3 Tips for Retaining Your Employees

Since 2021’s “Great Resignation,” workers are less willing to stay where they’re unhappy.

Since the pandemic, retaining employees has gotten more difficult. Last fall, millions of workers left their jobs during the “Great Resignation” in search of better pay and benefits.

Employees are still leaving at record rates.

Gartner, an HR consulting firm, predicts that turnover will jump by 20% this year. Before COVID-19, an average of 31.9 million employees would quit every year. In 2022, Gartner expects that about 37.4 million workers will quit.

“New employee expectations, and the availability of hybrid arrangements, will continue to fuel the rise in attrition,” said Piers Hudson, senior director at Gartner HR. “An individual organization with a turnover rate of 20% before the pandemic could face a turnover rate as high as 24% in 2022 and the years to come.”

Especially now that there are so many remote work options, employees aren’t as willing to put up with negative work environments.

Here are some tips for keeping your employees during this competitive job market.

1. Compensate as well as you can

Throughout 2022, inflation has continuously risen to record highs and wages aren’t rising at the same rate. Inflation is up by more than 8% while wages in the U.S. have risen an average of 4%. So even if someone gets an amazing pay raise, it’s more than likely that they’ve actually gotten a pay cut since the previous year.

Activists have been advocating for a federal $15 minimum wage for years now, but the sad truth is that researchers no longer point to that as being a living wage.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) says that a living wage covers expenses for “minimum food, childcare, health insurance, housing, transportation, and other basic necessities.”

In Florida, for example, the minimum wage is $11. But MIT says that a living wage for a single Floridian without kids is $17.24.

According to ZipRecruiter, the average hourly pay in Florida is 25.92. So, if you aren’t paying enough, workers will find someone who will.

2. Make a good first impression

Last week, there were several posts on LinkedIn where new hires posted photos of bouquets and other welcome gifts from their new employers.

These gifts certainly don’t replace a solid income, but they make a difference. Every person who made one of those LinkedIn posts were celebrating how welcomed the gifts made them feel.

Starting a new job can feel scary and intimidating, so it’s good to start with a warm first impression.

One shop, Knack, surveyed 500 adults on their thoughts about welcome gifts. They found that workers are 70% more likely to feel connected to their employers after being given an onboarding gift.

Most survey respondents said that gift cards were the best kind of gift. And while businesses want employees to demonstrate pride with the company they’re working with, most employees don’t want company-branded gifts.

“We’ve all received this type of ‘swag,’” Knack said. “Swag isn’t a gift – it’s a reminder to think of the company during your normal routines.”

So skip out on the branded water bottles and find something more unique.

3. Know your employees personally

“Don’t be friends with your employees,” is one piece of advice that’s often dolled out – but don’t take it too seriously. While you want people to listen and respect you, you also don’t want to come off as distant and cold.

No one wants to work for a boss who couldn’t care less about them.

Getting to know your employees on a personal level can make them feel appreciated, and you don’t need to shell out more money to do this.

But the effort needs to go deeper than just human resources. HR professionals say that executives in the C-suite need to show this kind of interest as well.

Olivet Nazarene University conducted a survey and found a strong correlation between how close employees are with their bosses and how happy they are at work.

The report says, “Of people who are happy at work, 74% have met their boss’s significant other.”

Although you don’t have to go that far, it goes to show how a personal connection leads to happier employees – and happier employees are less likely to leave you hanging.