Every company wants top talent but not every company is good at keeping them. The reason is the fact that they forget to address employee satisfaction and see how motivated they really are for the job they’re doing. The level of their motivation is directly related to their productivity. To put it simply, the more satisfied they are at a job, the more effort they put into doing the work you hired them to do.
Employees don’t leave if they’re happy, it’s as simple as that. So if you’re losing top talent, you must be doing something wrong. Also, losing an employee affects the entire team as they struggle to manage the increased workload.
So how can you stop losing talent?
Below, we’ve gathered some important tips for increasing employee retention as well as understanding why they leave in the first place.
Top Reasons Why Employees Leave
Before you can address the problem of talent loss, first you must know the top reasons why employees leave. You’d be surprised to learn that financial compensation isn’t among the top reasons. In fact, employees will rather switch to a job with a smaller benefits package if they are treated with respect and not micro-managed all the time.
Lack of engagement. One of the main reasons employees leave a job is the fact they are not engaged. They simply lose interest in the job at some point if or feel as if their work doesn’t make a difference. Poor employee engagement means they don’t look forward to coming to work anymore because they’re neglected, don’t feel valued, don’t receive feedback, etc.
Poor management. They say that employees don’t quit jobs but managers. Indeed, if you want to know why an employee left your company, you should first reconsider your management philosophy. They could be frustrated because their suggestions are being ignored or they’re under a lot of pressure with no room for creativity. Most importantly, employees who don’t feel valued are unlikely to stay at a company.
No room for growth. Talented employees who wish to advance in their career will leave a workplace that doesn’t leave any room for growth. They simply outgrow your company and will seek new, more challenging opportunities.
How to Prevent the Loss of Talented Employees?
Recognize Their Contribution
Your most talented employees will leave if they feel you don’t acknowledge their performance. They will start to think that you don’t really care whether they do a good job or not and this will seriously affect their motivation.
Reward hard-working employees. Provide feedback. Focus on their results. Compliment your employees on a job well done and recognize their outstanding results. Host a company event or conference at an exciting location. Show them that you appreciate their hard work. Otherwise, they won’t know.
Talk to your employees about career goals and check in regularly. This will allow you to see when an employee is feeling unhappy.
Don’t Micromanage Your Employees
No one likes to be micromanaged. Perhaps you’ve succeeded in attracting top talent but if your management is poor, they are not likely to stay very long. You want to nurture their skills and inspire your employees to grow, and micromanaging them only achieves the opposite of that.
Stop controlling them all the time. Show some trust instead and include your employees in important conversations.
Loosen Up the Rules
In most cases, employees work much better when no one is controlling them all the time. Without pressure and micromanagement, their creativity booms and they feel more motivated to do the job.
That is why remote working has gained so much attention lately. But it should not just be reserved for freelancers across the world that you outsource some tasks to.
Let your in-house employees work from home, coffee shop, or wherever they want, as long as they do the job.
If you asked what is one of the top benefits they would like, most employees would say it’s a flexible schedule. Allow them to create their own schedule, letting them work remotely if they want.
Simply put, give them some space. Losing control is precisely why many employers still don’t believe in the efficiency of remote work. They fear employees aren’t trying hard when they’re out of the manager’s sight. But if you want to increase employee retention, you need to start asking your employees what they want. What kind of benefits do they prefer? Don’t just assume they will be happy because you gave them competitive compensation.
Set Clear Goals
If your employees don’t understand your vision as well as your goals and objectives, they will hardly be engaged. In fact, they will quickly lose interest in the job if they don’t understand what their role is.
Having a clear set of rules, goals, a well-defined mission, and a strong company culture will help give employees some direction. It will also help them connect to that mission and feel as if they’re really contributing to it.
