18 Employee Retention Strategies that Boost Staff Happiness
Andy Cakebread
27 July 2023
In 2022, roughly 50.5 million people quit their jobs in what employers have labelled The Great Resignation. There were a bunch of contributing factors here, but this mass exodus has made one thing crystal clear - companies need to focus on retention.
There are plenty of things you can do to keep your employees happy long-term—many of them surprisingly simple. In this Thankbox guide, we’ll be introducing you to a few of our favourites, from acknowledging hard work with e-cards to offering opportunities for development.
Ready to learn more? Let’s dive in.
What Is Employee Retention?
Employee retention refers to a business's ability to prevent employee turnover.
Keeping employees is a top priority for many businesses and human resources professionals since failure to keep employees usually results in increased operational costs. Luckily, there are all kinds of retention strategies you can use to keep employees happy long-term.
For example, one leading driver of turnover is employees feeling underappreciated. As a result, a simple e-card and digital gift card from management set using a platform like Thankbox can be a powerful retention tool.
Why Is Employee Retention Important?
A high employee retention rate offers various benefits for your company. Here are the three main reasons:
Reduce cost: The average recruiting budget increased from $550,000 to $830,000 between 2021 and 2022. Retaining employees helps keep that figure down so that resources can be invested in other key areas.
Improves morale: Employees leaving one by one can lower employee morale. Focusing on employee retention can increase productivity, foster teamwork, and boost team morale.
Better customer experience: Employee retention is crucial to maintaining excellent brand presentation when much of your workforce engages with customers regularly. This helps you avoid the risk of recruiting new hires who might be more error-prone and less efficient.
18 Employee Retention Strategies to Boost Staff Happiness
1. Offer continuous feedback on performance
There’s no better way to let your employees know about how well they’re doing than by providing feedback. From hosting one-on-one meetings with your staff to giving them a shoutout during team meetings, there are tons of ways to let them know you see their effort and boost their confidence.
Looking for a simple way to share compliments and support?
Express your gratitude or send congratulations effortlessly with Thankbox. Personalise your message by attaching photos, videos, or GIFs to bring a smile to their face and brighten their day.
2. Offer competitive salaries
Few things inspire employees as much as receiving fair compensation for their hard work. And unfortunately, only 75% of individual contributors and supervisors believe they are paid fairly.
Offering a competitive base salary and rewarding high-performing employees with raises should be a priority if you want to make your employees feel their work is valued.
3. Give your employees the option to work from home
According to the Pew Research Center, approximately 35% of US employees work remotely all the time. Interest in remote work surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s more than just a convenient way to curb the spread of disease. Studies show that remote work has increased employees' happiness by 20%.
4. Prioritise work-life balance
Helping your employees improve their work-life balance is the key. No one wants to receive work calls after work hours or to be forced to attend a meeting while on holiday leave. Let your employees live their own lives outside working hours.
5. Encourage healthy communication
Promoting a space for communication at work can create good collaboration and foster teamwork. Businesses should take steps to create spaces where employees can freely express their emotions, share their ideas, and have casual conversations.
Take your staff retention to the next level.
Higher retention means greater motivation, reduced HR cost, raised productivity. Why wait? Show some sincere appreciation to the team now - it takes seconds to get going.
6. Acknowledge their hard work and say thank you
Have you seen an employee’s reaction after complimenting them? Receiving compliments from their superior can increase their confidence, which makes them perform even better. Even a simple thank you can go a long way to motivate your team.
Say thank you and show them your appreciation by creating a Thankbox! You can add funny or inspiring photos, videos, and GIFs. Plus, you can ask your other team members to shout out their coworkers as well.
7. Reward your employees
One best way to let your employees know that they’re doing great work is by rewarding them with something they’ll enjoy. Whether it’s giving them a day off from work or hosting a thank-you dinner, receiving recognition for their hard work is something they’ll remember forever.
8. Create career development plans
Being hands-on with employees to help them improve or create a path for development at work is a great way to encourage retention. It gives them a goal to work on and can be a significant motivating factor.
Sit down with your employees and have career chats on where they want to be in the following months, how they can get there, and what opportunities you can offer to help them. And celebrate work anniversaries too!
9. Encourage skill development
Encouraging your employees to develop additional skills that will help them do better can help them progress into new roles within your organisation instead of seeking opportunities from somewhere else. Instead of resigning and looking for other jobs, employees will more likely challenge themselves to learn or develop a skill.
10. Emphasise teamwork
Encourage your employees to work together as a team so they will feel that their role plays an important factor in the company’s success. You may host events that encourage your employees to get to know their coworkers, contribute in group settings, and collaborate when needed.
11. Show you care about their well-being
No work is easy. So checking up on your employees once in a while to check on their mental health is something that they will appreciate. You can provide free health checkups and sick leaves are just some of the great ways to prioritise employee well-being.
Recently, LinkedIn offered every employee a mental health week off to help cope with burnout.
12. Reduced workload
Individuals working more than 50 hours per week see a major decline in productivity and mental well-being. To promote a healthier work-life balance, consider letting your employees leave early once they have completed their daily tasks.
13. Provide other job perks
With good compensation and a safe and relaxing office environment, one way that you could keep your employees is by providing other job perks. It comes in various forms – from free healthcare to employee discounts on certain things such as gym memberships, restaurants, free cellphones, and many more.
14. Set a good example
Lead by example and set the tone for your employees. Enter the office with a warm smile, greet everyone, and treat each team member with equal significance. By serving as a positive role model, your employees are more likely to follow suit, fostering a harmonious and thriving work environment.
15. Bond with your employees
Almost everyone has had a boss that they didn’t get along with. It’s frustrating, confusing, and can even a bit alienating—all of which can contribute to employee churn. A good boss works with employees to build connections and friendships inside or outside the office. Host team lunches or company outings to deepen your bond.
16. Initiate a mentor/buddy culture
Most employees don’t like to be micromanaged, while others may feel pressure being always checked up on by their boss. Instead of individually checking in on your employees, you can create a mentor or buddy culture where they can learn about the work and techniques. This is especially crucial when you have a new hire.
17. Promote diversity and inclusion
Emphasise the importance of building a more diverse and inclusive workplace culture to ensure your employees remain happy and satisfied. You can conduct cultural diversity talks, have a multi-faith prayer room for religious observance, or remove gender-coded signs.
18. Conduct exit surveys
Conducting exit surveys help you understand the reasons why employees leave. By knowing their reasons, you can improve your strategies and practices to avoid them from happening again.
When saying goodbye to an employee, don’t forget to thank them for their years of service with a great leaving gift. Make their last day memorable by organising a team dinner. Bring together colleagues to send a heartfelt goodbye card using Thankbox – each personalised with a unique message along with photos, videos, or GIFs that perfectly capture the emotions.
Empower Your Workforce With the Right Retention Strategy!
Employee retention is an important factor in the operation of a successful business. It comes in various forms, and we’ve given you 18 powerful strategies to try!
If you’re looking for a quick and creative way to say thank you to your employees, creating a Thankbox might be your best choice! Send a card with the other superiors to compliment them or gather all your employees to send their congratulations to their coworkers.
Create a Thankbox today!
Take your staff retention to the next level.
Higher retention means greater motivation, reduced HR cost, raised productivity. Why wait? Show some sincere appreciation to the team now - it takes seconds to get going.
Images: Cover
