Top Six Retention Strategies

Attrition rates. If you have your finger on the pulse of your company, you’re paying close attention to attrition rates and taking action when you see a trend you don’t like. Attrition rates vary widely. Solutions to the problem, however, don’t vary all that much. Here are some ideas Forbes recently published. It’s their top six retention strategies.

1. Conduct Stay Interviews

Instead of waiting until the employee leaves the organization to find out what was going well, what could have been better, and what kind of relationship that person had with their manager, meet with team members annually to discuss these items. Ask for feedback on recent events, give a heads up on events to come, answer any questions, etc. – Catherine Decker, Outsell

2. Empower Your Team

At Opportunity Network, everyone takes full ownership of his or her own responsibilities. Managers are there to convey trust, facilitate and support. Since we hire experienced and talented people who know very well how to do their job, we aim at empowering them as much as possible and making everyone feel like an entrepreneur in their own area of competence (with the potential to grow outside of their original area of competence). – Enrica Sighinolfi, Opportunity Network

3. Allow Them To Communicate Anonymously

Giving and receiving feedback from your team members regularly is critical. Team members want to know how they are doing, how they can progress within the company, whether they’re valued and how they can add value. At my organization, we use a service called TinyPulse that allows team members to communicate anonymously to the entire company. – Kim Roneree, College Hunks Hauling Junk

4. Avoid Micromanaging

If you’re hiring talented individuals, there’s no need to micromanage. Allowing employees to take on projects they haven’t participated in before or have no experience in allows for growth and encourages them to take initiative. I want employees in my organizations to take risks and try new things. If they succeed, then they have experience to add to their resume. If they fail, then they learn. It’s a win-win either way! – Michele Gonzalez-Pitek, The Unity Council

5. Check In Regularly

In most cases, attrition can be greatly reduced through regular check-ins with your employees. Giving them the opportunity to discuss their strengths, career aspirations, and the items they struggle with will show your workforce that you’re dedicated to their professional growth and addressing their concerns. In most cases, these meetings take no longer than 5-10 minutes.
– Ryan Harris, Petplan

6. Be Transparent

A strategy that is often feared by leaders, but can drastically increase retention and employee loyalty when done correctly, is transparency. Be transparent about how your company is succeeding, provide clarity on what can be improved, recognize who had a direct impact and offer direct data to support the claims. Leaders who speak to employees on these topics can secure a tenured workforce. – Sarah O’Neill, Digital Trends
People are leaving jobs with greater frequency now. It’s an overall trend that’s likely affecting your company. The cost of brain drain can be significant and the culture of your office can suffer if you lose key players. As our economy grows more and more dynamic, the winning companies will have to find a way to address these trends.

About NextGen

NextGen is the brainchild of longtime telecom professionals with nearly 50 years of experience and millions of dollars in Telecom Recruiting Services. We focus on establishing long term relationships with our clients and candidates so we can recruit the best and the brightest in the telecom industry. This ‘quality over quantity’ approach is at the heart of everything we do and has resulted in successful job placements at Fortune 1000 firms worldwide.

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