How to retain talent in such a dynamic market

What if your top 10 employees decided to leave your company right now? What would that look like for your business? What changes would need to be implemented to maintain the normal functioning of your company?

In such a dynamic and competitive market, highly specialized employees have proven to be valuable for companies, and, as such, they are in high demand. 

Your business thrives on the talent of your employees. Without your top performers, your business can’t reach its full potential, regardless of the role they are in, whether it's in tech, data, marketing, sales, health, or science.

The employee turnover statistics are alarming. According to Randstad, almost 50% of workers are willing to quit their jobs to improve their work-life balance. In 2022, approximately 40% of the global workforce stated they were ready to quit their jobs due to a lack of career mobility, development, and engagement.

Finding new employees and getting them up to speed can be a real pain, not to mention expensive, if you want them to produce the same or better results as your previous employees. And there is actually a number. According to the Work Institute, it can cost you up to one-third of that employee’s annual paycheck.

In this article, we discuss some strategies you can employ to retain talent in today's dynamic and ever-changing market.

Create space for employee’s innovative ideas

One of the main reasons employees leave a company is because they feel that their ideas are not appreciated or recognized by their managers. Therefore, if you have young and talented team members who share innovative ideas and suggestions for improvement, it is essential to create a safe space for feedback and conversation.

It can be frustrating for young and dedicated professionals to see that their expertise and efforts are not being utilized. To reduce turnover, you can create a system in place where you can study and test the suggestions made by your employees before rejecting them. Additionally, it is essential to train your management and leadership to ask employees for more feedback, perceptions, strategies, and ideas. 

By doing so, employees will feel heard and respected, and you will create a more inspiring work environment. Employees are more likely to stay when there is a sense of purpose within your company culture.

Reward top performers and show appreciation

Building on the previous topic, it's essential not just to consider ideas, but also to reward employees for their performance.

Creating a reward system and investing in a feedback culture will help you identify top performers and appreciate them for their work. This system can include 1-2-1 meetings with team leaders, where there’s a genuine conversation on personal goals, challenges, performance, and achievements. 

Rewards can be flexible and based on the employee’s preference, for example, by offering additional training budget, professional courses, travel experiences, tech budget, days off, gift cards, salary, bonuses, etc. The sky is the limit when it comes to creating a reward system inside your company.

Offer flexibility and more work-life balance

Since 2020 remote work has become the norm and proved to be as productive as any traditional 5-day office schedule. With that in mind, providing flexibility by offering a fully remote or a hybrid system will help employees stay motivated and engaged.

Not to mention that many companies can come up with a more flexible work-life-friendly offer to your top talent right now.

If you work in an industry that cannot provide full remote flexibility, you can work together with your HR team to figure out new strategies. For example, offering flexible working hours so employees can tend to their personal lives as well, reducing the work schedule on Fridays, or even increasing paid vacations.

Provide learning and career growth opportunities

According to LinkedIn, 94% of employees mentioned that they would stay in a company if they had the opportunity to learn more. In conclusion, it's not always about salary but about learning.

Many top performers feel like their knowledge and skills aren't put to enough good use, and when they stop learning new things, they are very likely to look for a new challenge.

By creating a work environment where growth and learning are possible, you motivate employees to stay. You can do so by increasing the training budget, providing learning programs, offering more opportunities to switch projects, and more.

Also, creating career growth opportunities through periodic promotions or inclusion in new departments can help fight the boredom of having the same role every day and allow the development of new skills.

Dive deep into feedback and employee exit data

You won’t be able to fix a problem if you don’t know exactly what the problem is. Right?

If your company is experiencing high turnover, the best way to identify the issue is by asking for feedback and analyzing employee exit data.

Organize anonymous surveys focusing on the company’s challenges and the negative personal experiences of employees. Make sure no one has access to the employee’s personal information. This way, you will receive genuine feedback and valuable data that can help address the challenges. 

When an employee leaves the company, you can ask your HR team to schedule a quick meeting to better understand the reason behind their decision to leave for a new company. This can provide insights to address and reduce future employee turnover.

Provide competitive salary and additional perks

Although salary may not be the top reason your best employees leave for a new job, it still plays a significant role. To ensure you offer competitive compensation, it's important to research the market, audit your salary and bonus structure, and make necessary adjustments. 

It's also a good idea to review your employees' salaries at least once a year to ensure they keep up with the job market to avoid losing top talent to competitors in the industry.

Aside from salary, providing additional perks such as health insurance, training, gym memberships, daycare budgets, and more vacation days can help keep employees engaged with your company.

Hire managers who are great communicators and teachers

The importance of having effective managers and leaders within your company extends beyond merely tracking performance and delivering results. 

Managers pave the way for other employees, helping them integrate, learn, and grow inside your company. Hiring good managers who can teach employees will help you retain top talent as they provide direction, vision, and inspiration to keep going.

Most of the time, you won’t be in touch with your top talent and high performers, but your managers will. That’s why the managers and team leaders you hire should have specific soft skills that promote communication, collaboration among team members, and learning.

If you are experiencing difficulties finding the right managers and humans for a specific project or role, reach out to us at HumanIT.