Mitigating employee turnover is just part of running a business: people move, priorities change, life happens. And it’s a problem that ends up costing the company in question as much as twice the salary of the lost employee.

But you don’t always have to just roll with the punches. Organizations everywhere are employing a number of creative and innovative staff retention strategies that are helping to minimize employee turnover, keep morale high, and make sure everything is running smoothly.

In the article below, we’ve compiled a list of some of the techniques to use, and how Checkster’s solutions can help you further improve your employee retention.

Staff Retention Strategies You Should Replicate

1. Hire Smart - Start out with your best foot forward by hiring the right fit for your company from the get-go. Avoid making quick decisions about who you onboard - take it slow, pause, and double-check your candidate data before you offer them that badly-needs-to-be-filled position. Hire smart, and for the long term.Who’s doing it: Netflix’s focus on developing a strong and cohesive company culture means that they’re hiring top talent right at the start, using an interview philosophy that focuses on character and personality. By emphasizing traits like selflessness and willingness to play in a team, the streaming goliath fosters an environment that staff are happy to work in.Many companies are using hiring software to take some of the guesswork out of the process. Checkster’s Reference Insights solution gives you access to exceptional candidate fit data from an average of 6 references per candidate. This unique level of insight allows you to choose ideal new hires who are aligned with your company culture and values.
2. Offer Competitive Salary - Not hard to believe, money is one of the biggest make-or-break factors in staff retention. Provide your employees with tangible compensation that matches the value they bring to your company, and maintain your standing against competitors.Who’s doing it: Solstice Mobile app designer believes in providing ample opportunities for staff to earn extra by promoting regularly, and having bi-annual salary evaluations. And it seems to be working for them -- the company currently boasts a 98% retention rate.
3. Provide Practical Perks - Offer a benefits package that acknowledges the human you’ve hired. Bare minimum includes affordable health insurance, life insurance, sick leave and vacation time, ample family leave, and a retirement savings plan. If you have the resources, you might think about extending the benefits you offer to include perks like stock options and other financial benefits, child care, and gym memberships. Who’s doing it: Patagonia gives new families parental benefits that, honestly, everyone should be replicating. Kicking in after 9 months, the outdoor retail business provides new moms with 16 weeks of paid leave (dads get 12), and offer onsite childcare for kids 0 - 17. It’s no wonder this company manages to keep 100% of its moms on staff.
4. Make Room for Candid Communication - Create an internal culture that encourages employees to share their ideas, provide feedback, address problems, and contribute to the company’s growth. Great things can happen when you have an open forum for free-flowing thought. Plus, employees who feel they have some autonomy over their workspace have higher job satisfaction, and are more likely to stick around. Who’s doing it: Schneider Electric provides early-career staff with programs which offer opportunities to share and exchange ideas with senior staff and executives. This creates a culture of trust, engaging and empowering employees to have a palpable affect in their workplace.

Gathering this type of feedback can in fact be critical to your new hire’s success during their first year. However, traditional methods of manually checking in with new hires can be time consuming and sometimes produce very little useful information.

Checkster’s New Hire Insights makes it easy to gather honest feedback at varying touch points, not just with the new hire, but with their team members. New Hire Insights then automatically consolidates the data allowing you to uncover valuable takeaways to help improve your hiring and onboarding processes for maximum success.

[Learn More about Checkster's New Hire Insights]

1. Do Good Things - More people than ever are starting to think about how they can affect positive change in the world, and companies that do good give their employees something to be proud of. Curate a reputation for being a positive force in your local (or global!) community. Donate a percentage of your profits to select charities, strive for a green business badge, or start a monthly trash-pickup program. Find a way to engage the world, and make it a little brighter. Who’s doing it: Inchcape “commits to the community” at home and abroad by regularly contributing to charities across the world. They’re also transparent about their carbon footprint, and make efforts every year to lessen their environmental impact. Employees are rewarded for aligning their lifestyles with this charitable philosophy through financial benefits and services.
2. Use Exit Surveys and Turnover Analysis - Turnover is going to happen, whether we like it or not. The best thing we can take with us into the future is a clear understanding of why an employee is leaving, and steps we can take to mitigate the problems that may have arisen before their departure. Who’s doing it: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital listens to departing staff, and takes action to improve upon conditions that lead to that employee’s loss. After rigorous exit surveys, the hospital took measures to restructure employment models for its nursing staff, including pay based on experience and incentives to earn advanced degrees. The result: a 34% increase in retention. Checkster’s Exit Insights solution allows departing employees to provide you with candid, actionable feedback about their job experience. It also gives coworkers and managers the opportunity to give input about the employee. Are you losing a key player? Were expectations or team fit an issue? Using Checkster’s Exit tool you are able to gain insights into staff satisfaction and address issues directly.
3. Find Out Why People Stay - What are you doing right? What are the things your staff love about working for you? Understanding where you are successful can be just as useful as recognizing the pitfalls. Ask employees what keeps them around, what they appreciate about their workplace, so that you can continue to do more of what feeds into your retention. Who’s doing it: Tech giant Dell uses rigorous surveys and data analysis to boil down the top values of its current employees. They’ve discovered that vision and selflessness are two leadership principles staff can really get behind.

Staff retention strategies are something every business should be thinking about. And with Checkster’s insights into the above techniques, you should be well on your way to creating a retention plan bolstered by happy employees who are in it for the long haul. Checkster offers solutions that will help you increase your staff retention percentages.

The Checkster’s Reference Insights gathers candid feedback into candidate fit via an average of 6 references, allowing you to hire staff you know will feel at home in your company.

And Checkster’s Exit Insights collects actionable data from employees, peers, and managers so you can address issues from hiring strategies, to employee satisfaction, to trends in management, positively impacting retention.

To find out how Checkster can help you hire and retain employees who love their work, and see testimonials to the effectiveness of our exit survey, schedule a demo here.