When the job market is hot, it can be tough to attract the talent your organization needs. It can be even harder to hold on to your best people. Even when hiring cools down, it’s still more cost-effective to retain employees than it is to hire new ones. But how do you encourage your best employees to stay?
People have different reasons for sticking with employers for the long haul or quitting. Some employees value organizations that align perfectly with their career interests and goals while others prioritize work-life balance. Others enjoy the work itself. Because different employees have different reasons for staying with an employer over time, you can’t use a one-size-fits-all strategy for retention.
That’s where the importance of employee benefits comes in. If you want to retain your best people, you need to offer a range of benefits that will appeal to all of them. Let’s look at some of the best things employers can do to keep their top performers on board.
The Importance of Employee Benefits: How to Retain Your Best People
Positive Culture
While you’re considering the assortment of benefits that will work best to keep your top performers, make sure to look beyond compensation and examine how your organization as a whole might appeal to various workers. People want a workplace where everyone is treated with dignity and respect; it makes them feel freer to take risks and produce their best work. That is part of a positive work culture; one that clearly values and supports employees—one where people work for years.
That includes making your workplace safe for people to pitch ideas and improve processes. Psychological safety is so foundational to performance that, after studying 180 teams worldwide to discover what the best teams had in common, Google designated psychological safety as the top reason.
Provide a Clear Path for Advancement
People are more likely to stick around if they know that they control their own paths based on merit, rather than having to schmooze with the right managers. Clear paths of professional development benefit employers as well, as they develop a talent pipeline and an internal brand image as a place to grow a career.
Recognize and Reward Employees
Regardless of the specific benefits you pick, make sure that public recognition and rewards are part of the mix. Although everyone likes cash bonuses, 401(k) matching, and other financial incentives, non-financial benefits are at least as important when it comes to keeping your best staff over time. That’s especially true for rewards and recognition. They’re proven to increase employee engagement, which is closely linked with employee retention. Treat your best people well, recognize them publicly in a meaningful way, and offer them a range of benefits. As a result, your retention rate will rise.
The key is to offer public recognition and rewards that demonstrate how much you value your best people. The public part is best when it comes from your organization’s ownership and senior management. Combine that recognition with meaningful rewards to show that employees’ efforts are appreciated. While this doesn’t mean you need to start budgeting to give game-show-like prizes to every employee, you don’t want them to feel utterly underwhelmed either. Avoid trade-show trinkets in favor of worthwhile rewards.
Custom Employee Performance Plans that Get Results
Inproma knows what it takes to increase employee engagement and retention. Our custom incentive plans are tailored to your organization’s strategic goals, and are designed to help your employees hit the specific metrics you need now and over the long-term. If your organization is having problems keeping its best people, or your team needs a boost to hit its strategic goals, we should talk.
