Retaining Talent

Are you having more issues with retention than usual? Whether it’s the dreaded Great Resignation or just a great market for job seekers, many large employers are currently seeing an uptick in employee attrition.

A strong and authentic employer brand can help reinforce employees’ decision to work at your company over any other and remind them of reasons the grass is fairly green where they are. But here are five other best practices for creating a culture employees won’t want to leave:

Managers that coach

They say people don’t quit companies, they quit managers — and the inverse is also true. A great manager can sometimes be reason enough for employees to stick around. Do employees at your company feel like their managers are in their corners? Do managers consistently remove hurdles for their team? Managers who focus on helping employees succeed will be more likely to retain their people.

Permission to have a life

Some companies give lip service to work/life balance but are less accommodating in practice. Do parents feel guilty when they need to attend a school event or miss a work meeting to take their kid to the doctor? Do younger employees feel like they have less flexibility at work than their peers in other companies? Leadership can help by modeling behavior that integrates work and life.

Resume-building work

If employees are being stretched and challenged in their work, they’re more likely to stay where they are. Does your culture support giving employees opportunities based on their potential rather than their experience? Are they working with new technology or gaining important certifications? Ironically, helping them add marketable experience to their resumes can help retain employees.

Authentic selves welcomed

Do employees feel they can be the same person at work that they are in their personal lives? Or do they believe they need to maintain a veneer of professional perfection? COVID has helped many employees feel more comfortable showing colleagues their true selves, from more casual outfits to a glimpse of their home lives — including significant others, and even the occasional kid or dog.

A culture they love

Do you have one of those enviable cultures that make the company particularly sticky for your employees? If not, this isn’t an easy fix but a long-range goal to be embraced from the very top. The measure of a culture includes a long list of tangible and intangible factors, from teamwork and collaboration to respect and inclusion. Ideally, your culture is one of the reasons employees stay.