Keeping your company’s employee retention rates high is key to maintaining a motivated workforce and saving costs associated with the hiring process.
In this article, we’ll talk about how to boost your company’s retention rate. We’ll define employee retention rates before diving into some actionable tips to keep your best employees around.
What is the Employee Retention Rate?
Employee retention rate is the percentage of employees who remain employed by your company over a studied period of time. When speaking of a specific organisation, this can be called the “company retention rate.”
The purpose of studying employee retention rates is to determine how successful your organisation is at maintaining a stable workforce over a certain time period. This metric can shed valuable insight into employee satisfaction.
Companies should thrive for an average retention rate of 90% or higher. This requires maintaining an attrition rate of under 10%.
11 Ways to Boost Your Company’s Retention Rates
To keep your company’s retention rates high, you need to keep your employee turnover rates low. Luckily, there are quite a few employee retention strategies you can do to make this possible.
Without further ado, let’s review some innovative ways to improve the employee experience and keep retention rates high.
Adequate HR Support
Providing adequate human resources (HR) support is key for any initiatives related to employee well-being and satisfaction, so naturally, HR is crucial for boosting employee retention rates.
Companies are turning to advanced tools like Workday to monitor employee health and well-being seamlessly. However, harnessing its full potential can be challenging for those new to the platform.
That’s where Workday consulting solutions come in, providing invaluable expertise and guidance to ensure that your company maximises the benefits of Workday for both your HR processes and your employee retention rates.
Sufficient PTO
Paid time off is essential for helping your team maintain a healthy work-life balance and keeping employee morale high. It provides breaks to prevent burnout and allows people to enjoy activities outside of work.
Some standard types of PTO include vacation days, personal days, sick days, charitable days, mental health days, and holidays. Many companies provide PTO based on tenure, but unlimited or flexible time off is becoming popular, as well.
Paternal leave is an essential type of PTO commonly overlooked by companies in the United States. Giving new parents this type of paid leave will make the transition more seamless as they grow their families.
A fun twist on paid holidays is to give employees the day off when their birthdays roll around. Some offices offer this as a default benefit. Others make it available to employees who donate to a specific cause.
Continuing Education
When people experience genuine appreciation in their workplace, their motivation to explore new career opportunities decreases significantly. Combined with concrete career plans tailored to employees, this approach fosters a strong retention rate within the organisation.
For example, consider the case of a finance student or someone who, for various reasons, didn’t finish their degree. Suppose they’re encouraged to complete their associate degree in business. In that case, additional hours or days of study may be provided, or even financial assistance to cover tuition costs.
However, a comprehensive career plan should go beyond mere assistance with degree completion. It could encompass support for employees to take specialised finance courses or even a master’s degree.
By offering these avenues for continued learning and growth, employers demonstrate a genuine concern for their employees and underscore the value placed on their ongoing professional development.
This proactive approach enhances individual capabilities and creates a loyal and highly motivated workforce, leading to a work environment where personal and organisational success is encouraged and celebrated.
Out-of-the-Box Healthcare Benefits
Standard health, vision, and dental insurance are great, but many businesses are taking it further with more unique healthcare benefits.
Hims, a leader in men’s health and wellness, has found the key to supercharging its company’s retention rate through a combination of innovative strategies:
- Personalised care plans: Hims offers tailored care plans that address each customer’s unique sexual health and general health concerns. This personalisation ensures that customers feel seen and valued, fostering loyalty.
- Educational resources: The company doesn’t just sell products — it provides a wealth of educational resources. Informed customers are more engaged, and Hims’ commitment to education enhances their long-term relationship with the brand.
- Exceptional customer support: Hims prides itself on top-notch customer support. Quick response times and practical issue resolution leave customers with a positive impression, encouraging them to stay on board.
- Continual product innovation: By continually expanding and improving its product range, Hims keeps customers excited about what’s next. This anticipation is a powerful retention tool.
Financial Literacy Support
Imagine an employee considering leaving your company because they’re stressed about their financial situation.
Perhaps they’re struggling with a major upcoming expense, like a wedding or a home repair, that’s constantly on their mind. This is where a program to offer financial counseling tailored to individual needs can become an invaluable asset.
This could include in-depth financial planning, investment consulting, or help calculating personal loan payments.
By offering this support, you directly address a common source of anxiety by providing a tool or resource that helps employees understand their financial situations. When employees see that their employer is invested in their personal well-being, not just their professional performance, it fosters a sense of loyalty and belonging.
They’re less likely to look for opportunities elsewhere, knowing they’re valued beyond their job description. This builds a supportive company culture that drives productivity and innovation, significantly improving retention.
Pet Insurance
Many people consider their pets family, but unfortunately, health insurance companies don’t recognise animals as dependents. Plus, vet bills can add up quickly, even for a healthy pet.
That’s why more businesses offer pet insurance as part of their benefits package. Unique benefits like this truly show employees that you care since it accounts for the four-legged members of their families that are often overlooked.
Tokens of Appreciation
Elevating your company’s retention rate can be accomplished through consistent recognition and rewards for exceptional performance.
Regularly acknowledging your top talents with gifts and certificates can make a remarkable difference. These tokens of appreciation can range from cutting-edge smartwatches to the timeless luxury of real leather jackets, instilling a sense of being truly valued within your team.
Remember that recognition doesn’t always have to be monetary. A heartfelt thank-you can inspire your employees to deliver exceptional results.
Sustainability Prioritisation
An astonishing 78% of customers now place a high value on sustainability, so this initiative is likely valuable to many of your employees. With this growing awareness of eco-consciousness, operating your business with sustainability in mind can make a significant impact.
Beyond just retaining your current workforce, it’s a powerful magnet for attracting new team members who share your eco-friendly values.
The importance of analysing business practices against environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics and data center sustainability reporting goes far beyond immediate gains, as it’s set to become even more pronounced in the future.
In an era marked by ongoing global changes, businesses that embrace the concept of sustainability will fortify their retention rates and ensure long-term success in an increasingly environmentally conscious marketplace.
Mental Health Prioritisation
Providing mental health resources is becoming more popular in the workplace. This benefit can be put into action in many ways.
For example, you can provide basic resources, like sufficient breaks throughout the workday or a grounding room in your office where people can relax. You can take this a step further by providing access to therapy.
Access to Legal Support
People need legal support for different reasons, ranging from immigration needs to family issues. Unfortunately, these services can be costly, especially when hiring a lawyer for one-off cases.
Having a law mediation firm on retainer to provide your employees the legal support they need for free or at a low cost is a great perk. Providing this resource will help alleviate the financial burden that people experience while going through tough times that require legal counseling.
Legal resources also come in handy for preventing stress for employees who want to work on estate planning, set up trusts, or establish prenups. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which types of legal support to provide.
Childcare support
Childcare is a major need for many employees and can quickly become a stressor. People want to know that their kids are in good hands, and it can be nerve-racking to entrust their care to strangers.
However, some employers provide in-office daycare so working parents can access the childcare they need while being close by all day. Although providing free childcare is nice, it’s also possible to charge a small fee. The proximity provides peace of mind, and the price will help alleviate some financial stress for parents.
Final Thoughts
There are many ways to boost employee satisfaction and improve employee retention. Whether you offer fun perks like birthdays off or more serious benefits like comprehensive healthcare, your current employees will feel appreciated and know they’re valued.
Which techniques will you use to supercharge your company’s retention rate and improve job satisfaction? In the comments below, let us know how you keep your original employees happy and reduce voluntary turnover.
Here’s to boosting employee productivity and maintaining a retention rate above the industry average.
Author: Emily Krings – Owner & Content Writer, Quill to Keys Content Writing
Photo credit: Pavel Danilyuk
