Two Pillars of Employee Retention

In a context where talent shortage is hitting companies hard, keeping your top performing employees is a real necessity. These valuable assets, in addition to mastering the best practices of your industry, are also familiar with the culture and implicit practices of your company. As such, it’s definitely in your best interest to make sure that they’re satisfied on a daily basis. If they were to leave, you would have to spend time and energy to replace them and would also see your competition gain strength with the addition of this new talent. To retain talent within your organization and ensure that performance is sustained over time, make sure to invest in the main pillars of employee retention.

Employee Retention: Development and Continuous Learning Program

If your employees are reaching new heights of productivity, it’s certainly no accident. The most successful workers are often people with a strong desire for constant improvement. For this reason, it’s important to offer them the opportunity to develop within your company, or else they’ll seek this opportunity elsewhere. Indeed, according to a study conducted by LinkedIn, 94% of employees would stay longer in their company if the organization invested in their training and career development.

The creation of a development program is therefore of the essence if you want to retain—but also attract—the best talent. If you don’t know where to start or if you’re looking to revisit your current program, here are some essential steps:

1. Choose training that addresses organizational needs and personal aspirations

The training you provide access to should lead to the development of skills and abilities necessary for the success of your company. It’s also important that they be aligned with the preferences and motivations of your employees. Before building a development program, take the time to ask your employees what they hope to gain from their training and what knowledge and skills they would like to focus on.

2. Opt for microlearning

One of the reasons employees don’t take or complete training courses is that they’re often too busy. To overcome this difficulty, choose “bite-sized” learning, or microlearning. This new approach to learning allows employees to make progress by completing a module of around 15 minutes each day instead of having to devote several hours to their program over a short period.

Also, make sure you take into account that they’re taking training courses when you divide tasks and before assigning them new responsibilities. The development program should fit into their schedule, not be an extra workload that forces them to work overtime.

3. Aim for long-term commitment

Create a culture where learning and personal development are built over the long term. Go beyond occasional training workshops; it’s essential that you show your employees that their professional success is important to you. To do this, ask them often about the skills they’d like to develop, the new techniques they would like to learn, and their ideas for aspects that could improve their performance. An employee requesting to undergo training is a committed and motivated asset who will certainly appreciate the effort you’ve invested in their training. In addition, promoting a culture of personal achievement will help your company stand out and attract even more of the best talent.

Employee Retention: Encouraging Internal Mobility

The most successful employees are often people looking for new challenges and wanting to regularly meet or even exceed their goals. Often, staying in the same position for years without growth opportunities or change can become a real source of frustration for them. A Bersin report from Deloitte indeed shows that there is a strong link between internal mobility and the retention of top talent. According to the same study, allowing employees to explore various possible paths within your company could lead to an increase in employee engagement of up to 30%.

While encouraging internal mobility achieves excellent retention results, setting up programs supporting this initiative is not that easy. Only 6% of employees rate the opportunities for internal advancement as excellent.  Implementing the following initiatives will allow you to retain top talent within your company:

1.Highlight the accomplishments of role models

There’s nothing better than concrete examples to inspire the most motivated workers. Underline and showcase employees who started in junior positions and advanced in the company to higher positions. In this way, you’ll show all concerned parties that efforts are rewarded in your company.

2. Be transparent about upcoming opportunities and promotion conditions

To motivate your employees to perform, clearly define the targets to be achieved. In addition to informing them of positions that are currently or will soon be available, let them know what skills and qualities you’re looking for. This will allow them to know what strengths they’ll need to develop and put forward while giving them something to work towards and push themselves for.

3. Organize regular meetings and provide coaching

To show employees that you’re an ally in their success, schedule regular meetings. This will give you the opportunity to learn more about their ambition and expectations. In return, you could offer them your support and advice while also establishing a career advancement plan. Always be transparent about the possibilities available to your employees. This will earn their respect and loyalty.

One of the biggest challenges in today’s job market is undoubtedly attracting and retaining valuable talent. If you have promising employees in your company, make sure you give them a reason to stay and the tools to keep growing. Your efforts for employee retention will be rewarded with lower turnover, higher engagement and increased productivity.

• Talent Retention