If you found this article, you probably have lower employee retention rates and are looking for strategies to retain top talent.

It is challenging to find the right talent in today’s competitive job market as candidates have multiple options to accept a job offer. For most companies, hiring is expensive and time-consuming, and they drain all the resources to hire and train an employee or replace a team member who leaves.

According to SHRM, more than 40 million employees quit their job last year. This shows that the employees are unhappy with their organization, and it is expected that the employee retention rate will decrease more in the future.

Having said that, recruiters and hiring managers must plan and execute the right strategies to retain top talent in their organization and enhance employee retention rates.

Talented employees are the backbone of any successful organization, and they are what makes a company stand out from its competitors.

Focusing on enhancing employee retention can offer businesses several benefits such as higher productivity, improved work quality, higher employee morale, etc.

Why do employees leave their current organization?

Well, here are some reasons behind lower employee retention rates:

• Work overload
• Lack of recognition
• Inadequate salary and perks
• No career growth opportunity
• work-life balance
• Inadequate company culture

Now you have a glimpse of why employees leave their organizations, here are the 5 best strategies to make employees stay in your company in the long run.

Retention Starts From Recruiting

Retention starts from the recruitment process. Just like a business understands its client’s requirements, hiring managers and recruiters must understand the candidate’s expectations of work culture and future goals. Initiate the process by asking work-related questions to the candidates.

In a face-to-face interview, you can ask some questions such as:

• What are your future goals?
• What are the challenges which you are yet to explore?
• What is the most exciting thing you find about your job?

The answer to such questions will give you a clear picture of the candidate, and you can quickly identify whether the candidate is reliable and can stay in your company in the long run.

Work-Life Balance

After the pandemic, hybrid work or fully remote work became the new norm in the corporate world. Today, employees are more likely to join a company that offers a healthy work-life balance.

Offering a flexible work environment can make employees more productive at their work. Companies that offer flexible working hours to their employees successfully retain the top talent and boost the business's overall productivity.

The other technique to retain talent is to offer a paid vacation to the top-performing employees. Most companies worldwide benefit from offering their employees paid time off arrangements, and it’s worth taking a close look at what works best for them.

Improve Your Office Environment

One of the top reasons why employees leave their company is they are unhappy with the office environment. According to Built In, 47% of candidates consider company culture as their top priority for looking for work.

No matter the size, every organization must focus on enhancing the office environment, which is crucial to retain talented employees. However, if your office environment is unsuccessful, it will turn candidates away.

You can start by investing in small things like buying new plants, changing the wall art, etc. Also, you can invest in new tools and technologies, new office chairs and tables, upgraded computers, and so on.

Structure Your Onboarding Process

Focusing on a candidate-driven approach is the key to success. According to SHRM, more than 70% of employees say that they will stay in their new company for years if they have had a great experience with the application and onboarding process.

Hiring a candidate is not enough. You need to ensure that the new employee has a great onboarding experience to develop a positive employer brand. The onboarding process plays a crucial role in creating a positive impression on new hires about your organization.

So, it’s better to be prepared beforehand and focus on enhancing the candidate’s experience.

Praise Them Whenever Possible

According to Apollo Technical, 65% of employees aren’t recognized by their organization for their efforts and hard work. No recognition can demotivate candidates, and they are more likely to leave their current organization and look for better opportunities.

Employee recognition can increase motivation, and employees are more likely to be responsible for their core work. You can consider revamping your year-end reviews with direct communication with the employees. A face-to-face meeting with your employees is the best way to praise them and recognize their efforts and hard work.

Be transparent. It means that you need to provide regular feedback to your employees about their performance. In any case, if a candidate isn’t performing well, then you should clearly communicate about where they can improve and give them some appropriate advice.

Again, it should be done in a face-to-face meeting, where employees can freely talk about their problems.

You can ask questions to the candidates and consider their ideas and strategies on how to achieve the desired business goal. It will make them feel valued, and they are more likely to stay in your organization in the long run.

In today’s competitive job market, enhancing employee retention and job satisfaction is more challenging than hiring employees.

To improve the employee retention rate, you should regularly re-evaluate your efforts, including offering perks and benefits, knowing the market standards, improving the office environment, etc.

When employees leave your organization for any reason, there is a high chance that they will come back knowing that you valued and supported them when necessary.

Focusing on improving employee retention rate will reward you loyal employees who will help you meet the organization’s goals for the long term.