10 Retention Strategies For Hiring Managers

Search

Try SmoothHiring for free for 14 days

See SmoothHiring in action. Know our features and get insights on how our friendly software helps you with successful hiring. Learn how data and predictive analytics help in hiring the right candidate.

A predictive analytics platform for finding the best employees

Know how predictive analytics helps you find the right people for the right job and increase employee productivity.

Picture of Andrew

Andrew

Not finding the best employees?
Schedule a demo to learn how SmoothHiring will help you find the best fit for the job using predictive analytics.

Retaining top talent is important for the success of any organization. As a hiring manager, you need to be mindful about it. That’s because you play a key role in boosting employee retention through your recruiting, onboarding, development, and engagement efforts. Here are 10 effective strategies that you can follow to retain the best employees working for the company. Once you start following them, you can keep your workforce happy and get them to stick to their positions for many years. 

Hire for culture fit

Go beyond skills and experience when recruiting. Take time to assess whether candidates’ values, working styles, motivations, and personalities would thrive in your workplace culture. Retention rates are 18% higher when new hires mesh well with organizational values and norms according to the Society for Human Resource Management. 

Dig deeper with questions about work approach, environments they excel in, past job satisfiers and dissatisfiers, and assess their soft skills. Develop a profile encapsulating your ideal culture fit to screen applicants against.

Set clear expectations during onboarding

Prevent new hire surprises, frustration, or rapid disengagement by setting crystal clear expectations of duties, performance metrics, scheduling needs, communication norms, and policies on day one. Go over job descriptions in detail, providing written checklists they sign off on indicating comprehension. Check in frequently in the first three months to answer questions, provide additional tools/resources, and ensure new staff has a solid handle on meeting standards before full autonomy.

Offer abundant opportunities for career growth

The potential for professional growth is the top factor ambitious candidates cite for accepting and staying in roles long-term according to LinkedIn’s 2022 Global Talent Trends report. Outline paths from current role to future lead or expert roles, projecting realistic timeframes to move up. Offer access to senior mentors, workshops, stretch assignments, and courses to upgrade their skills. Tie learning to promotion criteria. Budget for certifications, conferences, and continuing education.

Foster an engaging, supportive work environment

Workplace unhappiness drives over half of resignations according to Gallup. This is why you need to cultivate a positive culture. In a positive work culture, people forge social connections and take pride in their work. Moreover, you can get your employees to feel supported to voice ideas or concerns. On top of everything, you can make all employees energized by collaborative efforts. 

One of the most effective methods available to improve workplace engagement is to introduce institute peer recognition programs. You may also use countdowns to project finishes to spur camaraderie. Moreover, continually link daily work to advancing the company mission to foster meaningfulness.

Promote sustainable work-life integration

Burned-out employees quickly look for the exit. This is why you should ensure that all your employees are experiencing a perfect work-life balance. You need to openly encourage people to set boundaries with off-hours. Moreover, you should completely unplug them on vacations. It is also better if you can adjust schedules to accommodate personal or family needs when feasible. In the meantime, encourage all employees to take advantage of wellness initiatives like corporate gym discounts or therapy benefits. 

To ensure proper work-life balance, you need to set reasonable workloads and staffing levels. Then they aren’t forced to choose between professional and personal thriving.

Provide market-competitive compensation

Fair and benchmarked pay still motivates retention even though it’s not everything. Partner with HR to build structured compensation bands for roles updated annually reflecting current market rates and inflation.

Conduct regular salary reviews pacing wage increases to individual performance and contributions. Offer spot bonuses rewarding those spearheading high ROI projects or innovation. Benchmark your benefits too. Then your employees feel that their efforts are being valued. As a result, you can get them to stick to your company.

Offer frequent recognition and praise

Beyond competitive pay and cushy benefits, employees want to know their efforts are valued. Social recognition motivates even more than financial rewards according to the ADP Research Institute, making employees feel respected by leaders and peers. Establish peer-to-peer programs allowing badges, points, and prizes but also model immediate praise yourself in team meetings, handwritten notes, or impromptu thank yous.

Optimize job role assignments

Employees who feel trapped, bored, or that current duties don’t use their talents will disengage over time. Pay constant attention to emerging strengths, weaknesses, passions, and career aspirations uncovered in check-ins or reviews to determine optimal role changes promoting growth and re-engagement. Realign teams every six months as necessary based on organization or individual needs.

Create rotational and temporary leadership opportunities 

Beyond standard vertical promotion paths, you need to nurture leadership readiness. Then your employees will feel that they are climbing up the ladder. Moreover, you can get them to feel that their efforts are being valued as well. Here are some of the best options available for you to offer leadership opportunities to employees. 

  • Offer exposure to strategic projects within the company. 
  • Get them to be a part of committee roles.
  • Assign interim manager assignments
  • Get them to oversee special interest groups related to D&I, wellness, and sustainability.
  • Give them the opportunity to take part in cross-functional activities. 

You should also develop rotational programs moving high performers across departments. They can also offer excellent leadership opportunities. 

Conduct quality exit interviews

Don’t miss the gift of feedback from valued employees leaving your team. Schedule in-person and confidential discussions focused on understanding exactly why they’re moving on and what could have improved their experience. Even if they’re advancing careers elsewhere, key insights around faulty processes, management missteps or unaddressed issues can surface to fix for the benefit of remaining employees. Analyze trends over time, tracking rates and reasons for turnover indicators.

Final Words 

Follow these multifaceted retention strategies in your management approach to dramatically reduce regrettable or avoidable turnover on your team. Recruiting top talent takes significant investment – dedicated retention efforts are crucial to ensure those employees actually stay! Let me know if you need any help tailoring strategies to your specific organizational culture and business goals.

Let us provide you with a detailed tour

Tell us about your problems, and we will present you with the most intriguing choices?