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Employee Retention in the Age of Job Hopping

Ella Baker
Employee Retention in the Age of Job Hopping
Reading time 3 Mins
Published on Oct 1
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Job hopping is the pattern of changing companies frequently, like every year to two years by choice, rather than as a result of layoffs or company closure. While it may have once been common for employees to stay with one employer for decades or even their entire career, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z have demonstrated no qualms about changing jobs frequently. Whether for better pay, better work-life balance, or because they were unhappy in the role, newer generations of workers are taking their careers into their own hands and forging a new path that has includes multiple jobs. Employee retention in the age of job hopping will require going beyond traditional strategies.

Create balance

One of the most sought-after benefits among today’s younger job seekers is a better work-life balance. While this can mean different things to different people, for most employees, it’s about having opportunities to engage more with friends and family and to explore their passions.

Consider offering employees the opportunity to work from home or telecommute on certain days when the demand for their presence in the workplace may be lower. Even one day per week, or every other week, can give employees the freedom to work while also satisfying commitments at home. If time and money allow, you could also consider adopting a more flexible PTO schedule to enable employees to have more personal time.

Your company’s community volunteerism can be another outlet for creating balance between work and outside interests. Consider allowing employees to nominate and vote on volunteer projects or organizations that your company will support. If you have a large workforce, you could create volunteer teams centered around different employee interests.

Encourage employee-manager communication

Help your employees feel more comfortable coming to management about issues that might cause them to consider leaving. When employees feel comfortable coming to their supervisors about their concerns, you gain an opportunity to retain talent.

Let employees know that it’s okay to talk to their managers about any issues that arise in the workplace. Create opportunities for employees to express their displeasure with aspects of their jobs and explore other positions within the company that they might be interested in.

Exit interviews

When an employee is leaving your company, it’s always a good idea to plan a face-to-face exit interview. A well-executed exit interview gives you insight into why talent is leaving your company – and provides you with the information you need to stop that drain. This information can help you build better retention rates, improve productivity, and increase your bottom line, while building employee engagement and creating an environment that demonstrates how much you value your employees.

Look for patterns in the feedback you receive from outgoing employees to identify potential organizational issues. Consider developing a spreadsheet of the information gathered that will allow you to identify issues at a glance. Trends should be addressed by a leadership team and action should be taken to avoid further talent drain.

Employee retention and Sheakley

Hiring, onboarding, and training new employees saps productivity from your company. You can retain your top talent, even in the age of job hopping – and Sheakley can help. With more than 50,000 clients, Sheakley’s HR experts can help you develop and deploy retention efforts to keep your best employees in the company.

Schedule your free consultation with a Sheakley HR Outsourcing or PEO professional 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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