With the recent trends in Quiet Quitting and the Great Resignation, many companies are now making a concerted effort to keep their employees happy so that they don’t leave. Managers are now taking steps toward implementing employee engagement strategies that will keep their staff motivated to deliver great work on a consistent basis. Here are four key steps an organization can implement towards their employee retention.
- Provide educational opportunities
More than half of all employees leave their jobs because they feel that they are under-qualified or overworked, respectively. These feelings could get worse if the employee does not feel prepared to learn more about his or her job.
If an employer wants to keep its employees around, it should make sure that those employees understand what they need to know for their positions. Providing education opportunities is one way to do this.
There are different ways to provide education opportunities; either formally or otherwise. Formally means asking employees to attend specific classes or business seminars led by qualified experts and speakers. According to Keynote Speakers, they conducted a study and found that 79% of employees felt more motivated toward their job when the company provided free training or brought in outside guest speakers.
It sounds silly, but providing education opportunities can help retain existing staff and attract new staff members. There are many resources available to you when it comes to training your workers.
The more knowledge your employees have, the better they will work. This includes simple things such as how to use handwriting software or which tools to use when addressing customers with forms or letters.
“The more advanced their knowledge goes, the greater their skill set will be” suggests John Rogan of Motivational Speaker. “If your employees run into problems they don’t feel comfortable solving, he or she may consider leaving their current position. It also helps if they find some area in the company where they can utilize their skills.”
- Provide recognition for good work
It’s hard to stay motivated when you aren’t being appreciated or recognized in your job. If you are someone who is always going that extra mile, sharing ideas and coordinating teams, then you probably already know how rewarding it can be to see your effort pay off.
If you are in a role where you are working as a coordinator or manager, there are lots of ways to appreciate and reward people for their efforts.
The most common way is by giving ‘attendance bonuses’ — i.e. more money for staying late.
Another way is by putting together a team that works well together and gets positive feedback – perhaps they achieve something new and important?
Yet another way is by listening to what people say; if they need help from others, they must have a reason.
If you want to improve your employees experience, then listening to and understanding why other people do things helps keep me aware of reasons why I should change things around here and now.
Also, talking with employees about their lives outside of work gives them a sense of purpose and motivation. This connects them to the company and shows they are valued.
Finally, treat yourself. Once you get into a routine of doing great jobs, taking nice walks, having conversations, and feeling engaged, you will feel more engaged and happy at work.
These are just some examples, but these basic guidelines could easily apply to any situation. What has worked before may not work today.
- Ask for feedback on work
Feedback is an incredible tool for developing your staff’s confidence in your management team. When given by employees, rather than executives, it can also have a bigger impact, since they are more likely to know their own strengths and weaknesses.
When giving feedback, there are many things you can do to make people feel comfortable. You can be candid or polite when you tell them what you think of their performance. You can say how you feel about their job generally, such as whether or not they seem competent.
You can also ask for feedback from your employees directly. This can help you get a better sense of what they like and don’t like about their jobs. If you give your employees a chance to talk around a table, some of them may even put forward solutions that you hadn’t considered.
Of course, asking for feedback isn’t everything. How you carry out this request should reflect how important you view it. It needs to be done well.
If you expect people to provide you with feedback on their salaries or benefits, then you must ensure that you were seriously considering a move within the company. People will see through any attempt to mislead if there is any doubt in yours or someone else’s mind.
- Check in with their job satisfaction
It’s important to see if your employees are content with their jobs. If they give you a bad feeling, then you should interview them to make sure that they are happy with what they do.
You can feel satisfied or proud of someone while also realizing that they might be looking for a new position. Your survey answer may have revealed that something is amiss at work, but by doing an informal check up with each employee, you will gain valuable information.
The next time you think about hiring somebody, consider bringing them into your organization as part of the application process.
This way, you can spend some time learning how they interact with people (if you hire them). You’ll learn whether they enjoy what they do or if they feel like they’re stuck in a rut.
By checking in with them from time to time, you can keep track of their employment status and give them feedback when things are going well and/or not so well.
It helps to have another person involved – it creates a more casual environment where both you and he or she can talk through issues without deadlines and projects looming over their heads.
