6 Ways to Retain Employees and Boost Your Bottom Line

While there is no way to accurately measure the exact financial cost of employee turnover, there is no doubt that it is both time-consuming and expensive. In addition, just the process of finding good employees in the first place can be somewhat like finding a needle in a haystack. When you find one, you want to keep them. All in all, reducing turnover and increasing retention is best for your bottom line. Here are 6 ways to increase employee retention.

1. Find the right people in the first place

One of the best ways to reduce turnover is to make sure you are hiring the right people in the first place. Finding the right people is about more than just finding someone with the right skillset, it also means finding someone who fits in well with company culture. As hard as it may be for some companies to admit, the kind of people they are looking for may not actually be the kind of people they need. No one wants to actually admit that they micromanage their people, but micromanagers are out there. While you may want “energetic, self-starters that can multitask” what you may need are “plodders” that can do an adequate job and wait for instruction.

2. Check your culture

While the idea that “people leave managers, not companies” may be contested, according to a Gallup poll, a full 50% of employees who quit cited bad management as being the reason. No matter how great the employees you find may be, if you are not providing them with good leadership, you’re not going to keep them for long.

3. Onboard properly

Aside from hiring the right people in the first place, proper training and onboarding might be the next biggest keys to keeping your best talent. If people aren’t trained properly or given the skills they actually need to succeed at their job, they are probably going to quit quickly. While it may seem like it is less costly to lose a new employee rather than an experienced one, this isn’t necessarily true. Every time you lose an employee, it puts additional stress, pressure and strain on the remaining ones. Lose enough new employees and you might find your most experienced employees exiting right behind.

4. Provide ongoing training and mentoring

People stay with jobs when they feel like they have a future with the company. When they stop feeling like that is the case, then they generally move on to find someplace it is. One of the best things you can do to retain employees is provide ongoing training, regular reviews and opportunities for advancement. Few employees are ever happy right where they are, although some are. When your employees are not happy where they are but know they don’t have to stay there, they are more likely to stick around and work hard to get somewhere they will be happier.

5. Provide competitive benefits that your employees actually want

Not all benefits have to cost businesses an arm and a leg. Some benefits that don’t cost employers a dime are things like flexible schedules, remote work opportunities and total freedom to decide how to use paid days off. When you are providing benefits that actually cost you something, however, make sure they are benefits your employees actually want. The majority of your employees may not actually have a need of vision benefits, but might be delighted with a child care subsidy.

6. Make sure they have a way of providing feedback and that they are heard

Employees are often on the bottom of the food chain. Many employees have multiple supervisors above them and sometimes don’t hear from any of them until they’ve done something wrong. Employees need to also have an opportunity to express what might be bothering them—and if they don’t feel they have one, they probably won’t stick around long.

Running any business involves keeping a number of different people happy. It ranges from your employees to your management team to your clients and consumers. Just remember, however, more often than not, it is your employees that will have the most interactions with your clients and consumers. Treat your employees well and not only will they stick around longer, they’ll treat your clients and consumers well as well. And that is most definitely good for your bottom line.