Staff turnover has become one of the leading concerns for business owners over the past few years, with the Work Institute’s 2022 Retention Report finding that 2021 saw 34% more employees quitting their jobs than in the previous year. 

Not only does turnover have an impact on processes and productivity but it comes with a financial and time hit to replace them. Glassdoor research shows that the average U.S. employer faces costs of around $4,000 and 24 days to hire new candidates to the workforce. 

Retention of staff should be a high priority for employers throughout the country, and Impact has listed six strategies to help keep your valuable employees. 

Foster a positive work culture 

Keeping your staff engaged is key to optimizing productivity, as well as giving your workforce the encouragement to go above and beyond in their work. Being able to foster a positive environment and culture for your staff is crucial to team development and retention. 

This can be worked on in conjunction with your human resources department by setting goals around what you want the environment to be. Part of building a positive work culture is embracing change that is worker-focused, with the goal of making the employee experience more enjoyable. 

Offer training and development 

Learning and development (L&D) has more benefits than just the individual aspects for your workers, especially as LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report 2023 found that a lack of learning contributes heavily to employees quitting and finding new work. 

Offering training plans to your employees proves to them your sincerity in wanting to help their professional growth and development.  

Competitive compensation and benefits 

Everyone wants to feel like they’re being paid what they’re worth, and another major factor in causing employees to leave their current role is better pay. 

One thing that you should always check is how your pay brackets line up against the federal minimum wage of $7.25 and the living wage of your state. MIT offers a living wage calculator that you can access online for free to estimate the level of pay, which you can use as a starting base and work from there. 

Research into industry–standard pay can help inform your decision–making around your compensation plan. This can help offer recognition to many in your staff who are deserving of a pay increase. 

Appropriate recognition for employees and their performance 

One key to keeping staff is appreciating the positive work and honoring their achievements with recognition. A survey by Pew Research Center found that 57% of those who quit in 2021 left as they felt they were disrespected in their workplace. 

Open and transparent communication throughout the company 

Factoring into the positive work culture, one way to get engagement is by opening channels to provide communication throughout all levels of your business. 

This could be done by establishing either a feedback system where you can ask honest questions or make enquiries about the direction of the company or plans for the future, which you can address at larger monthly meetings. 

Be open to flexibility and hybrid working – work/life balance 

In recent years, hybrid and flexible working have become something that employees look for when hunting for a new role, and not offering it can hamper your recruitment and retention. A survey from McKinsey found that top workers were leaving their roles due to a lack of flexibility available. 

This feeds back into creating a positive work culture as it encourages a greater emphasis on a better work/life balance. Giving your employees the chance to work more flexible hours or remotely on set days means they can use their time more efficiently and generate more qualitative output.