Category: Employee Retention

Four out of ten employees who left their jobs during the pandemic regret leaving. Almost 20% of those individuals have since returned to their previous employers as boomerang employees.

Something made those employees want to leave, but something also made them come back—like a boomerang.

Many employees who return get an increase in pay and responsibility. Which suggests that businesses value them enough to attract them back and retain them. 

Or that employees left in the first place because they weren’t being given the responsibilities or remuneration that they deserved.

In fact, the average pay raise for boomerang employees is 25% more than their salary before they left. Those who stay get an average pay increase of just 4% over the same time period.

As well as the huge difference in income, 40% of returning employees become managers.

Offering these things is a way to lure that internal knowledge back into the fold. It also means you spend less time and money on training and onboarding because boomerang employees already know so much about your business.

What are boomerang employees?

Think of a boomerang: you throw it, it comes back. If you throw it right, anyway.

Boomerang employees get their name from this concept: they leave, then they come back weeks, months, or even years later.

Boomerang employees could be seasonal workers who return each year or apply for a full-time role after their seasonal stint.

They could also be employees who left voluntarily or because their contracts ended.

What makes an employee leave and come back?

Sometimes, when an employee leaves for a new role, they may find the grass isn’t so green after all. The benefits package, pay, progression opportunities, culture, or commute may not be what they’d hoped for.

If they left voluntarily, it could have been because of caregiving responsibilities or health issues. It could be that they were unable to work for you, or they found an opportunity elsewhere.

Most boomerang employees return within 13 months of leaving, with three quarters returning by 16 months. This suggests that after the one-year mark is a common time for employees to return.

What are the benefits of boomerang employees?

Rehiring previous employees comes with risks. For example, there’s the chance they may be researching how you do things for a competitor.

It’s unlikely this is the reason for their return. However, it is worth discussing with them why they want to come back so that they’re more likely to stay the second time around.

There are lots of positives businesses that rehire previous employees can enjoy. So let’s take a look at the benefits of boomerang employees:

Save money on training and onboarding

Boomerang employees already know about your organization, so you don’t have to spend as much time and money teaching them about your product or service and how your business works.

You still need to make sure they’re caught up with everything that changed while they were away, though.

And make sure to support them with their training needs. Lack of training opportunities is one of the main reasons employees leave. So if you want to keep them longer this time, training (or even re-skilling) is key to retention.

New ideas

A change of scenery, no matter how short, can be a good way to change how we see the world. It can help generate new ideas that can benefit your business.

If an employee worked for a different industry or competitor while they were away, they’ll bring back a different approach to problem solving and can help you spot gaps in your strategies.

New connections

Connections are key, particularly in departments like sales. Boomerang employees can bring new opportunities and potential customers along with them when they return.

Just be sure to keep that employee happy. You don’t want your new customers leaving because they’re more loyal to the employee than to you!

How to support boomerang employees

Now that you’ve got your employees back, you want to retain them. So how do you do that?

Regular check-ins

The only way to know what an employee really thinks and feels is to ask them. This should come in multiple forms, including one-on-one meetings and written feedback, such as employee surveys.

With one-on-ones, you can have frank, qualitative conversations with employees about their roles and what works and doesn’t work for them.

Employee surveys can fill in any gaps. They also allow employees the chance to provide feedback anonymously, which can make team members who have issues with colleagues or managers feel more comfortable.

Something it’s also important to address is why they left. Otherwise, if things truly haven’t changed, they may only stay for a short time. For instance, to tide them over until a better-paid opportunity comes along.

Act on feedback

There’s no point asking for feedback if nothing changes. So ensure that once you’ve collected all that information, you look into what can be done differently and how best you can support your employees. 

This could be in the form of changing an employee’s working hours, conflict resolution if colleagues don’t get along, further training, workplace adjustments, or something else.

Conclusion

Boomerang employees can have many benefits in the workplace.

To ensure they’re truly happy and stick around, be sure to have open conversations about why they left and address any issues that they have/had.

If you’re ready to attract more boomerang employees and keep them around for the long-term, you need the right tools. Workrowd empowers you to deliver a delightful, personalized experience to every employee.

With a central hub for everything employee engagement, and real-time data collection and analytics for you, you can give your boomerang employees more of what they want without the stress.

Ready to learn more? Visit us online or write us at hello@workrowd.com to schedule a call.

From injury to parental leave, there are lots of instances where an employee leave of absence is needed. The longer the leave, the more challenging and intimidating it can be for that person to return.

To get the most from them, they need to feel comfortable in their role again. And that may look different from how it did before. After all, becoming a parent, having surgery, or getting a life-changing diagnosis can completely shift someone’s worldview.

So, how can you build in supports after an employee leave of absence? And how can you ensure they’re empowered to do their best after their return to work?

Consider supportive tech

Supportive tech can be a game changer for employees and even help them return to work faster.

I’ve got an injured finger as I write this. As a result, I’ve been typing on my phone and using a dictation app instead of a keyboard. This ensures I can keep writing without putting pressure on my injury, allowing me to heal faster and keep writing.

Dictation apps, height adjustable desks, screen readers, adaptable chairs, and ergonomic keyboards—there’s an option for just about every health concern.

Do some research into the employees’ health condition (if they disclosed it). Then, be sure to ask them what they want/need. They may not know what options are available to them, so it’s important that managers and HR teams are aware of them too.

Having the right tools after an employee leave of absence can make a world of difference.

Consider a phased return

Phased returns offer the chance to come back to work gradually after an employee leave of absence. This can make the prospect of returning less intimidating. It also allows the person to continue to rest and recuperate while building their strength and productivity back up.

They may need to start off with one day a week, then two the following week, three the next, and so on. 

It could be that they do reduced hours each day and gradually increase them.

The right pattern will vary from employee to employee. It will also vary based on the reason for the employee leave of absence and how long it was.

So it’s worth talking to your colleague to see what they need, rather than telling them they only have one option. That way, they’re comfortable with the solution and feel like their employer values them.

Catch up regularly

The only way to know what an employee really needs is to touch base regularly. These catch-ups should feel like relaxed conversations so that employees don’t feel like you’re spying on them or putting pressure on them because they’re not fully healed yet. 

You could do this weekly, or even daily, if your employee doesn’t feel like that’s too much pressure. 

The important thing is to have an open dialogue between managers and the employee, or HR and the employee, so that they can share how they’re actually feeling and how the current process works for them. 

If something isn’t working, look at ways you can pivot to help them get back to performing at their best.

Listen and learn

It’s really important to ask employees what they want and need rather than making assumptions.

One of the biggest contributors to our physical and mental wellbeing—that isn’t always talked about—is feeling supported by those around us.

That support starts with listening. It gives employees some control over a situation that might have been out of their hands. This is particularly true if the employee leave of absence was due to injury or surgery. 

Giving them agency back in this way can make a huge difference to their wellbeing. As opposed to taking that away by making assumptions about what will help them heal faster.

Offer flexible working options

Flexible working options such as changing someone’s start and finish time, or allowing them to work from home, can be game-changers for those coming back from an employee leave of absence. It means that they can work at a time, and in an environment, that works the best for them and their healing journey. 

It shows that you value them as a person and don’t just see them as another piece in a puzzle. This can also help them return to work quicker because they’re not forcing themselves to work when they don’t feel up to it.

For example, many health conditions, from allergies to chronic pain and anything in between, are often worse in the morning.

So while allowing an employee to start an hour later seems like a small thing, the extra hour of sleep can make a massive difference to their wellbeing.

Connect them to their colleagues

Perhaps you have a new mother returning to work. Connecting her with other working parents who’ve experienced raising a newborn further allows her to feel supported in the work environment.

One way you can do this is through employee groups. They offer opportunities for employees to get to know others with similar interests or backgrounds. Which then enables them to share their successes and their struggles.

Knowing you have a strong network when coming back from an employee leave of absence can significantly reduce anxiety.

Conclusion

It’s not just about getting employees back to work quickly that makes a difference to your business’s bottom line. It’s also getting them back in a way that supports their health and wellbeing so that they can perform at their best.

Supporting employees in their healing journeys with things like flexible working and listening to their needs are small steps that show you value them. They enable talented team members to keep working while they heal.

Returning from an employee leave of absence can be tough. Want to make it a breeze for team members to pick up where they left off?

Workrowd has the tools you need to keep everyone connected and engaged. No matter the reason for an employee leave of absence, our platform makes it easy to jump back in with strong support from day one.

Curious to learn more? Visit us online or email us directly at hello@workrowd.com to schedule time to chat.

Employee attraction and retention perpetually rank at the top of HR’s priority list.

60% of businesses find it hard to retain employees. Given the change in cultures since the pandemic, and how many businesses now want to go back to working as if it never happened, it’s not really surprising that employees are jumping ship.

But if businesses can prevent 75% of the reasons employees leave, why don’t they work on fixing those issues?

Especially when almost three-quarters of businesses are struggling to attract employees right now?

Let’s look at some of the ways you can boost employee attraction and retention this year.

Share your values

How often do you share what matters to your business?

Are you laser-focused on green initiatives?

Do you work with grassroots organizations to improve diversity in your industry?

Whatever your values are, when people know what matters to you and your business, you’ll attract like-minded individuals who want to work toward the same or similar goals.

This will improve the quality of the candidates who apply for roles.

It will have a positive impact on employee attraction and retention because people will feel aligned with the organization.

Give employees a purpose

Employees want to feel like more than just a cog in a machine. They want to know that what they do matters.

Giving your employees a greater purpose improves their wellbeing and quality of life. It can even help people live longer.

That purpose could be tied to your shared values, or it could complement those values in some way. For instance, if diversity is important to your business, an employee could specifically focus on disability awareness in the workplace.

You could also give employees the chance to volunteer a couple days a year for organizations that matter to them. Social impact opportunities are a great way to boost employee attraction and retention.

Let your culture shine

If someone knows what your company culture is like before they join your business, they’re more likely to be a good fit because they know what they’re signing up for.

Make sure you’re vocal about your culture on your company website, social media, email marketing—anywhere you interact with customers and candidates. This will give them a clear idea of what you’re about as an organization.

It will also nurture the relationships you have with them. Which means they’ll be more primed to apply when a suitable vacancy opens.

To monitor your company culture and make sure it aligns with your values, why not send an employee survey?

With Workrowd, you can send them automatically, so you can act on the results right when they come in. Keeping a pulse on workers’ wants and needs is key to employee attraction and retention.

Ensure job descriptions match your business

One of the reasons employees leave during onboarding is because what they were sold during the hiring process isn’t what the role or company is actually like.

Job descriptions can play a big role in this. Do you euphemize how stressful the role is? Do you talk about being a “team player” when they’ll do a lot of solo working?

All job descriptions should accurately reflect the company culture and what employees can expect from the role and their team (if they’re even part of a team, or if they’re going to be a one-person band).

Otherwise, you risk attracting wrong-fit candidates who will leave sooner and mean you have to repeat the costly hiring process.

Practice true diversity

When a company is truly diverse, it’s more profitable and innovative.

There are no downsides to more diverse organizations, but the term can be met with eye rolls anyway.

Make sure that when you’re hiring, the hiring panel is truly diverse.

If the hiring panel only has one female or person of color, it can actually decrease diversity within the organization.

The underrepresented team member won’t want to look like they’re playing favorites, but the white/male hiring managers are more likely to think they’ve got diversity covered and don’t need to worry about it.

So have more than one female, person of color, person with a disability, etc, on your hiring panels. It can help tackle unconscious bias and ensure that your employee attraction and retention efforts yield the right hire.

Remember: perks aren’t everything

Focusing on perks over payment might’ve worked ten years ago. Now though, employees see perks for what they are: an excuse to not pay them what they’re worth.

Instead, focus on paying employees the market rate and valuing their expertise and knowledge. Don’t bother trying to reward them with tokens like dart boards or free fruit. Those things won’t deliver results on employee attraction and retention.

Nail your onboarding process

The more effective your onboarding process is, the quicker new hires will reach full productivity. And the quicker they can start making money for you. Plus, it can mean 69% of new hires stay for 3 years or more.

But an ineffective onboarding process can lead to confused employees who leave before finishing their probation.

It could also lead to negative reviews on sites like Glassdoor or LinkedIn.

Some things to consider including in your employee onboarding process:

• Business background
• About your product/service
• How you expect employees to behave
• What their role entails
• Company values
• Who to go to for different queries
• Where to find information
• How to use tools
• Social media policy
• Where to find HR policies
• How to book paid time off, sick leave, etc.

Invest in employees’ growth

Employees want to learn more. Investing in their growth can improve your employee attraction and retention success and boost loyalty.

This could come in the form of training to make them better at their role. Or training in a related area to expand their industry knowledge.

You could also run lunch and learns or one-off workshops where employees learn a new skill such as storytelling or public speaking.

While these won’t be directly related to every role, creative skills and confidence-boosting workshops help every area of a business, and every employee regardless of rank. They’ll be more confident, persuasive speakers and having learned something new will be good for their mental health, too.

Conclusion

Employee attraction and retention is a cycle. The types of candidates you attract and hire will ultimately impact your employee retention.

It’s therefore important to communicate your company values and expectations early on, during the hiring process.

That way, candidates who are a poor fit will exclude themselves, reducing the number of resumes you need to filter through, and potentially saving you money and ensuring you hire better-quality employees.

Want to boost employee attraction and retention in one step? Workrowd has what you need. With all your employee programs, groups, and events in one place, it’s easy to showcase your culture to potential hires. And current employees will want to stick around with such easy access to everything that makes your organization great.

Want to learn more and see how Workrowd could plug in to boost employee attraction and retention in your workplace? Drop by our site or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

More than half of millennials are disengaged at work. This results in lower productivity and higher turnover. In other words, boosting millennial employee retention should definitely be on your to-do list.

In many countries, wages haven’t kept up with the rate of inflation, leaving millennials in the prime of their working lives with little hope of ever buying a house. Almost half live paycheck to paycheck, despite now being in their 30s and 40s.

Because of these anxieties, pay is the main reason millennials changed jobs in the last two years.

But they still prioritize things like work-life balance and growth opportunities alongside pay. 

So these things are still important to focus on when hiring this huge demographic.

Saying that your benefits make up for not paying people at the market rate isn’t good enough. Perks like foosball tables aren’t what candidates want. In the current economy, they’re barely on anyone’s radars anymore.

In an increasingly fractured world, we’re craving financial security and connection.

So, how can you engage the largest working demographic and improve millennial employee retention?

Offer a flexible working environment

84% of millennials want to work remotely. It provides flexibility and more time to spend reading, relaxing, or connecting with loved ones.

Workplace flexibility could involve offering full-time remote options, hybrid work options, or allowing employees to work the hours they choose so long as they get their work done.

Enabling team members to work their schedule around their life can do wonders for millennial employee retention.

Support their career growth

Just 24% of millennials are satisfied with their career progress. I can’t say I’m surprised. I’m a millennial myself and many of my friends who choose to stay in traditional employment find it hard to get up the ladder and feel stuck in their current roles.

But employees want career progression. They want to know that their employer supports their growth, too.

How can you support your employees’ career trajectory?

Some options:

• Courses to develop new skills
• Come up with a progression plan with them
• Help them move into a new department

You could also ask employees how they’d like to progress during their onboarding or performance reviews.

To maximize millennial employee retention, provide options, too. Team members may not know what’s available to them.

Give them a purpose

In a world where we can feel helpless, millennials want a way to add purpose back into their lives. It’s no longer enough to work to pay the bills. That work has to mean something, too.

How can you give team members a greater purpose?

Is it offering them more responsibilities?

Helping them choose which charity you’ll support?

Getting them to run an employee group to support their colleagues?

The answer will probably be different for every employee. One way you can get answers is to ask them with an employee feedback survey.

Then, you can collect answers from employees who want to work toward the same thing, connect them, and they can work together toward their mutual goal.

Workrowd can help you send feedback surveys and get more from them. That way, you have more time to take action on millennial employee retention based on the results.

Make them feel like they belong

Employee groups are a great way to connect team members with colleagues who share things in common with them.

Whether they connect over their demographics, favorite TV shows, career goals, or something else, it’s a way to foster a sense of belonging in the workplace.

This is key to supporting employees’ mental health and avoiding common health issues like burnout.

Organizing employee groups can be a challenge, but with Workrowd, it’s a breeze. Everything employees need to connect with their colleagues is in one place. That way, you can increase millennial employee retention without the stress.

Prioritize mental health

Too many people I know have burned out because of work.

Whether that’s because they worked too hard to hit deadlines, or because they were neurodivergent and desperately trying to mask to fit in, the results are the same.

No energy, passion, or productivity.

Employers need to look after their employees. Not only should employees feel comfortable being themselves in the workplace, but employers need to support their mental health so that they don’t burn out.

Watch out for your top employees who often stay late or log into their laptop at weird hours. They may love what they do, but they’re the ones most likely to burn out. They can’t maintain that level of productivity forever. And the longer they try to, the greater their risk of burning out.

Burned out team members are more likely to leave, impacting millennial employee retention.

Actually be inclusive

Being an inclusive business is about more than education; it’s also about action. It’s about embracing employees’ differences and appreciating the strengths that come with them. Moreover, it’s about treating people fairly regardless of their backgrounds. They all contribute toward your business, after all.

Millennials are a diverse bunch. And most of us embrace that diversity. Which means we also want our employers to.

It’s not enough to not be racist; employers should be actively anti-racist. Working hard to stamp out microaggressions in the workplace.

Working hard to not just tell the world that they’re inclusive, but to show it. Authenticity is crucial when it comes to millennial employee retention.

Conclusion

To boost millennial employee retention, you need to understand their priorities. That means paying them what they’re worth while remembering that it’s about more than just a paycheck—it’s also about making a difference in the world.

To increase your millennial employee retention, giving them somewhere they can connect with their coworkers and share their feedback is important. That’s where Workrowd comes in.

Using our tools, you can help employees engage with colleagues from across your organization, share what matters to them, keep up with what’s going on within the business, and track outcomes with automated analytics.

To find out how we can partner to benefit your business, visit us online or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com to schedule a demo.

Around three quarters of businesses conduct exit interviews when employees leave. So businesses see the benefit of them, but are they asking the right exit interview questions?

In a study of over 17,000 exit interviews, 63% of ex-employees rated their former employer as excellent or very good. And 66% rated their former supervisor the same.

It seems fewer people will talk about the negatives and why employees leave, though. Just 7.6% of companies share the most common reasons employees quit. 

Without sharing these statistics, it’s impossible to learn from what could be a common problem. Employees get no backup and businesses with bad practices and cultures never learn.

So how do you get the most out of an exit interview? And what are the best exit interview questions to ask?

How to make employees feel comfortable in an exit interview

I’ve spoken to friends before who dislike exit interviews and don’t bother with them because they’re concerned about burning bridges. Particularly in industries like tech, where it can feel like everyone knows everyone else.

So it’s important to make employees feel comfortable answering exit interview questions. This is especially true when some answers could be sensitive. For instance, if they felt excluded by their team or didn’t get along with their manager.

Explain the benefits of exit interviews

Your employee is already leaving. So why would they care about your exit interview questions?

An exit interview can be part of their legacy at the company, helping improve the company culture, supporting their colleagues, and improving work-life for the person who replaces them. 

So while there are no direct benefits of an exit interview to an employee, they get the warm fuzzies that come from helping people they’ve spent several months or years working with.

One of my legacies at an old job was getting a manager their own office so that they could work in a quieter environment.

Keep it anonymous or only include HR

Allowing employees the chance to answer exit interview questions anonymously may help them feel more comfortable. That way, they can answer challenging questions and reduce any concerns they might have about burning bridges.

Alternatively, if you want to do the interview in person, keep direct supervisors out of it. 

Unless employees get on really well with their supervisors, they’re less likely to be honest about why they’re leaving. 

If it’s just HR or even an external consultant, employees can share their feedback without worrying about a bad reference or no reference from their line manager.

You could even ask employees whom they’d prefer to have ask the exit interview questions.

Exit interview questions to ask in 2024

So, what exit interview questions should you ask?

Why are you leaving?

This is obvious, but it’s one of the most important exit interview questions to include because it can tell you a lot. It helps you spot patterns in everything from leadership style to employee pay.

For example, if several people from the same team leave within a short time frame, is there something going on within that team that warrants an investigation so that you don’t lose more team members?

Or if a lot of employees leave for a pay raise, are you paying below the market rate? Is there budget to change this and retain more employees?

Hiring and training new employees is expensive, after all. You might save money by giving existing employees a raise instead.

Is there anything we could have done to retain you?

There are many reasons employees choose to leave their roles. Asking exit interview questions such as whether there’s something you could’ve done differently to get them to stay is another way to help you look for patterns.

An employee might be more willing to put up with a high workload if they’re paid more, feel valued, or are offered more training, for example.

Or, on the flip side, their workload might not be mentally stimulating enough, and they might be stressed at work because they’re bored.

What do you think of your manager?

For employees to be honest about this one, they have to trust you.

As I mentioned before, some may not want to risk burning bridges in case they come back one day, or work in a close-knit industry. So they may gloss over the answer or insist that everything is fine.

But for managers and companies to truly improve and get the best out of their employees, they need feedback.

If they’re not sure how to explain, you could ask follow-up exit interview questions like:

• Did you feel like your manager supported you?
• What was your manager’s feedback style like?

How did you get along with your team?

We spend more time with our colleagues during the week than our loved ones, so it’s important that we get along with them. Or at least treat each other with mutual respect, even if we don’t see eye-to-eye.

Asking employees exit interview questions about how they really felt about the rest of their team allows them to mention any colleagues they thought were particularly helpful or hindering when it came to them doing their roles.

How can we improve the company culture?

A company’s culture can make a difference to how inclusive it is, how employees feel doing their daily activities, if new hires decide to stay, and how long people stay for.

No business has a perfect company culture.

And it’s important to remember that a positive company culture requires active work. 

If you’re not working on your company culture, it can become outdated or forgotten, leading to employees also feeling forgotten. 

And since they’re the key to business success, tapping into what they need is vital.

Conclusion

Conducting exit interviews can tell you a lot about your company culture, employees’ workloads, and how your business compares to the rest of your industry.

To get the most out of them, you need to make sure you ask the right exit interview questions. These will give you quantifiable answers that you can analyze and learn from, highlighting things that are detrimental to your business and its long-term health.

Want better data even before an employee leaves? Workrowd can help. Our all-in-one tool suite ensures you always have your finger on the pulse of what’s improving your employee experience, and what could use a bit more work.

Sound interesting? Visit us online to learn more, or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com to schedule time to discuss.

In today’s rapidly changing world of work, an effective employee retention strategy is one of the most important tools to have in your toolkit. When employees are engaged at work, they’re 87% less likely to leave.

With more jobs than there are employees out there, it means that people have their pick of the bunch if they do decide to leave. In other words: the stakes are high.

It’s no wonder that 87% of HR leaders have employee retention as their main priority for the next few years.

How do you build a future-proof employee retention strategy, though? Here are some tips to get you started:

Encourage upward feedback

If an employee doesn’t feel comfortable giving upward feedback, they’re 16% less likely to stay at their current job.

Feedback should work both ways.

No manager is perfect, just the same as no employee is.

Nobody can improve without open, honest, considerate feedback that’s designed to help them be the best they can be in their role.

Empowering people to reach their full potential is a key element of an effective employee retention strategy, and enabling two-way feedback is a crucial step.

Foster a culture of respect

Even if someone is below you in the workplace hierarchy, they still deserve respect.

Employees who feel there’s a low level of respect between colleagues are 26% more likely to quit their jobs.

Which is fair enough, really. Somewhere like that will have a negative atmosphere and be really bad for anyone’s long-term wellbeing.

Give employees a sense of purpose

If an employee believes their company has a higher purpose than just profits, they’re 27% more likely to stay.

Millennials and Gen Z-ers especially feel a sense of purpose is important in the workplace. They want more than just money from their jobs.

So making your mission clear is more important than ever, especially as more and more people become interested in causes outside of themselves.

Employees need to be clear on what you stand for. Don’t just change your social media banner for Pride Month, do something for it.

Start discussions; donate money; organize an event. Prove to employees and the outside world how serious you are about your purpose.

And be genuine about it. You don’t want to come across like you’re greenwashing to get points. Authenticity is make or break for both your employer brand and your employee retention strategy.

Recognize employees for a job well done

A little recognition can go a long way towards boosting someone’s confidence and mental health.

But when employees don’t feel valued at work, they’re almost twice as likely to search for a new role.

Sometimes all it takes is a thank you. A shout-out in a meeting or group chat. An extra day off. Or a box of snacks every now and then.

Teach management how to manage

Even though I freelance, I have many friends who still work 9-5. And their main complaint? Their manager never got enough (or any) management training.

As a result, their manager’s communication style is timid or unclear; they lack confidence, which makes their employees doubt their skills, and it makes them less effective/efficient managers.

And this really is a big problem. When managers lack the right skills, employees are FOUR TIMES more likely to quit.

On the flip side, employees are 23% more likely to stay if their manager clearly explains to them their role and responsibilities.

The simple solution, especially when it comes to your employee retention strategy?

Management training!

Invest in employees’ professional development

US employees are 70% more likely to leave for another opportunity if that company invests in employees’ professional development.

Much like how employees want a sense of purpose at work, they don’t want to stagnate, either.

They want to learn new skills and grow as people. When they feel like they’re progressing in their careers, they’re 20% more likely to still be at that company in a year’s time.

So, how could you invest in employees’ professional development?

Could you give every employee a training budget? Organize a lunch and learn? Set up a book club?

There’s an option suitable for every budget.

Update your remote working policy

While there may be a mass return to office going on, companies that allow employees to work from home have a 25% lower turnover rate.

Why?

Because it shows that they care about employee wellbeing and work-life balance.

It also takes distributed companies 33% less time to hire new employees. Just think of the impact on your employee retention strategy and all the money you could save.

Promote work-life balance

With burnout being such a global problem now, companies that encourage work-life balance can attract employees who work hard and play just as hard.

In fact, employees who rate their work-life balance more highly are 10% more likely to stay at their current company.

It’s a rare thing in the modern world for a company to encourage work-life balance and mean it. That makes it a perfect addition to your employee retention strategy.

Update your DEI policy

67% of job seekers consider inclusion and diversity when choosing their next workplace. So, if you haven’t already updated your DEI policy, now is the perfect time.

Don’t forget to check things like your job descriptions and even website copy for discriminatory language, too. The more we’re aware of these things, the more we can all improve.

And the clearer it’ll be to future employees and customers that you really are serious about your DEI efforts.

Give employees agency

Employees who feel in control of their careers are 20% more likely to stay in their roles.

In a world where it can sometimes feel like everything is spiraling out of control, I don’t blame anyone for wanting more agency where they spend most of their time and energy.

Giving your team members control (and guidance, when they need it) in their roles rewards them for their loyalty. Plus, it enables them to feel like they’re making a difference to their own life, their colleagues’ lives, customers’ lives, and maybe even the world itself.

If you’re looking to improve your employee retention strategy, you need the right tools. Ensuring you can maximize the ROI of your employee groups, programs, and events is key.

Workrowd’s all-in-one tool suite puts everything you need at your fingertips, including real-time analytics so you always know what’s getting results. Want to learn more? Visit us online or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

Compiling a list of incentives for employees that drives retention but doesn’t break the bank is a serious challenge.

89% of employers assume that their employees leave because they want more money. Yet only 12% of employees earn more money at their new jobs.

This shows a real disconnect between what employees want and what their employers offer.

For instance, a little recognition can go a long way towards improving employee morale. 59% of employees feel under-appreciated at work, but 69% say they’d work harder if they felt more recognized.

You don’t have to spend lots of money to make employees feel appreciated. Your company culture plays a big role.

If you have a culture where employees don’t feel like you value their time or presence, they won’t put as much effort in. And they’ll be less likely to stick around long-term.

But offering a thoughtful list of incentives for employees is a simple way to show you care.

In fact, the right employee incentive program could increase your employee performance by up to 44%.

In an increasingly competitive market, this is a massive difference. Especially when you factor in that companies who offer a list of incentives for employees see a 79% higher success rate when it comes to achieving their goals.

So, why don’t you check out this list of incentives for employees that are low or no-cost? Let’s take a look:

ERGs

Giving employees the opportunity to interact with colleagues who share their identities and experiences helps them make new friends.

Employee resource groups can also reduce loneliness, particularly if your team works remotely.

As a result, these communities can improve mental and physical health and increase employee performance. 

Flexible working hours

There’s no scientific basis for the traditional 9-5. It was introduced by American labor unions in the 1800s. Henry Ford took it mainstream in the 1920s. It’s been the standard working day for millions of people ever since.

But as the world learns new and different ways to do things, one of the simplest ideas on this list of incentives for employees is to empower them to work when they’re most productive.

The standard 9-5 just doesn’t work for some people. That doesn’t mean they’re not good at their jobs. They may even be more productive if they worked fewer hours, meaning you make more money. 

If you want to get the best out of everyone you hire, and retain them long-term, you need employees to work on the schedule that’s best for them.

Productivity breaks

Regular breaks can improve focus and make us more productive. Especially if your team works long hours and/or in a fast-paced environment.

Allowing employees to take breaks when they feel the need shows that you value them. It also shows that you trust them to get the work done, even if they’re not at their desks every single second.

And it shows how important their mental and physical health needs are to you, helping you build a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

Quiet spaces

Open-plan offices aren’t always the easiest places to concentrate in. I find it almost impossible to concentrate in them, particularly if it’s noisy. The more time I spend in them, the less work I can get done. I need somewhere quiet to recharge (and sometimes to work).

Offering a quiet space where office-based workers can go to recharge gives them more headspace to focus on their tasks without the distractions that come from other people.

This applies to the virtual noise that comes from remote working, too. Constant notifications from messaging apps or emails can make it difficult to get things done, especially if you have a busy inbox.

In many cases, these notifications aren’t urgent. Most things can wait until the task at hand is done.

If you’re worried about urgent requests, you can create protocols that regulate them. This could include having different managers disconnect at different times.

Mental health days

We’ve all had days where we’ve woken up and felt unable to take on the world. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a natural part of life that can be influenced by everything from not sleeping well enough, to personal challenges, to the weather. 

Offering employees the opportunity to take a mental health day shows that you value their mental health and the contributions they make to your business.

If someone had to work on a day when they were struggling, it would impact their productivity. It may also impact their colleagues, bringing overall employee morale down, too.

So why not allow employees time to recharge so that they can come back to work when they’re better able to perform?

Prioritizing their mental health like this will improve employee satisfaction and retention.

Social media shout-outs

When someone gets a shout out in public, it shows them, and the rest of the world, how much you value them.

You could give an employee a shout-out for successfully completing a project, highlight your long-term employees, or celebrate new hires. 

There are lots of ways to reward and recognize employees on social media, and most only take a few minutes to put together.

You’re likely to get more engagement on these types of posts than typical sales posts, too. Sales posts always get less engagement on social media, but when people see that you appreciate the hard work your employees put in, they’ll warm to your business. As a result, you could attract new customers and improve your employer brand.

Conclusion 

Establishing a list of incentives for employees that actually gets results doesn’t have to be super expensive or complicated. Incentives are about showing employees that you’re grateful they chose to work for you. And that they continue to spend their time and energy helping you grow your business. 

And of course, the higher your employee engagement and satisfaction are, the greater the rewards you, and your team members, will experience.

If you want to easily promote your list of incentives for employees, look no further than Workrowd. Our one-stop shop brings all your employee events, programs, groups, and information together in a single, user-friendly hub.

That way, every team member can tap into the best your organization has to offer from day one. Visit us online to learn more, or write us at hello@workrowd.com.

There are so many employee benefits examples out there, it can be hard to know where to start. Luckily, that piece at least has a clear answer. 58% of companies provide health benefits to their team members, making it the most common employee benefit.

Beyond that, though, it gets murkier. If you want to stand out from your competitors, you need to come up with other employee benefits examples to improve your employee experience and increase retention.

When done right, these offerings can make a huge difference. In fact, 49% of employees will leave their job in the next year because of a lack of benefits. 51% feel it plays a big role in talent retention.

So, what are some employee benefits examples you could implement to increase your retention rates?

Meditation or mindfulness apps

A huge 91% of Gen Z employees believe companies should provide mental health benefits. 

So, if you’re not providing any mental health benefits, you’re missing out on a huge part of the talent pool.

Not to mention, businesses lose $1 trillion every year in employee productivity because of mental health challenges, according to the World Health Organization.

A short, 10-minute meditation can improve everything from concentration levels to anxiety to chronic pain. Giving your employees this option helps them focus more and ensures they perform at their best.

Many meditation or mindfulness apps now provide business subscriptions too, showing just how big the demand is for them. These subscriptions also make this an easy option to implement as far as employee benefits examples go.

Skills development

Having skills in unrelated areas makes us more creative. This leads to better problem-solving skills. Of course, this can help your business stand out from competitors, move faster, and make more money.

You could provide art classes, storytelling workshops, cooking courses, gardening workshops – the list is virtually endless. You could even offer subscriptions to sites where employees can learn a variety of different skills at their own pace, like Wondrium or Masterclass.

Nap rooms

We’ve all experienced the 3 p.m. slump. Providing nap rooms where employees can take 10 minutes in private to recover helps them be more productive and allows them to think more clearly.

It’s also handy for anyone who didn’t sleep well the night before and is finding caffeine just isn’t enough. A quick power nap could be just what they need to get going again.

While this is one of the employee benefits examples that obviously requires a bit of space, it can be well worth it.

Library

Reading fiction makes us more empathetic and more creative in our language usage.

Non-fiction teaches us new skills and introduces us to other perspectives.

Reading works faster than some other relaxation methods, like listening to music or drinking tea. It lowers your heart rate, relaxes the body, and reduces stress.

Having a company library where employees can take out books that are related—or unrelated—to their role allows them to experience all these benefits.

The books could be physical books or ebooks, depending on employees’ preferences.

Audiobook subscription

Audiobooks can be expensive, but they’re a useful and relaxing way to pass the time on long commutes.

If you know your employees love a story, why not provide them with a subscription to feed that interest? It could be to sites like Audible, Kobo Plus, Blinkist, or one of the many other options.

This is one of the employee benefits examples that’s really easy to implement, but is often overlooked.

Sabbaticals

Taking an extended break from work is a great way for someone to experience another culture or recover from burnout.

However, the stress of having to find a job at the end can take away some of the enjoyment.

Offering long-term employees the opportunity to go on sabbatical, safe in the knowledge that their job will still be there at the end of the break, rewards their loyalty and shows how much you value them, their knowledge, and their skills.

Lunchtime exercise classes

Breaking up the day with exercise is a fun way to relieve stress and boost happy hormones. 

To experience the benefits, we don’t need to do loads. It’s about compounding efforts over a period of time.

Could you offer a 10-minute stretch class or a 30-minute barre class, for example?

A lunchtime exercise session could be the perfect way to give employees opportunities to try out different exercise methods they may not have considered otherwise.

They may even end up falling in love with that form and practicing it more regularly. This will benefit their physical and mental health long-term and boost their productivity and engagement at work.

Travel subsidies

Whether it’s travel abroad to expand employees’ experiences of the outside world, or travel to and from work, subsidizing travel gives employees the opportunity to do more. 

In the current cost of living crisis, helping employees with the cost of their commute shows them you value their contribution to your business and want them to stay. You could offer discounted travel cards or discounts on bikes from local businesses, for example.

When it comes to traveling abroad, do you have an overseas office where they could work from? Or a location where several of your employees are based where they could hang out?

Many larger companies now even subsidize the cost of relocating overseas for a few months. This gives employees the chance to experience another way of life.

Or maybe you want to encourage them to take regular vacations by connecting them to discounts on hotels, flights, or activities abroad.

Four-day work week

Several studies have now shown that a four-day working week doesn’t lead to a reduction in productivity. What it does do instead, is improve employee mood and mental health.

When employees have to be at their desks for eight hours a day, five days a week, they can wind up feeling chained to their jobs. It leaves them with less time and energy for their loved ones, or their hobbies and interests.

The four-day working week provides more time for employees to enjoy life outside of work. And you get the benefits of their improved mental health and energy levels. 

It’s one of the relatively newer employee benefits examples, but it can have a huge impact.

Conclusion 

These are just a handful of employee benefits examples you could implement in your workplace.

If you want to ensure employees know about all the benefits you’ve put in place for them, look no further than Workrowd. Our one-stop shop makes it easy to centralize all your important employee information.

Once team members see all the employee benefits examples they can take advantage of, they’ll be happier and more likely to stay long-term. Don’t leave them searching around in the dark. Visit us online or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com today to learn more.

There are some milestones within your employee lifecycle when it’s important to check in. Implementing employee listening efforts at these key times can provide you with new insights. You can then use this info to improve your workplace culture, your employees’ working lives, and your retention rate. 

Happier employees are more likely to stick around. So, it’s no wonder that 60% of employers have improved their employee listening efforts. However, only 31% of businesses conduct employee surveys, and only 13% of them use focus groups.

58% of employees wish their employer sent employee engagement surveys more often. And there is a clear connection between their frequency and employee engagement. Yet only 21% of companies conduct surveys three or more times per year.

An always-on employee feedback tool can help you get vital data from your team. In fact, 64% of HR leaders believe an always-on feedback tool is an essential part of any employee listening strategy. But only 20% of them have this kind of tool in place.

The more often you connect with your employees to find out what’s going on with them, the more likely they are to feel listened to, valued, and like they truly belong. It’s especially important to get their feedback when big changes happen, either in their own lives or within your business.

So, where are these crucial touchpoints for your employee listening strategy?

During onboarding

When employees experience a great onboarding process, they’re 18 times more committed to their employer. Those kinds of numbers can do huge things for your business’s productivity, retention, and revenue. In fact, effective onboarding improves retention by 82% and productivity by 70%.

If your onboarding process is poorly organized, badly explained, or your people aren’t made to feel welcome, they’re much more likely to leave in the short-term. This means you’ll need to repeat the hiring process all over again.

Understanding what your employees think during this stage is therefore key. You can find out what they need from you, if they’re understanding all the new information that’s being sent their way, and how they’re getting along with their colleagues.

Employee listening efforts will give you crucial insights to improve their onboarding process and update it for future hires, too.

When changes occur

Change is scary. It’s even scarier if you feel like your voice isn’t being heard.

Even if your employees don’t get a say in the final decision, they should still feel like they’re being listened to and that their opinions are valued. This is good for their mental health and good for your workplace culture.

If they’re concerned about a restructure or layoffs, there should be someone they can talk to who can answer their questions empathetically. This will help remove some of the stress around the changes and provide them with the answers they need.

When an employee program launches

New employee programs can be exciting. However, if you’re not communicating with employees about how to make the most of the new offerings, they’re less likely to take advantage of them. 

If they may perceive the changes as negative, you want to get their opinions as well. That way, you can allay their concerns based on what you learned from your employee listening efforts.

If there are benefits changes

When any employee benefits change, people need to understand what the changes are and how it will affect them. 

Everyone will be impacted differently depending on their role, what benefits are changing, how much they’re paid, etc. So giving them detailed information is important.

Once they’ve got the right information, it’s important to check in with how they’re feeling. What do they think about the changes and how are they processing them?

Through employee listening, you may find that there’s a better way to communicate changes with the team. Or, that you haven’t shared enough information so the rumor mill is in full force.

When they experience a big life change

When experiencing a big life change, it can sometimes feel like your world has stopped while everyone else’s is still spinning. It can be hard to articulate what you’re going through. Unsurprisingly, this can significantly impact your daily life.

Big life changes can be lonely. Connecting with employees going through these types of life events is really important. That way they know you’re there to support them. 

Knowing that their employer supports them helps employees to feel less alone. Your employee listening efforts can enable you to take some of the stress away from their situation. 

If the changes require accommodations, such as more flexible working or different office equipment, employees will feel much more able to approach you about it if you already have an employee listening program in place.

After performance reviews

Performance reviews can be an uncomfortable time for some employees. This is particularly true if they had a negative experience with them in a previous role. 

Checking in with employees after a performance review helps them process how they felt things went, the decisions that were made, and the comments they were given. 

They can also provide feedback on the person they had their performance review with, helping that person improve, too.

At the end of the year

A lot can happen in a year. Checking in with your employees at the end of each year, whether that’s the calendar year, financial year, or whatever other year your business runs on, allows you to reflect on the last twelve months and how things have changed. 

You can take stock of successes, mistakes, and failures, so that you can move forward together productively.

Conclusion

Employee listening needs to be continuous and happen at a multitude of touchpoints. It shouldn’t be just once per year or when there’s a problem.

It’s about so much more than the business deciding to conduct an employee experience survey. It’s about making sure employees feel heard.

If you want to level up your employee listening approach, Workrowd can help. Our always-on feedback tool automatically collects data about what’s driving impact for employees, and solicits their thoughts after important events and initiatives.

When you’re ready to just ‘set it and forget it’ on employee listening, drop by our website to learn more, or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

The Great Resignation made everyone painfully aware of the costs of turnover. While the financial impact is certainly significant, the benefits of employee retention extend far beyond your organization’s bank account.

According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, 3 to 4.5 million US employees leave their jobs every month.

Even if you’re able to replace these leavers quickly, new employees take an average of eight months to hit full productivity. 

And let’s not forget that’s an average—for more technical roles or products, this will take longer.

It’s easy to focus on the downsides of turnover, but instead we’re going to look on the bright side. So what are the benefits of employee retention? Some of them may surprise you…

Save money 

Of course, we had to start here. Hiring is expensive, which means the more you have to do it, the less money you have to spend elsewhere.

It’s not just that, though. It’s all the time it takes for your new hire to get up to speed. They’re starting at a lower level of productivity than the person they replaced, which means they’re not earning you as much money.

And other team members are bringing in less, too, because they’re spending time training their new colleague. Not to mention all the money you had to spend on the recruitment process to hire that person in the first place.

When employees stay, you save on hiring costs and training costs. And this money can be re-invested in other areas of your business, like expansion, new technology, or further increasing employees’ skills so that they stay even longer.

More workplace friendships

In 1985, 50% of US employees had a workplace bestie. Gallup found that it’s now down to just 20%.

Despite this, 46% of workers believe that friends at work are important to their happiness. Having a best friend at work also results in a 36% reduction in safety incidents, 7% more engaged customers, and 12% higher profit.

Plus, there are the additional benefits to employee mental and physical wellbeing, which extend far beyond your business and long into workers’ futures, too.

If there’s frequent turnover at your organization, there will be fewer friendships and you’ll see the impact across the organization. What’s more, the bonds that do form may be weaker since people only stay for a short time.

Strengthened workplace relationships that lead to better business outcomes is one of the most frequently overlooked benefits of employee retention.

Higher morale

A few years ago, I took a job somewhere working for someone I knew. 

In the first week, a few people from different departments were let go, but we assumed our team was fine.

We were very, very wrong.

By the end of my second week there, the person who’d hired me had been let go, too.

So had several more people.

There was a revolving door of employees, leading to low morale and output. Nobody wanted to be there, but no one really saw a way out, either.

Every time someone was fired—often with little to no explanation—we all looked around, wondering who’d be next. Was it us?

Nobody felt able to speak out. Morale, mood, and confidence were all pretty low. All because we worked in an environment defined by fear.

When employees feel safe, they stay for longer, and—surprise surprise—they’re happier doing their jobs, too!

Better customer experience

Look after your employees and they’ll look after your customers, as Richard Branson famously said.

When your employees are happy, they’re more likely to want to make your customers happy, too. 

When they hate their jobs, they’re going to go through the motions and do little to nothing else to uplift the people they deal with. 

Moods of any kind are contagious, which means happy employees are more likely to leave your customers smiling, too.

This has the opposite effect as well, though. If someone is in a bad mood because of their job, they could take that out on a customer.

A couple of years ago, I was looking to update my phone contract. I called my carrier and shared with them some cheaper deals I’d found with competitors. 

Despite having been this company’s customer for over a decade, the person I spoke to insisted they had the best coverage in the country (they didn’t) and that they couldn’t offer a cheaper rate (they’d done it before…). 

And when I said I wanted to leave, he told me the wrong process.

While I had dealt with far nicer people from the same company in my ten years as their customer, it’s that experience that sticks out to me and caused me to hang up on him and jump to another provider ten minutes later.

One of the benefits of employee retention is that the effort you put into retaining folks will show up in their performance. It will create a self-reinforcing process: when you make your employees happy, they’ll make your customers happy. Obviously, that should then make you happy!

Better reviews

Since happier employees provide better customer service, is it any wonder that when employees stick around customers leave more complimentary reviews?

This has a ripple effect on your business, leading to more prospects and happier customers.

Most people research businesses before contacting them these days, which means the more positive reviews you have, the better.

How employees deal with customers is often one of the things highlighted in reviews, too. So you want them to leave a lasting, positive impression on the customer and anyone reading their review.

Growing internal knowledge and skills

Don’t underestimate the value of internal knowledge and skills, particularly in businesses with steep learning curves. 

The more complicated your infrastructure is, the longer it takes someone to understand it all. 

When employees stick around, they can train new people in how it works and hopefully get them up to speed faster. 

Their deeper understanding also means they can help you find solutions faster, saving you even more time and money.

A growing institutional knowledge base is one of the most important benefits of employee retention in today’s competitive market.

Conclusion 

The benefits of employee retention are virtually endless; there’s very little downside to retaining your top talent.

They have brand knowledge that will take time for a new person to learn. This knowledge can be the difference between solving a problem right away, or spending days, weeks, or even months scratching their head.

There’s also the impact it has on employee morale. When employees feel happy and safe in their roles, it rubs off on their colleagues and everyone works harder and collaborates better.

If you want to tap more deeply into the benefits of employee retention at your organization, consider incorporating some helpful tools. By ensuring every one of your team members can get fully immersed in all your employee offerings from day one, Workrowd makes it easy to drive retention and track what’s working.

Visit us online or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com to learn more. We love making employees happy just as much as you do.