HR

A Retention Checklist for Employees – Why You Should Have One

BY
January 31, 2023
5
minute read

Retention is a concept utilized by high-performing organizations worldwide. In the eyes of HR leaders, there are major concerns surrounding retention.  

In fact, it’s almost impossible to successfully predict how employees will interact with the hiring landscape, regardless of the economy’s position. Since the pandemic, the workforce is reshaping, forcing companies to ask their employees tougher questions.  

Many organizations are being asked to prioritize their most prominent hiring and retention goals. The pandemic triggered higher quit rate, leaving companies short-staffed. It’s even starting to affect safety in the workplace.  

With all of this in mind, it’s crucial that business owners improve their retention strategies as much as possible, seeing that safety is becoming a bigger concern.  

The team at FRIDAY created a retention checklist comprising essential questions to help companies enhance their retention strategies and produce an effective solution.

 

#1. Should My Team Survey Employee Engagement?

In the United States, engagement among workers is decreasing. Minimal employees are reporting being extremely unsatisfied with their company as a place to work. That said, lower engagement rates can cause a higher turnover in organizations.  

Nearly 73% of disengaged employees admitted they were actively seeking another job. Additionally, these employees have higher levels of absenteeism and are much less productive, making them more likely to perform poorly at work.  

This cycle contributes to the annual $550 billion cost faced by American companies for disengaged employees. While this issue is undoubtedly colossal, there’s a fairly easy way to address it – simply ask your employees the right question.

Survey your team to estimate just how engaged they are at work and ask them what would make them look forward to work every day.  

As long as you’re connecting with your employees on a personal level and make them feel valued in their place of work, your business’ retention rate will increase significantly. Ask yourself: what excites my employees when they come to work?

If you don’t know the answer to this question, your business likely has a weak retention rate. Even if you don’t possess a mature strategy for addressing the results of this type of survey, you should make an effort to survey employee engagement on a frequent basis.  

It’s important to know just how much employees feel connected to their job and the work they’re doing.  

#2. Does My Company Truly Reflect Our Mission and Values?  

Employees are seeking out companies that reflect social, governmental, and environmental values that they support. This is especially true for the younger generations like Millennials and Gen Z.  

Companies with a work culture that practices their organizational values daily will have higher levels of engagement as opposed to companies that don’t. Setting actionable goals for your team will make discussing your company’s mission a habitual occurrence.  

A positive, encouraging culture within your company is the key to maintaining engaged employees.  

#3. How Well is My Team Communicating with One Another?

A lack of communication triggers unproductivity in the workplace, along with stress. Roughly 80% of the United States workforce reported feeling stressed due to ineffective communication within their company.  

In addition to this, a whopping 63% of individuals considered quitting their job because of poor communication at work. When people feel like they’re an important part of a team, engagement is bound to increase.  

Regardless of the size of your company or its location, communication is an integral part of a company’s success. Employers should be able to identify a connection between their employee’s retention and traditional, two-way communication.

Employees prefer to feel connected to their managers, the company they work for, and their coworkers. Strong and effective communication will contribute to their level of retention in the workplace.  

Appreciation from management and higher-ups will also lead to higher employee retention rates.

#4. Does My Company Currently Have a DE&I Strategy?

DE&I, or diversity, equity, and inclusion, is an important subject in today’s workforce. DE&I strategy helps businesses to maintain a non-discriminative workplace culture that helps employees feel welcomed and included.  

In fact, this strategy helps to prevent discrimination from the recruiting and hiring process. Additionally, DE&I is a concept that allows qualified talent to pursue positions that were previously unattainable for certain groups of people.  

An inclusive workplace also builds employee morale within your company, which evidently affects employee retention. When workers feel their company is treating everyone on their team fairly, they’re far more likely to be engaged.  

A company’s DE&I strategy will undoubtedly benefit your organization’s retention rates long-term. This particular strategy considers culture and environment and builds employee resource groups that make for an even more positive workplace.  

Maintaining High-Performing Employees in Any Economy  

Hiring top talent and keeping them long-term begins with an effective retention strategy. To do so successfully, you have to gather information and ask the right questions.  

These questions should center around the entire human capital management life cycle within your company’s four walls.  

To obtain the best results, you should ask these questions in a way that allows you to analyze and organize your employee retention practices and be sure to do so on a regular basis.  

In short, make employee retention one of your company’s top priorities, because it affects your organization’s communication, employees, and performance levels. Employee retention isn’t just an HR issue, it’s one that affects the core of your business.  

A Strategy That’s Productive and Effective  

Overtime, as your company grows, more challenges will arise. FRIDAY is a software that was created for to revolutionize team management for small businesses.  

FRIDAY Helps Small Business Manage and Pay Their Team  

When it comes to managing, tracking, and paying your employees, additional help goes a long way. FRIDAY is the simplest software created to help small businesses manage, track, and pay their team without any paperwork involved.  

FRIDAY is an easy to use, yet powerful payroll and team management solution.