With the unemployment rate at a record low, many workplaces are seeing increased employee turnover as talent leaves for a number of reasons.

As an employer, higher turnover has a range of detrimental effects, including increased costs. In fact, losing a skilled employee can cost you as much as 213% of their salary. Other negative effects include:

• A shortage of talent: If the crème of your workforce is unhappy in their jobs, they will very quickly move on to a better position in another company.
  
• Low employee morale: High employee turnover quickly leads to a reduction in your team’s morale. This, in turn, creates low engagement and performance levels.
• Lost productivity: The longer you have openings in your workforce, the longer you are not meeting maximum productivity levels, which will soon reduce your total output.

Even if your level of employee turnover is lower than the industry average, it can still have a negative impact on your workplace’s value and performance.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that high turnover is beyond your control. These five employee retention strategies will give you the tools you need to boost your retention rate through improved employee satisfaction.

5 Strategies to Improve Employee Retention

High employee turnover will not fix itself. Here are some strategies to help you and your management team to give employee retention a boost.

1. Hire the Right Employees

One way to prevent having to replace employees is to make sure you’re bringing in candidates who are a good fit for both the work and the organization. This means taking a look at your strategy during the hiring process and finding ways to make it better.

Hiring a person who has the skills that you desire and the level of productivity you need is critical. If you hire the wrong person for the job and their performance is lacking, this will bring down the morale of other employees.

Money is not the only benefit you need to offer to hire and retain the talent that you need. There are several tweaks you can make to ensure you’re hiring the employees you need.

First, ensure that you have a strong employer brand by developing a very clear company message and a positive and ethical company culture.

Next review your job description. Make sure that they accurately describe the skills needed and the expectations for the position.

Finally hiring managers should refine their interview techniques. It’s important to focus on a prospective hire’s skill set and experience, but you should also give him or her an opportunity to interview you as well.  By giving candidates the opportunity to ask you questions about the job and the company, he or she can get an accurate perspective on the company and your expectations, greatly increasing the chance of a mutual fit.

2. Offer Training Sessions

Training and career development sessions allow you to enhance the skills that your employees already have as well as providing them with new ones. It’s well worth putting the money into training because it won’t take long to see your return on investment. Not only will it improve the employee experience, but there are also numerous other benefits, including:

• • Maximized employee performance
  • An increase in employee job satisfaction
  • Raised workforce morale
  • Providing consistent background knowledge for the team

Providing training and professional development sessions also increases employee retention. Up to 93 percent of employees say that they would remain in their position longer if their company offered career development and a path to reach their long-term goals.

3. Offer Flexible Schedules

Your competitors are already doing this, so you should bring it on board before your best talent starts jumping the boat. According to a survey by Zenefits, 73% of employees report that flexible work schedules increased their satisfaction at work. The main advantages of a flexible schedule are:

• • It makes employees happy because they feel more in control of their work-life balance
  • It helps to boost creativity, employee morale, and productivity
  • The technology is already in place, so you’re not going to have any extra expenditure

The key factors to implementing flexible schedules effectively are to start slowly, to offer training where needed, and to check in regularly with your off-site employees, so that they still feel they’re a part of the team.

4. Properly Reward and Reprimand Employees

When employees have met or exceeded your goals, they should be rewarded. Rewards are powerful tools to show employees how much you appreciate their input, and they also help increase employee loyalty. Here are just a few ways in which you can show your appreciation:

• • A hand-written note: This provides a personal touch that your employees will value.

• • Sporting event tickets: Giving your employees tickets to see their favorite team shows that you take an interest in their lives.

• • A voucher to a favorite restaurant: This gives employees an opportunity to spend some quality time with their loved ones on your tab.

• • A plaque or trophy: An award can really boost an employee’s productivity and increase company morale.

• • A spa day: This gives employees a great way to unwind outside of work.

Occasions may also arise when you need to reprimand an employee. This is a delicate situation and should always be handled in a proper manner. Here are some tips:

• • Deal with the matter in private: Don’t humiliate an employee in front of the whole team.

• • Act calmly and professionally: It’s important that you deal with the matter promptly, but you should do so in a professional, controlled manner. Try to keep emotions out of the discussion. 
  • Focus on specific, actionable behavior: Don’t be vague when discussing an issue with an employee; be clear about the employee’s inappropriate behavior, and why it is inappropriate. 
  • Take the opportunity to communicate: It’s perfectly fine for you to explain where the employee has erred, but you must also be prepared to listen to what he or she has to say. 
  • Encourage a commitment to change: Explain the standard and get the employee onboard to change his or her behavior so that you can avoid a termination down the road.

5. Offer a Financial Wellbeing Program

Bear in mind that financial stress is often the root of employee unhappiness. A financial wellbeing program provides employees with advice and skills to deal with their personal financial situation.

It helps them escape from debt faster, manage their money better, save for the future, and importantly, avoid predatory lenders. By helping to improve their financial wellbeing you can:

• • Reduce employee stress levels
    
  • Increase engagement and productivity
    
  • Help to improve employees’ physical health
    
  • Cut down on employee sick days
    
  • Show your team your appreciation
    
  • Increase employee loyalty
    
  • Improve employee retention

TrueConnect may be a great fit to help your company with the financial aspects of employee retention, by offering a safe and simple solution for employees who are struggling with a sudden and unexpected expense. TrueConnect provides small loans up to $3,000 at no cost to the employer.

Employees can repay the loan over twelve months through small paycheck deductions.

Make sure that you are always aware of your company’s employee turnover rate, even if it is lower than your industry average. Don’t let turnover get out of control — develop a retention plan. Start implementing strategies today to retain your employees. Otherwise, you will lose your best talent to your competitors.