by Jill Krumholz
Employee turnover is disruptive and expensive for organizations, in terms of both the dollars spent to recruit and train new hires and the institutional knowledge lost when a trusted employee leaves.
Even further, recent data suggests that there is an employee shortage in the nonprofit workforce overall nationwide — with over 40% of survey respondents reporting vacancies of over 20% of the total number of roles in their organizations— so filling vacated roles could present a challenge.
These statements suggest that a concentrated focus on retaining your current employees is a worthwhile investment of time and resources. This investment will involve examining and refining core values, identifying the culture you want to create, and building internal employee practices that will positively impact employee retention.
We will begin this by discussing the external factors that could be impacting your organization’s employee retention. Then, we will discuss strategies that can positively impact employee retention.
What societal factors are affecting employee retention?
There are a number of societal factors that are likely to be impacting your organization’s ability to successfully retain employees. When you craft your retention strategy, do so with an understanding of the following factors:
- Concerns about discrimination and equity. For organizations, diversity and equity have been at the forefront of their efforts for some time. However, the events of Summer 2020 brought the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion into the spotlight for many employees. Employees are more aware of disparities in hiring, compensation, advancement opportunities, childcare access, and more. They are actively seeking employers who are not only acknowledging these discrepancies but creating a culture that addresses them through policies and practices.
- Desire for increased autonomy in working arrangements. Since the initial pivot to remote work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, employees have seen how their working lives can be structured differently than the more traditional 9 to 5, in-office schedule. Many employees are seeking increased autonomy over how they organize their workdays, with increased flexibility and greater choices. It is important to note that this “autonomy” can be defined differently for different employees— for some, it could mean adjusting their working hours, for others their working location, and so forth.
- Concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The continuing uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and changing public health recommendations have led to a precarious situation for employers who want to return to in-office operations. Some employees will feel safe with the return, while others may feel apprehensive. Further, questions about whether to mandate or incentivize COVID-19 vaccinations, masks, and other precautions are still of concern.
Any changes made to your employee retention strategy should be driven by business imperatives but also by leadership decisions that consider the culture you are trying to create and its impact. It is important to have this context in mind as you craft your strategy.
What can you do to boost employee retention?
Your ability to retain employees is directly tied to your organizational values and how well they are represented in your workplace culture.
Your organizational values are communicated through your practices, policies, and the retention strategies you implement (discussed below). These value-driven practices and policies collectively make up your culture or workplace environment.
If employees feel as though they align with your overall culture, and therefore your organizational values, they will be more likely to continue working at your organization.
Assessment of and adjustments to your culture need to be led and supported by leadership, who will ensure that changes are done in a manner that both meet organizational needs and employee interests. With leadership support, consider the following strategies to impact your employee retention practices and outcomes:
- Opening lines of communication with employees. This may include conducting town halls, small group or one-on-one meetings with leadership, or more formal surveys to assess employee needs and engagement. This allows you to both share leadership and organizational goals and decisions, and hear employee concerns.
- Offer additional flexibility in how employees structure their individual work weeks, as you are able to do so. Every organization will need to define “flexibility” as it best aligns with its business plans and overall operations. From there, be transparent with employees about how flexible you can be, and where, in order to meet their needs.
- Updating job descriptions. Ensure all job descriptions accurately reflect each position. This allows employees to have a good understanding of their roles, including any responsibilities and objectives that they need to prioritize. As a result, they will understand the expectations and be better positioned to be more successful in their efforts.
- Providing pathways for upskilling. Offer additional training opportunities to help employees reach their professional goals. This could include providing access to professional development courses, sponsoring conference attendance, or hiring external experts to host seminars.
- Conducting “stay interviews.” Rather than waiting for exit interviews, conduct retention interviews. This allows you to uncover employee needs and concerns and address those before the employee chooses to leave the organization.
- Training managers to support retention initiatives. Empower managers by providing additional training to support changes. This allows managers to understand and support the initiatives in their day-to-day interactions with employees.
As you make adjustments to your retention strategies, keep aware of the impact of these changes on your employees to measure their impacts on your broader retention efforts.
Every organization has unique needs; therefore, the employee retention strategies that will work for one organization may differ from another. These tips are a great way to begin brainstorming. However, you can also partner with an external human resources consultant to develop strategies and plans that will help you align your retention practices and organizational goals.
Jill Krumholz is co-owner and managing partner of RealHR Solutions, a consultancy firm that provides outsourced HR solutions to help clients maintain compliance, improve efficiencies, build internal capability, and foster company culture.