Full-Service HR

Hire to Retire: Employee Retention

Ella Baker
Hire to Retire - Employee Retention
Reading time 6 Mins
Published on Jun 18
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Retaining your company’s most valuable asset long-term

Your business invests significant time and money to find the ideal candidates for your positions and hiring and training new employees is a significant cost expenditure for your company. Make sure those efforts do not go to waste by implementing hire-to-retire strategies that will allow you to maximize employee retention.

Evaluate your current employee retention efforts

When employees leave a position or turnover rates are high, it can be difficult for many employers to understand why. Turning a critical eye toward your company and taking an honest look at your potential issues is a key first step toward decreasing turnover and improving employee retention

Begin by sitting down with your management staff and asking yourself a few questions: Is there a revolving door in certain positions? Do we understand why employees are leaving? Do we conduct thoughtful exit interviews that can help us improve our retention? After you’ve answered these questions, brainstorm with your management staff and some key staff members to implement some of these strategies to increase the longevity of your employees.

Contact a Sheakley PEO representative today for help with your company’s evaluation of needs and recommendations on specific areas for you to focus on improving.

Employee onboarding

Employee retention begins before an employee’s first day with your company. Seventy percent of employees report that they are more likely to stay at a company for three or more years if they experienced a favorable and smooth application and hiring process. That process continues into your new employees’ first few weeks with your business, so make a good first impression and getting them fully productive quickly.

Onboarding must be comprehensive: ensuring that goals and expectations are clear; your company culture is well communicated; and effective on-the-job training opportunities are present. Go beyond typical new hire paperwork and a few days of training. Engage your current employees as mentors for your new hires, making them feel more valued and confident as they grow in their new position.

An effective onboarding program will allow your employees to have a complete understanding of their job duties and expectations and to become fully productive members of your team within three months.

Sheakley’s professional will provide you with assistance in developing an onboarding process that can deliver proven results for your company. Sheakley’s experts will work with you and your management team to craft an onboarding process that delivers better retention rates for your company.

Employee engagement and motivation

With slightly less than 33 percent of US workers reporting being actively engaged at work, crafting an effective employee engagement and motivation program is one of the most important tasks for your management team. A well-executed engagement strategy can provide your company with another opportunity to increase your employee retention.

Increase your employees’ level of commitment, passion, and loyalty to your company and for their work by developing an engagement strategy that includes open communication, opportunities to contribute to the success of the company beyond their day-to-day roles, and that allow them to grow within the company. Develop company and spirit building activities that keep employees excited about being part of your team.

Talk to your Sheakley representative today for help in developing an effective employee engagement and motivation strategy. Sheakley’s experts will help you craft programs that are suited to your industry and business size.

Employee performance and development

Consider replacing ingenuine year-end reviews with a more direct and honest way of communicating. Consistent, in-person, one-on-one meetings are a great way to provide your talent with constructive criticism, feedback, advice and praise. Once employees have settled into their roles, collaborate with them to develop their annual performance review and set expectations together.

Provide feedback in ways that your employees respond to and provides motivation. Recognition and criticism should be specific and timely. Some people prefer to be publicly recognized for accomplishments, while others are embarrassed by the attention. Constructive criticism should only be delivered in private and always address a specific concern. Addressing specific concerns gives employees motivation to improve, whereas broad criticism can lead to employees quitting or becoming less committed to the company.

Additionally, employees should be offered the opportunity to provide open and honest feedback on the performance of company leadership. Employees are fostered and developed by their managers, so your team needs strong leaders. Empowering your employees to have input on the leadership of the company will encourage the development of greater loyalty and feeling of ownership of their work.

Ensure that your managers are aware of the career aspirations and concerns of each of their direct reports. Offer your employees professional development opportunities, coaching sessions, access to professional organizations for networking and mentoring, and educational assistance when possible. Develop policies that encourage promotion within the company and ensure that all employees are notified when a position is open. Demonstrating that you care about your employees’ growth and career goals and offering opportunities for growth within the company will provide motivation for employees to remain with your company for the long haul.

Your partners at Sheakley can help you develop employee performance and development plans that will allow you to keep your top employees. Call your Sheakley representative today to schedule your consultation.

Employee compensation and benefits

Employee compensation goes far beyond pay. With employee happiness and loyalty topping out at $75,000, benefits packages and nontraditional perks are keys to retaining top talent.

While the benefits that many small and mid-size business are able to offer aren’t competitive with larger companies, working with a PEO gives you the opportunity to offer Fortune 500 benefits to your workforce. Utilizing the collective bargaining power of all partner companies and employees, Sheakley can extend better benefits to your employees, including health insurance, dental and vision benefits, life insurance, and retirement options.

Today’s workers are also seeking the flexibility to create a better work-life balance. Rather than holding your employees to strict office hours, consider offering remote working options, telecommuting, flex hours, or fluid PTO policies. Not only do these benefits help your employees create more balance in their own lives, it also makes them more productive and helps your business retain employees longer.

Schedule a free consultation today with a Sheakley expert to help you decide if flexible scheduling or better benefits can help you meet your employee retention goals.

Keep your employees and increase your company’s performance

Employee turnover can be costly and lost production can mean serious hits to your bottom line. Sheakley’s HR Management division can help you develop strategies to ensure greater employee retention and ultimately improve upon the success of your business.

Learn more about Sheakley and contact us for your free consultation today. Stay up-to-date on all things Sheakley by subscribing to our blog and following us on social media. Join in the discussion by commenting below.


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