The most important asset of any company is its employees, which is why HR departments put so much effort into attracting the best talent. However, talent management involves much more than attracting new professionals. It also consists in reducing the staff turnover rate, which in 2020 reached 25% in the US and 15% average in the UK.
Building employee loyalty is key to attracting and managing talent successfully. Employees who share a company’s values and feel motivated and appreciated are far more likely to stay in one place than look for other opportunities. Unsure of where to start? In this article, we explain the importance of building employee loyalty, along with 4 strategies to do it successfully.
What is employee retention?
Employee retention is a term used to describe the set of strategies and actions a company takes to establish loyalty and commitment from its employees. One of the primary objectives is to foster a positive work environment that promotes satisfied and motivated employees.
Data consistently shows that keeping employees happy contributes to a company’s success. Regardless of the sector the company belongs to, paying attention to the well-being of employees naturally generates loyalty from its members.
Employee retention can be achieved through various methods. There is no one exact approach, as people are complex. However, fostering talent development, rewarding and recognizing employees, and providing opportunities for professional growth are some strategies to consider.
Why is it important to build employee loyalty?
When an employee lacks motivation, they start to look for new opportunities elsewhere. This is more common than it seems, and when it happens repeatedly, it is known as a talent drain. This phenomenon occurs when several qualified professionals leave a company to join another, resulting in reduced productivity, economic losses, and can harm a brand’s image.
Employee loyalty is necessary for any company that hopes to improve its competitiveness and build positive employer branding. This does not mean that a company’s turnover rate should always be zero, but that when a significant number of employees leave the company, a domino effect occurs:
- It reduces the company’s productivity.
- It disrupts delivery times by having to redistribute tasks.
- It sets in motion another selection process, with all the associated training costs.
- It requires a considerable period until the new hire adapts to their role.
Retention vs. loyalty
The meaning of retention is often confused with that of loyalty. Employee retention refers to “the strategies employers use to try to retain the employees in their workforce” or “prevent employee turnover.” In contrast, employee loyalty deals with “ensuring that a company’s employees remain loyal to it in different ways.” Loyal employees don’t seek alternative opportunities and feel committed to the success of the organization
What matters to companies is not to prevent employees from leaving, but to make them feel comfortable, fulfilled in their role, valued, and motivated, so those who truly contribute to the company remain loyal.
Things to consider before implementing an employee retention strategy
To improve employee retention, it is important to consider the following aspects:
- Establish effective communication
Companies that maintain an open channel of communication strengthen their relationship with employees. Being open, demonstrating flexibility, and listening to needs and suggestions will create a genuine and strong bond with all collaborators.
- Build an organizational culture
Merely having a list of values and manifestos is not enough. The most crucial aspect is putting these actions into practice to showcase what the company believes in. This will foster a positive, clear, and effective organizational culture.
- Detect what your employees require to generate a comfortable workplace Prior to an employee retention strategy, it is important to provide a healthy work environment. Whether your employees work remotely or in an office setting, try to create spaces that make them feel comfortable. Not just with the right materials and furniture, but also by offering recreational areas, weekly meetings, healthy communication environments, and other needs you identify for them to work happily and comfortably.
- Work-life balance
Promoting a balance between work and personal life is essential. Offering flexible schedules and creating an environment that promotes health and well-being will encourage a healthy and compassionate atmosphere.
- Recognition and rewards
Taking the time to recognize each person’s achievements is crucial. It’s not just about completing endless tasks but motivating employees and highlighting their successes will boost motivation.
- Monitoring and measurement
It is important to allocate time for constant review of the above guidelines. Establishing metrics and short-to-medium-term objectives will allow for the improvement of strategies and, consequently, lead to a robust employee retention process.
#4 strategies to build employee loyalty
According to Gartner, the estimated time it takes to fill a job has increased by 18%. But that’s only part of the problem; about half of the professionals who receive a job offer are considering at least two other offers simultaneously. Given this situation, it is more necessary than ever to improve employee experience and build employee loyalty. Take a look at some of the steps:
1. Create a good working environment
It is first necessary to understand your company’s organizational context and objectively assess the situation to build employee loyalty. The most important indicators for this are the interpersonal relationships between colleagues, the quality of leadership, and the sense of belonging; that is, whether or not employees feel identified with the company’s values.
Once you know this, you can start working on providing your employees with an environment of well-being where they develop a good relationship with their team members and managers, helping them feel valued. To do so, you can create a team-building strategy or reinforce the positive corporate culture.
Another effective strategy to build employee loyalty is to improve emotional pay. Do you know what this is? It involves all the non-monetary rewards you can offer your staff to keep them motivated and create a better working environment. These rewards can include more flexible schedules, allowing remote or hybrid work, leisure activities, and training for professional growth.
2. Stay in touch with your team
Maintaining effective communication through regular chats or meetings with staff can help them feel included and heard. But this should not only be done as a group, but also on an individual basis. That is, talk with each employee about their expectations within the company, get to know them better, and find out how satisfied they are.
This communication channel will also allow you to understand their professional goals and help them to achieve their objectives. For example, if an employee wants a promotion, you can guide them on how long they should stay in their current position before moving on, what skills they would need to hone to fill another job, and what steps they need to take to develop those skills.
3. Improve the internal promotion plan
Do employees know how they can earn a promotion within their company? A company that offers opportunities for personal development, allowing its employees to grow helps build trust and increases employee commitment and loyalty.
Designing and offering a training plan for your employees helps respond to the demands of the new generation of workers, improves the work environment, and boosts performance. But it’s also necessary to provide training tools for employees who are not yet ready to take on new responsibilities, helping them achieve their goals.
4. Promote the professional development of your employees through training
Lastly, one of the significant causes of employee turnover is the lack of support for professional growth, either because they are hoping for a promotion or because they don’t have the right tools to fulfill their responsibilities in a changing environment. This happens in companies that don’t offer training to their employees.
Leaders must provide the resources and tools for employees to acquire or improve skills that will enable them to perform their jobs better and aspire to move up in the company.
According to Gartner, the total amount of skills needed to fill a position has been increasing by 6% each year, making it more necessary than ever for companies to offer corporate training plans.
Although there are many ways to deliver training nowadays, from traditional face-to-face sessions to tutorials or on-the-job training, E-learning courses are one of the best options for training employees, as they offer flexibility, convenient access, and tailor-made solutions. It is crucial to understand that not all employees are the same and that their training needs will vary according to their goals.
Finding a learning strategy that helps employees grow professionally and builds employee loyalty is easy. This article will tell you some activities to create a successful corporate training plan.
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Loyalty employees strategies are essential to retaining them. You must offer them a good working environment, give them growth opportunities within the company and develop their sense of belonging. You already know that an excellent way to achieve this is to offer them training and professional development.
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