Where Will Your Best Employee Be 1 Year From Now?

You found the perfect employee. She’s always on time, gets her work done quickly and efficiently, and regularly comes up with innovative ideas. But do you know where she’ll be a year from now? How can you make sure she’ll still be employed at your company?

It’s all about improving employee retention. Here, we’ll discuss the importance of high retention, as well as ways to improve the employee retention in your business.

Why Should You Care About Employee Retention?

For starters, too much turnover leads to chaos within an organization. The most successful businesses have at least a small group of workers who are all invested in the success of their company. They work together well and strive to meet common goals.

Aside from forming a steady and invested group of employees, employee retention is important for the following reasons:

1. It saves you money. Every business owner realizes the high cost of finding, recruiting, and training a replacement when a valued employee leaves. Focusing on retention helps you avoid those unwanted expenses.
2. It increases staff morale. According to a recent article in the Houston Chronicle, undesirable employee turnover has a negative impact on morale. But when retention is high, employees feel more secure in their positions and are more engaged in their work.
3. It boosts productivity. As a result of the sense of security that develops in employees when retention is good, productivity increases.

How to Improve Employee Retention

So now you know why employee retention matters, but how can you improve it? Plenty of HR solutions are available to you for the purpose of increasing retention, but when it comes to small business HR, these four actions make a significant difference in retention rates:

1. Show gratitude. The best HR management solutions include ways to show appreciation to your employees for all they do. From gift cards to team lunches, there are numerous fun ideas for expressing gratitude.
2. Be available. Having a boss who’s open to all forms of communication when needed is a sure-fire way to help employees feel valued and important. And when they feel valued and important, they stick around.
3. Introduce team activities. To increase retention, build up your team. Have them participate in team-building activities on a regular basis. This creates a sense of family within your company and reduces the desire for employees to seek job satisfaction elsewhere.
4. Reward regularly. Similar to showing gratitude, rewarding employees individually for a job well done leads to better retention. Rewarding differs from showing gratitude, however, in that gratitude can be expressed to all employees on a regular basis, regardless of where they are in meeting goals; rewards are designed to recognize specific employees for completing specific tasks.

When it comes to implementing HR solutions for the betterment of your business, keep employee retention at the top of your priority list. Doing so saves you money, increases staff morale, and boosts productivity.

Implement the four steps we’ve mentioned in this article, and you’ll be well on your way to success through high employee retention. Remember: Gratitude, Availability, Team activities, and Rewards. When you’re ready to learn more, reach out to MJ Management Solutions, Inc.

This article first appeared at M.J. Management Solutions, Inc.

MJ Management Solutions, Inc., is a human resources consulting firm that provides small businesses with a wide range of virtual and onsite HR solutions to meet their immediate and long-term needs. From ensuring legal compliance to writing customized employee handbooks to conducting sexual harassment training, businesses depend on our expertise and cost-effective human resources services to help them thrive.