According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average employee tenure has dropped from nearly five years in January 2014 to 4.2 years in January 2016. Here are three employee retention strategies to help managers cope with this challenge:
1. Improve Job Satisfaction
When employees are happy, they are less likely to quit their jobs. This truth is reflected in the Society for Human Resource Management’s “2017 Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement” research report, which found:
● Employees see their relationships with their supervisors as related to job satisfaction.
● 65% of employees at all levels consider “respectful treatment of all employees” as very important.
● Only 40% said they were “very satisfied” at the way their managers delivered respectful treatment.
Managers can improve employees’ job satisfaction with a variety of methods:
● Build trust between senior leadership and employees with better communication.
● Create relationships with immediate supervisors.
● Provide a forum for employee ideas and constructive feedback.
● Recognize job performance.
● Communicate the organization’s goals and strategies.
2. Foster Positive Relationships with Team Members
Managers can improve employee engagement by building strong relationships with team members. Here’s how:
● Invest in strengthening employee management skills.
● Create consistent employee engagement programs.
● Provide positive, constructive feedback.
● Offer high-quality employee evaluations.
Also, per the Society for Human Resource Management’s research, 53% of participants considered communication between employees and senior management as very important.
Employees want to be heard. When that doesn’t happen, they feel undervalued — which leads to a revolving door of turnover. By listening to your employees’ opinions when making decisions, you can build a stronger work culture and avoid staffing issues.
3. Arrange Workloads to Reflect Employee Interests
Employees are more productive when they take pride in their work. Here are three ways managers can arrange workloads to maximize employee engagement:
● Provide adequate training and mentorship.
● Align tasks with employee interests.
● Issue challenging tasks that use specific skills.
However, even the most engaging work can still lead to burnout. According to a national survey by Kronos Inc. and Future Workplace, 95% of human resource leaders — including executives, vice presidents, managers, and directors — believe burnout to be a serious threat to employee retention.
Because of this, it is imperative that managers make sure their teams not only take pride in their work, but also have realistic workloads. When capacity is an issue, leadership may want to do a deeper dive into assignments and identify any non-critical tasks that can be removed or consider contracting out back-logged work.
About WSU’s Online Master of Business Administration Program
Those looking to lead businesses might consider advanced education as an avenue to gaining the skills and knowledge necessary to retain employees within their company. Washington State University’s Carson College of Business offers one of the top-ranked MBA programs in the nation. WSU offers an MBA curriculum designed to equip students with the tactics, knowledge, skills, and strategies utilized by today’s high-profile business leaders.
The program offers a general MBA and several concentrations—marketing, finance, hospitality business management, and international business. For more information, visit WSU’s online MBA website.
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- Organizational Design for Business Executives
- EMBA Education and Executive Ethics
- What Executives Need to Know About Insider Trading
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