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A saturated job market and evolving employee expectations have made employee retention more crucial—and more challenging—for organizations looking to maintain a competitive edge. Not only do leaders have to attract exceptional talent, but they also must ensure the continued commitment and engagement of their new hires.
Achieving this requires a nuanced understanding of what drives employee satisfaction and loyalty beyond traditional compensation and benefits. Below, 20 Forbes Human Resources Council members explore innovative strategies leaders can employ to elevate their retention efforts and become a magnet for top talent.
1. Focus On Company Culture
In most cases, retention can be boiled down to culture, manager, rewarding work, career opportunities and feeling valued. It is critical to continuously onboard and enable employees across their tenure; develop people manager capabilities and outline success metrics; identify career progression pathways and foster an inclusive culture where people feel valued and empowered to do their best work. - Amee Desjourdy, Hitachi Vantara
2. Respect Your Employees
Treat your people right and prioritize development opportunities. Enabling employees to learn and grow not only enriches the workforce but also gives top performers a compelling reason to stay. Perform compensation benchmarking regularly to ensure your salaries and benefits packages are competitive. - Kim Pope, WilsonHCG
3. Keep The Top Performers Challenged
Ensure your top performers (and everyone, actually) know what is expected of them. Make sure they know how the outcomes they drive impact the bigger picture. As they accomplish key milestones, give them space to share their work and successes with others. This rewards them and helps others learn the behaviors that work to drive success in your organization. - Paaras Parker, Paycor
4. Prioritize The Employee Experience
In today’s talent landscape, the employee experience is the competitive differentiator. Employees are looking for more—more connection, more opportunity and a greater appreciation of the unique strengths they bring to their roles. Creating positive experiences through purpose, culture and meaningful recognition helps foster a connection with top talent that extends beyond traditional efforts. - Jennifer Rozon, McLean & Company
5. Offer Flexibility
Establishing flexible work policies that best suit both the employee's and company’s needs makes employers competitive, enabling them to retain top talent. Nearly half of employees say they’d leave their job due to a return to office mandate. Reaffirm with your workforce that “work in any way” and people-centric policies, going beyond just work location flexibility, remain a company priority. - Bjorn Reynolds, Safeguard Global
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6. Get Your Top Performers More Involved
"People leave an organization due to people." Keep a strong vigil and a close watch on the HIPE (high-performing employees) by interacting with them often so that they are not forgotten and feel engaged with the company. Also, invite them to a few management meetings to make them feel involved and a part of the company's vision. - Prakash Raichur, Taghleef Industries
7. Provide Mentorship Opportunities
High-potential mentoring programs are an effective way to retain top-performing employees. Talented employees know their worth and are continually seeking learning and career growth opportunities. High-potential mentoring programs make your top talent feel valued and help them envision a future at the company. As a bonus, you develop a leadership pipeline and retain your best employees. - Matthew Reeves, Together Software
8. Cater Benefits To Employees’ Needs
Make your work culture and benefits irreplaceable by asking employees what they need to feel supported (and delivering), constantly bettering benefits programs and communicating consistently and transparently. It’s not enough to be a “best workplace” on a top companies roundup; ensure that employees truly feel they have the best there is to offer and would become ambassadors for your organization. - Ursula Mead, InHerSight
9. Provide Opportunities To Innovate
Empower your leaders with an innovation fund, granting them the autonomy to pioneer groundbreaking initiatives. This strategy can turn leaders into co-creators of the company's future, profoundly enhancing their commitment to their teams and the broader organization. It can also lead to great business results! - Ahva Sadeghi, Symba
10. Actively Listen To Their Needs And Desires
Each employee's motivations for staying are unique, so engage in meaningful conversations to understand what they value. While it may not be possible to accommodate every request, providing explanations and timelines for future possibilities fosters trust and demonstrates that their voices are heard and respected. - Jade Nikolaou, SecondMuse
11. Get To Know Your Employees
Leaders can retain their top-performing employees by taking a moment to know who they are and what matters to them. Leaders need to understand what's important to their employees and value their contributions to the organization. Employees want to be valued, make an impact, grow and feel heard. Exceeding their expectation in the area of their motivation will retain your top talent. - Tania White, Canary HR Consulting
12. Invest In Empowering Your Managers
At some scale, no leader has the emotional or mental bandwidth to intervene for each employee, even if they are at risk. So train and give managers autonomy over certain things like the ability to approve a WFH request, spot bonuses and so on. The right manager, with the right training and resources, can foster the culture that best fits their team and talent. - Kaitlyn Knopp, Pequity
13. Ask Your Employees What They Want
I've never seen more diversity in the wants and needs of workers, top performers included. While some value flexible work arrangements the most, others are looking to fast-track their career. The only sure way to know what the top performers in your organization are looking for is to ask them. Whether it's through one-on-ones or surveys, getting this information from your own people is critical. - Sanja Licina, QuestionPro
14. Take Time To Intentionally Re-Recruit
Leaders should connect with their top performers, learn about the things that are their top drivers of happiness and engagement and jointly strategize on how to optimize in high-importance areas. HR professionals should train leaders on how to have these conversations and provide resources for doing so. - Dave Barnett, DeVry University
15. Continually Seek Employee Feedback
Leaders can retain top talent by regularly checking in to show investment in their success, seeking ongoing input to improve their employee journey, providing transparency around decisions, supporting continuous professional growth through development plans and learning opportunities and enabling career planning conversations outlining advancement pathways within the organization. - Nicole Smartt Serres, Smartt Enterprises
16. Provide A Positive Workplace Environment
I believe a strong and positive workplace culture is non-negotiable when it comes to retaining talent. Good compensation coupled with recognition and personalized attention from top executives for mentorship fosters a supportive culture where employees feel valued and engaged. This holistic approach ensures loyalty and satisfaction. - Kshitij Jain, Joveo
17. Have A Succession Plan In Place
Succession planning should be top of the agenda in 2024. From skills shortages in leadership and technical roles to the broad-ranging macro and micro factors impacting the hiring market globally, competition for the top percentile of talent is tough. Rigorous succession planning will ensure your business is set to scale whilst simultaneously motivating employees to work towards a larger goal. - Alex Gillespie, Gillespie Manners
18. Keep Employees Engaged
Leaders must find ways to keep top, talented employees engaged and continuously create an atmosphere of inclusion and belonging. Highly skilled people will find alternative opportunities in a tight and competitive marketplace. - Kevin Walters, Top DEI Consulting
19. Audit Pay, And Do It Often
Compensation is far from the only important factor in employee retention, but it remains a major reason why top talent leaves one role for another. For companies in highly competitive industries, an annual pay audit may be necessary to ensure salaries align with the local market rate and prevent the loss of top-performing employees to competitors. - Niki Jorgensen, Insperity
20. Help Employees Grow Their Skill Sets
Invest in upskilling and reskilling with robust rotation programs. Rotation programs across business units enrich employees' experiences and business acumen fostering a versatile and agile workforce. Flexing talent prepares employees for the evolving market demands and signals the company's commitment to employees' career development resulting in higher retention. - Britton Bloch, Navy Federal
