Employee Retention Through Engagement

While you may truly think that your staff members are happy and satisfied with their jobs and company, a 2015 survey created by Jobvite revealed that almost half of employee respondents are open to leaving. This percentage surprisingly included even those who responded that they were satisfied with their jobs.

A significant number of employees are willing to leave their jobs simply because they feel “antsy”, according to Jobvite CEO Dan Finnigan. People no longer work their whole lives in one company.

So how then should companies retain staff members? There should be a consideration when it comes to the needs of their employees. In order to make sure that their best and brightest stay, employee engagement should be prioritized and integrated into any internal communications plan.

Here are some of the ways to retain employees through internal communications and employee engagement:

1. Provide different types of career growth.

Offer your staff members different opportunities wherein they can grow as people and as professionals.

There are three particular methods and avenues in which companies can provide career growth to their employees:

1. Growth within their occupation. Aside from the usual promotion, employees can also experience career growth within their occupation when companies provide for them the latest technologies as well as the latest work methods when it comes to the job they do. For example, updating the computers of employees in order to make them feel valued, as well as make them more motivated to work is one way of making them experience career growth.
2. Through breadth. Breadth means allowing employees to experience working on projects across different departments so that they are able to expand on their skills and knowledge. This is especially useful in small organizations wherein sometimes multitasking is really part of the job.
3. Leadership opportunities. Leadership opportunities empower employees and boost their confidence. Leadership may be easier to provide in a bigger company than a small one; however, smaller ones are able to notice leadership potential in their staff members.

2. Know where your employees want to be.

Happy employees are usually working near where they live and where their family and friends reside. Before hiring an employee, take into consideration his or her commute because the time it takes for him or her to get to work may eventually be the deciding factor on whether or not he or she stays with the company.

3. Provide competitive wages.

While improving communication is certainly a priority, there’s no denying that offering competitive wages to your employees will motivate them to commit to your company. While money isn’t the end all of everything, one of the main reasons that people do work is to earn it.

Companies should know the local job market and aim for paying their employees above 50^th percentile of their given jobs. Logically, the more pay an employee receives, the less likely he or she would want to leave the company.

4. Emphasize work-life balance amongst employees.

Don’t work your employees to the bone. Understand and push for a work-life balance amongst your staff members.

One way of doing this is by giving your employees the option of working from home especially if the nature of their job allows them to do so. With the accessibility and convenience of home computers and other devices and the internet, working from home becomes an attractive option especially if your employees have small children.

5. Have the mindset of a university.

Even if you do your very best to make sure that employee engagement in your organization is high and that you’ve made internal communication strategy your top priority, leaving will be inevitable for any employee – whether it be due to shifting priorities, wanting to move to another company or even retirement.

Companies should then take on the mindset of a university – meaning, that leaders should continue to build the organization’s reputation by empowering its employees through professional growth and education. Their reputation then makes them attractive options for new employees who will be replacing those who decide to move on. Also, corporate alumni who felt appreciated and valued by their former company will continue to recommend the organization, even further strengthening the brand.