How To Increase Worker Retention

Companies have been talking about the “Great Resignation”  for a year and a half, as employees continue leaving their 9-to-5 jobs for better alternatives. According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover news released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 38.6 million people left their jobs between January and September 2022. There are significantly high costs associated with employee turnover. 

Cynthia Moore, Co-founder and Vice President at VMS Professionals, suggests that the cost of turnover is $24,000 for call center workers based on a 40% turnover rate. This cost includes the costs of contingent workers, trainers, and trainees. Executive leaders need to ask themselves why employees are quitting their jobs. According to a Forbes report, the top five reasons for employees quitting their jobs include toxic company culture, less pay, unhealthy work/life balance, poor management, and the lack of remote work opportunities. 

While unsatisfactory pay is one of the most common reasons for employees resigning, the other four reasons revolve around the company putting its employees first. Health insurance, paid time off, and profit sharing have become more important than ever for employees. These benefits have high stakes, especially during uncertain times. Employees are switching jobs or moving to alternative careers that offer greater flexibility and stability. 

Why Focus on Worker Retention?

Worker retention is indeed the backbone of a successful company. There are many cost, productivity, and efficiency-related benefits of employee retention. Elisa Burgos-Ojeda, Learning & Development Manager at nTech Workforce, explains why companies need to focus on employee retention, “It is more expensive to train someone new than to retain an existing employee. Besides that, skilled employees have institutional knowledge that is very valuable to the success of a company." When they quit, this knowledge is bled out. 

Big turnovers do not have a positive impact on existing employees. As Burgos-Ojeda adds, “Employee morale can always be affected as a result of continuous turnover. It can be very disengaging for current employees and detrimental to business continuity.”

Company Growth and Employee Retention 

As discussed earlier, employee turnover costs are high, and therefore, the absence of efficient employee retention strategies would mean high recruiting and training expenses for the company. High turnover rates also affect the company’s culture as employees are not able to build a sense of working in a “team.” Greater employee retention means that employees become more skilled and productive, which is directly related to the company’s growth. 

According to Burgos-Ojeda, “Employee retention and a company’s growth go hand in hand. Growth can be interconnected so that as the individual grows, there is alignment with the company's goals and objectives which ultimately contribute to the company’s growth. That growth has a mirroring effect within the company and becomes a parallel pathway between both parties. The opposite of this would be having a lot of turnovers, which is detrimental to the growth of a company and can affect output past the single employee who leaves.”

Worker Retention Strategies That Work

Here are some worker retention strategies that employers can consider:

1. Valuing Employees: The leadership team should continuously look at the things that matter the most to their employees and try to provide appropriate support. For this, the input of each employee needs to be valued. Burgos-Ojeda emphasizes how nTech focuses on valuing the individual contributions of its employees through a driven top-down approach, which prioritizes the retention of top talent.  
2. Open Lines of Communication: Retention strategies are neither homogeneous nor monolithic. As such, they will differ from the perspective of each employee. Therefore, the employees should be able to speak to everyone across the company, irrespective of their level.
3. Focus on Your Employee’s Mental Health: Due to the pandemic, stress and burnout levels have been on the rise. Over 31% of employees reported poor mental health last year. Employers should offer benefits like mental health counseling, access to various mental health apps, mental health PTO, and employee assistance programs. Offering greater flexibility also goes a long way in creating a better work/life balance for employees. 

4. Support Your Employee’s Career: The modern workforce wants to be prepared for their future. They want to have better career growth opportunities with your company. Nothing hurts them more than a stagnant job. As such, employers must invest in upskilling and reskilling programs for their employees and promote learning in their company.

At nTech Workforce, we understand the value of employee engagement and retention. Our unique solutions are meant to empower employees with growth opportunities and improve their retention and productivity.