Every organization wants to have a low turnover rate, but that’s unlikely to happen on its own. Retaining top talent comes down to your organization's ability to make employees feel welcome, valued, and supported in their role — no matter how big or small.
With the cost of recruiting and hiring an employee averaging around $4,700, it makes more sense to invest in your best employees instead of continually replacing them.
From onboarding new hires to automating HR processes, these 8 employee retention strategies will help you boost employee engagement and help employees thrive.
What Are Employee Retention Strategies?
In today’s job market, there’s no guarantee that a new employee will stick with your organization for the long run — or even for the next several years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), the separation rate (including quits) was 3.4% per month in June 2024.
Employee retention strategies are a set of policies and incentives designed to keep team members happy so that they’re less likely to look for a new job. These include initiatives related to company culture and employee well-being, as well as practical considerations like compensation rates and employee benefits packages.
Reasons for Employee Turnover
The reasons employees quit their jobs range from burnout to dissatisfaction with their workplace culture. If you have a high turnover rate, consider these four reasons why employees might be looking for better opportunities elsewhere:
Poor working conditions
The work environment plays a major role in employee retention and job satisfaction. If your employees feel unhappy or unsafe coming to work every day, then it’s no wonder they don’t see a future for themselves at your company.
Poor working conditions range from bad lighting and outdated technology, to concerns about workplace safety, harassment, or employee misconduct.
No opportunities for growth
If your organization doesn’t provide enough career development opportunities, then it’s only a matter of time until your employees seek new opportunities elsewhere.
Employees want to know that if they stick around, they’ll be able to learn new skills, be considered for promotions, and be supported in their professional development.
Lack of work-life balance
Ensuring a healthy work-life balance is key to employee satisfaction. If your employees are frequently expected to work overtime or pick up the slack for other team members, they’re more likely to experience burnout and look for a job that’s less demanding.
Low compensation
The Pew Research Center found that 60% of workers who changed jobs saw a boost in their earnings. If your compensation rates don’t align with industry standards or exceed that of your competitors, employees may seek out a more generous pay package.
8 Effective Employee Retention Strategies
The most effective employee retention strategy for your organization will depend on the number of employees you have and why current employees are leaving. Here are eight effective employee retention strategies to consider:
1. Flexible work
An increasing number of employees — especially millennials and Gen Z employees — value flexible work arrangements, including flexible hours or remote work options. You can attract top talent by giving employees the option to set their own schedule, work from home, or split their time between their home and the workplace.
A flexible schedule can be especially appealing to employees who need to arrange for childcare, take care of a sick family member, or deal with chronic health issues.
2. Generous leave policy
If an employee needs to take time off for medical or mental health reasons, they may be eligible for a leave of absence under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). But this is usually unpaid, and comes with an upper limit of 12 weeks of leave per year.
Create a leave of absence policy that goes above and beyond legal requirements — for example, by offering paid parental leave or a sabbatical for long-term employees.
3. Health and wellness benefits
Increasing your employees’ pay may not always be an option, but adding perks like a gym membership or public transit reimbursement can make a difference. Expanding healthcare benefits to include mental health, vision, and dental can help too.
Not only do wellness programs increase your employee retention rate, they support a healthy work-life balance and can reduce stress and burnout.
4. Streamlined onboarding process
The onboarding process is your opportunity to make a good first impression and set your new hires up for success. But onboarding can be a time-consuming process of filling out forms, creating new user accounts, and learning new software.
When you automate employee onboarding with an HR platform like Pulpstream, you can get new hires up to speed faster and provide a better employee experience.
5. Mentorship program
Developing a mentorship program shows that you care about employee development and have a plan in place to support career advancement. This could take the form of one-on-one mentoring at the beginning of an employee’s tenure, followed by more advanced training as they adapt to their new role at your company.
By taking an employee’s personal goals into account, it’s more likely that their career path will align with your company’s long-term business objectives.
6. Strong company culture
Maintaining a strong company culture reduces attrition by making employees feel like part of a team. From company retreats that foster teamwork and employee morale, to diversity and inclusion initiatives that help everyone feel welcome, company culture goes a long way toward making your company a desirable place to work.
Plus, outlining your company values from the start ensures that new hires share the same ideals, such as transparency, open communication, and teamwork.
7. Employee recognition
Reward employees for their hard work with a robust employee recognition program that shows how much you value everyone on your team. Standard perks like gift cards and holiday bonuses are a nice incentive, but public recognition can go even further.
Make it a point to thank your best employees on a regular basis, and be sure to credit everyone on the team after the completion of a successful project.
8. Efficient HR practices
HR automation can help you increase retention throughout the employee lifecycle by making interactions with your human resources team more efficient. HR automation platforms allow you to resolve common employee relations issues and streamline communications between employees and your HR team.
From performance management to benefits administration, there’s almost no process that HR automation software can’t handle. You can even use it to deliver online exit interviews to find out why employees are leaving when they do.
Boost Employee Retention with HR Automation
A high turnover rate isn’t just a nuisance for your hiring team — it comes with a financial cost to your organization. The bottom line is that it’s cheaper to retain employees than it is to hire new ones, and employee retention strategies help you do that by addressing the most common reasons employees quit.
By offering flexible work arrangements, a generous leave of absence policy, and other benefits, you can improve employee relations and reduce attrition on your team.
Pulpstream helps you increase employee retention by streamlining HR processes. Use it to track performance metrics, administer employee benefits, manage leave requests, and more. Our no-code platform makes it easy to automate your HR workflows, while our self-service portal allows employees to resolve the most common HR issues.
Request a demo today to see HR automation in action!
