Employee Retention: All you need to know about it!

Yet another resignation?

Oh NO, not again!

“Employees don’t leave companies, they leave people!”

– Dale Carnegie

Let that sink in …

A company is not always judged based on its balance sheet; providing job satisfaction to its employees is also a major factor that impacts a company’s reputation!

Employee resignation which in this age is popularly known as; ‘The Great Resignation’ continues to remain a concern for more than a couple of years now. Statistical data from the World Economic Forum says that in 2022 an average of “1” out of 5 employees quit their jobs globally. As much as these figures are staggering, so is the concern for this trend.

Retention Relevance:

“To win the marketplace, you must first win the workplace.”

– Doug Content

Your employee is not through your business but it is the other way around!

Employee retention is the ability of a company to sustain their talent by preventing employee turnover. While this sounds so simple, how has this become such a matter of grave concern?

Attrition will not only spoil the company image and morale but also make a remarkable dent on the Balance Sheet :

Costing Flies towards the Sky
Customer Dis-satisfaction and in turn Retention

Divert the Director’s Focus

Productivity sucks

New Talent Acquisition and Overall Culture

Well said by Peter Sticker,

Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast

Attrition creates biggest negative impact on Culture of Organisations which curates the germs of insecurity, blurred future and in turn distrust towards the Organisation.

Psychology of Employees and Their hidden Needs:

“Employees who feel a sense of belonging tend to stay engaged, productive and are far less likely to leave, so to keep the good employees; invest in belongingness.”

– Adam Mambo

When people take a job, they look for a mix of goals!

Financial benefit is a major magnet to keep an employee but it is a myth to believe that only a good pay scale can retain an employee. People come from different walks of life and have varied criteria not only while taking up a job but also while retaining it.

Examples of other things that any sensible employee looks for can be:

Company culture
Personal and professional growth
Feeling of belongingness
Being heard
Being cared for
Appreciation
Inclusiveness
Being understood
Being trusted
Being valued

An employee feels respected and sought after when they are treated like an asset by their company. The feeling of ‘giving back’ to their company often takes over on a satisfied individual. Any human would work his / her strength out for a company they feel attached to. Undoubtedly it is a circle of actions that shape out of, good company-behavior to good employees work ethic to and customer satisfaction and finally leads to growth for all; but this circle has to be started by the company and its leadership.

“People work for money but go an extra mile for recognition, praise, and rewards.”

– Anonymous

What goes in the core of building the company will return back like a boomerang.

The leadership of the company has a vital role to play here.

It is an open secret that every team will be filled with members having IQ and EQ at different levels. All members of a team are not going to be on the same page at all times. Nonetheless, the onus lies on the shoulders of the leadership to ensure unity.

Despite the efforts to draw a unified and streamlined approach companies fail to achieve it.

Non Financial Parameters affecting the Culture :

Internal politics,
Groupism,
Favoritism,
Bad-mouthing,
Verbal disrespect
Failure in recognizing performance,
Unnoticed efforts,
Lack of appreciation,
Injustice,
Poor personal support,
Skewed work-life balance,
Faltered pay hike and omitted promotion

The more unhappy an employee is, the more the probability of them resigning. The higher the rate of unfairness meted out to good employees easy will be the string of resignations that follow. When other employees can see how the leadership or company is careless in handling good people, even they lose interest in sticking in.

Focus A : The Tipping Point:

“Start the retention process when the person is still open to staying, not after they have told you they are leaving.”

– Jeff Weiner

The direst of puzzles become easy after a tipping point and so does the puzzle of talent retention!

If you hire genius minds and keep guiding them how to think all the time, it is a lose-lose situation to be in. Hiring great talent is a different story and letting them run-through with their tasks independently is what truly brings the benefits to the table.

Remember, Culture moves from Top to Bottom.

It is up to the top management (leadership) of the company to ensure all the people are given due respect, protection, opportunity, a lending ear, appreciation, growth, prejudice free and unbiased environment and most importantly justice. This will in turn encourage employees to treat each other with grace and the customer in a more hospitable manner.

Train them, trust them, applaud them for them to feel valued and thus willing to stay. When the best people win and are acknowledged they stay with the company. Treat them right. Even one dissatisfied and wronged employee can cause a downfall.

Focus B : The Winning point:

“If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers and your business will take care of itself.”

– J W Marriott

Value your employees as individuals and not just a human-resource!

Treat them like ‘humans’ and they will automatically become a ‘resource’. Employee has to be treated like an asset for them to function that way. If they are given the feeling of a liability and burden on the company, they are likely to become one. Employee are those assets who constantly appreciate in value when treated right.

The recipe to retention can come from, treating them with inclusiveness, encouraging expectations, helping them grow, competitive remuneration, and nurturing their skills.