Losing one of your best employees can be a nightmare. When it happens, you need to recruit, train, and get the new employee up to par. It’s not just expensive to find a suitable replacement — the impact of losing a high-valued employee affects the rest of the team. When one of your best employees abruptly walks out of the office, without any warning, people take notice. A sudden departure of a team leader or valuable employee can stress out the rest of the team. Productivity levels can decline. Some may even start looking for other jobs. After all, why did one of the best employees decide to quit?
Skilled professionals are in high demand these days, so if you want to keep them on your team, you’ll want to incorporate innovative employee retention strategies. Of course, each team member is unique, with individual desires and goals. The good news is that management can set the tone from day one with proper training and support, and improving the employer-employee relationship.
Fun employee retention ideas and policies to implement
Every employee wants to feel like they’re a part of a team. One of the common reasons people leave their job is due to a lack of appreciation. If you want to keep your employee turnover rates low, consider innovative employee retention strategies. Of course, not all companies are alike. There’s no one-size fits all approach. However, you can implement programs and policies to reduce employee turnover. There are lots of ways to get this done, and we’ve compiled a list that includes fun employee retention ideas, too.
- Team building activities. Teamwork is a great way to get people to work together. You can make it fun with team building activities that encourage everyone to contribute ideas and solutions. Give every team member a chance to shine and display their unique talents. Think outside the box and consider games that take the team outdoors, like Street Smarts or Geo Venture. When people love their jobs and fellow employees, why would they want to leave?
- Provide a work-life balance. People get burned out, and this is especially true in the workplace. Do you want your company to have a reputation for being a place that works you to death? It’s one thing to offer overtime here and there, but no one likes to be at the mercy of a manager who insists on overworking oneself. Improving work-life balance can include implementing flexible work schedules or telecommuting. Encourage vacations, and if there are going to be some extra late nights, offer an extra PTO day. In some organizations, there are no 9 to 5 hours, which is why it’s important to provide things like wellness classes so that when employees have to work longer, they won’t feel so overwhelmed.
- Offer room for advancement. Are you offering your employees opportunities to grow? Show your employees that you care, and want them to succeed in their career path development. If there are opportunities to advance, offer it to a worthy employee. Of course, offering a competitive salary and annual raises makes it harder for someone to want to leave a good company, too.
Create an environment where there’s mutual respect of all employees, no matter what their role is. Building trust between employees and senior management goes a long way in employee retention. When you make your organization the place to work for, keeping your best employees is a breeze.
