantastic tool for companies that want to get a comprehensive approach to staff retention and reasons for resignation, sick leave, and other critical key figures.

Would you like to know more about how our dashboard facilitates strategic HR work? Or are you interested in our other solutions that help employees and managers to a smarter and more efficient work day? Feel free to reach out to us!