7 employee retention strategies to retain top talent

Employee replacement is very expensive regardless of business size, and studies across all industries show the total cost of losing an employee can range from 1.5 to 2.5 of an employee's annual salary.

While there may be no quick fix to fighting employee turnover, we've put together a list of seven employee retention strategies that will help you get back engaged and maintain their peak performance.

  1. Find out why employees leave and fix it

When it comes to employee retention, details are very important. Detailed information can be obtained through exit interviews, honest conversations with current employees, and employee satisfaction surveys.

  1. Create a high-level onboarding process for the new employee

Make sure to have an excellent plan for the new employee's first 30 days, especially the first day, whether it's giving the employee a small gift, breakfast with team members, or a personal note from the organization's manager, and doing whatever it takes to make the new employee feel welcome and part of the team as soon as possible. These small actions will pay off in the long run.

  1. Linking the employee to the organization's major initiatives

Since 93% of employees are unable to link their daily work to organized goals, it is not surprising that engagement and interaction are low, leading to dissatisfaction with the job and hence higher labor turnover rates.

When employees can't see the impact of their actions on the organization's goals, it reduces productivity. To restore an employee's sense of purpose, try repeating the goal-setting process using the Google-approved OKR method, goal management software, or both.

  1. Give positive feedback

Even the best managers forget to talk well about the performance of their employees. Let you know that giving positive feedback enhances employee confidence and builds the necessary trust when negative feedback is necessary. To increase engagement and recognition, try to activate an incentive and reward program that will help foster a culture of positive feedback in real time, where employees feel valued in achieving their big and small goals.

  1. The shared vision

Employees feel valuable to the organization when the organization's vision is as clear to them as possible, so let employees at all levels in your organization know where you're going and how you'll get there.

  1. Provide learning and development opportunities

Transitioning to better career opportunities is one of the most common reasons people leave their jobs. In 2018, 61% of job seekers rated professional growth as one of the most important reasons when looking for new opportunities. (For young workers, it is 65%.)

But don't worry, if you're not able to offer professional promotions, when offering the opportunity to develop new skills, many employees consider this side step as valuable as the upward move.

  1. See the latest developments in the business world

There are environmental factors in the business world that you cannot control and, unfortunately, affect retention rates. To implement successful employee retention strategies, it's important to be aware of and adapt to the ways in which the business world is changing.

Current trends include (but are not limited to): the rise of the micro-business economy, the deliberate mobility of jobs, and increased flexibility.