How do I Develop an Employee Retention Strategy?

There are a number of different ways to develop an employee retention strategy, and the process you use will depend on a number of factors. To begin with, it may be easiest to determine exactly which employees you wish to keep with your company and who you may consider more expendable. You should also determine the limits to which you will go to keep an employee, such as salaries and benefits you can offer yet remain profitable. It can then be helpful to look at what other companies have done in the development of an employee retention strategy and use those methods in your own ways.

An employee retention strategy is a plan developed and used by a company to create and maintain employee loyalty and keep employees from going to competitors. One of the first things you can do to develop such a strategy is to have a sense of which employees you want to keep. While high turnaround is typically not beneficial for a company, depending on your resources, you may need to assume that some people will leave for a number of different reasons. You should consider the financial investment involved with training new employees in different positions and determine who is most valuable for your company as you develop an employee retention strategy.

The different methods you can utilize in creating an employee retention strategy can also greatly impact your overall strategy. For example, if you are willing to offer bonuses to employees who perform well, you should make this known to them. You should not, however, make promises or offer bonuses that you are unable to deliver. It can also help to not use too many “carrot” methods to create loyalty, but rather look for areas in which employees are unhappy, and find ways to resolve issues to better ensure loyalty and greater retention.

You may also want to look at what other businesses have done in creating an employee retention strategy. These strategies can serve as a model for your own plan, or you may find that you need to hire an outside company to help you develop a strategy. There are a number of different businesses that offer this service, and an outside perspective may help you better deal with issues affecting retention in your company. An employee retention strategy can help you to not only keep valuable employees, but also improve productivity as employees see their work as an investment with a company at which they plan to remain long term.