|
RETENTION
STRATEGIES THAT WORK
AND THOSE THAT DON'T
Introduction
As
part of a conference, AMA surveyed conference participants
on employee retention. Conference participants included
HR management from companies in the US and Canada
representing a diverse range of industries. Approximately
650 HR professionals attended the conference and
352 individuals completed the survey.
Part
of the survey asked participants to rate the frequency
and the effectiveness of various retention strategies
on a five-point scale (5=most effective). Survey
participants must have used the retention strategy
in their company to evaluate its effectiveness.
Most
Frequently Used and Most Effective Retention Strategies
Survey participants indicated that the following
practices were the most frequently used and the
most effective employee retention strategies. While
there is some overlap between the two lists, there
are differences. The survey results suggest two
key findings regarding employee retention:
Employee
training and development is an effective retention
tool. Retention tools designed to meet individual
employee needs (e.g., flexible work arrangements,
tuition reimbursement, sabbaticals, etc.) are perceived
to be more effective than those tools designed to
meet the company's needs (e.g., managerial training,
pay for performance, interpersonal skills training,
etc.).
Most Frequently Used Retention Tools
|
1 |
|
External
conferences/seminars |
|
2 |
|
Tuition
reimbursement |
|
3 |
|
Managerial
training |
|
4 |
|
Company
support for degree |
|
5 |
|
Pay
for performance |
|
6 |
|
Flexible
work arrangements |
|
7 |
|
Interpersonal
skills training |
|
8 |
|
Technical
training |
|
9 |
|
Employee
empowerment |
|
10 |
|
Employability
training |
Most
Effective Retention Tools
| 1 |
|
Technical training |
| 2 |
|
Employability
training |
| 3 |
|
Flexible work arrangements |
| 4 |
|
Tuition reimbursement |
| 5 |
|
Sabbaticals |
| 6 |
|
Company support for degree |
| 7 |
|
Extended
parental leave |
| 8 |
|
Professional
accreditation 8 (tie) |
| 9 |
|
Stock
grants/ESOPs 8 (tie) |
| 10 |
|
External
conferences/seminars |
Retaining
Employees in Your Organization
Companies are competing more than ever for human
resources. Some things that you and your organization
must do to gain an edge over your competition and
to keep top talent are:
1.
Understand why employees stay and why employees
leave. Do not assume anything when making decisions
about what the company needs to do to keep great
employees. Talk to current employees and talk to
employees who have left to gain a well-rounded and
unbiased opinion of the factors that affect employee
turnover and retention.
2.
Address factors that affect turnover in your organization.
Based on feedback from your employees, identify
your high priority turnover factors. Change those
factors that you can as soon as possible and publicize
the changes to employees. For those factors that
cannot be changed, explain why things cannot be
changed at this time and when the issue will be
reevaluated.
3.
Evaluate your employee selection practices to ensure
that you are hiring the right people. The best retention
strategy is a good staffing strategy. Make sure
that your hiring practices assess each applicant's
fit with the job and the culture of your company.
Click
here to see our previous issue on Employee Testing
The
content of this newsletter cannot be reproduced
without the expressed written permission of Brannick
Human Resource Connections. If you have any questions
or want more information on other topics related
to employee staffing, contact us.
HR
Connections is a monthly electronic newsletter that
focuses on employee staffing and retention best
practices that companies use to create powerful
connections between employees, their jobs, and their
organization. HR Connections is a complimentary
service provided by Brannick Human Resource Connections
in Tampa, FL. We can be reached by phone at (813)
672-0500. |
