Retention Strategies That Work

What if 75 percent of your employees found other jobs?

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), that's about the percent of the workforce seeking to change jobs by the end of this year. But there are retention strategies you can use to keep the best.

The most active job seekers are younger, non-management types where the typical percentage looking to move is about 30 to 40 percent.

With very few exceptions, the economy has grown and unemployment is near record lows. Positions are opening as 76 million Baby Boomers have begun to retire and, since there are only 44 million in the next generation to replace the Boomers, this is a perfect recipe for employment opportunity.

For employers, it’s a time to expand retention efforts with some of these strategies to keep, or win back skilled employees:

• Understand why people leave. It’s not just about the money, although that may be a reason. Think about the quality of supervision. People leave managers and supervisors more than companies or jobs, according to Susan Heathfield of About.com. Given this, be sure bosses are clear in transmitting expectations and earnings potential. Are your managers and supervisors creating a workplace where people can express ideas freely — where they can also fully use their talents and be recognized and regarded for both? Often employees will say they are leaving for more money, when they really are leaving for other reasons.
  
• Consider why people stay. If you can determine why people want to work for you, you can recruit new employees based on that information. This will allow you to build on your company’s strength to retain employees. n Manage generationally. Baby Boomers were a manager’s dream, according to several other experts. They were workaholics, achievement seekers and anxious to climb the career ladder. The new generation (those you have to pick from) will not even recognize there is a ladder. They do not understand they have to work their way from the bottom. They expect to come in on top. They question authority, expect constant feedback, believe in team over individual performance, and see work as only one component of an active life.
  
• Be flexible. More and more employers are not only thinking outside the box, they are demolishing the box in terms of workplace policy. Flexible hours, telecommuting, partial-year work with full-year benefits and even partial pensions before retiring are keeping workers who might retire on the job.

Source: Plan Sponsor