Employee Retention Strategies: Key Methods for Retaining Top Talent

Updated September 2 2024 - There are many factors to keep in mind when identifying ways to help better retain employees within your company. While things like competitive pay and good benefits are always going to be important when retaining employees, other things like fairness, work life balance, means for growth, and transparency can be just as important, if not more depending on the employee. We asked business professionals what their main methods are for retaining top talent, and here is what they said:

Encourage Interpersonal Relationships

A key way of retaining employees is to encourage strong interpersonal relationships within the workplace. Allowing social connections through team-building activities, mentorship programs, and cross-departmental collaboration can create a supportive environment where employees feel connected to their peers. When employees form meaningful relationships at work, they develop a sense of community and belonging, making them more likely to stay. Building these relationships helps employees feel emotionally supported, reduces feelings of isolation, and creates a more cohesive and engaged workforce.

- Peter Reagan, Financial Market Strategist at Birch Gold Group

Foster A Sense Of Purpose

A key method to better retain employees within a company is to foster a strong sense of belonging and purpose. Employees are more likely to stay when they feel their work contributes to something meaningful and aligns with the company's mission. This can be achieved by creating a culture that emphasizes shared values, where each employee understands how their role fits into the organization's larger goals. By highlighting the impact of their contributions and encouraging a team-driven atmosphere, companies can enhance employee engagement and loyalty, leading to improved retention rates.

- Bill Lyons, CEO of Griffin Funding.

Communication is key!

One of the things we all learned throughout the pandemic is the importance of communication. As a leader it is important to be in constant communication with the people that report to you. Your employees must feel comfortable coming to you for questions, comments or concerns. As a leader, you must make sure that you’re also doing your part to promote healthy communication across the board (including your remote employees).

- Brandon Brown, CEO of GRIN

Transparency

The more open one is about the organization’s goals and challenges, the easier it is for employees to understand their role and how they can individually contribute to the company’s overall success. It helps to keep the business accountable overall and increases credibility with consumers as well. This potentially leads to building stronger relationships and keeps trust high.

- Dhruv Sampat, Founder of Studypaq

Provide Opportunities for Growth

"One reason employees choose jobs in the first place is because they look for growth opportunities. Being transparent about the company, how the departments work together is all apart and a potential future down the line is important to communicate to new hires so they feel a sense of community in the company. You want to empower your employees to be the best version of themselves providing opportunities to collaborate, provide advice and facilitate an environment that is fulfilling. Be transparent about the different avenues your employees can take but make sure you are providing opportunities for growth."

- Jacob Dayan, CEO and Co-founder of Community Tax

Give Praise

"Don’t forget to praise your employees. Give rewards where rewards are due, even if it is simply re-affirming your employees of their good work. One of the best ways to retain employees is to let them know how much of an asset they are to your team and how valuable you feel that they are. Giving praise and rewarding employees in areas they will be surprised in will keep the employees feeling excited and . The encouragement you give to employees from management goes a long way. Be transparent, authentic and encouraging to your employees, instilling a confidence in them that makes them want to continue to be a part of your company culture."

- Tom Mumford. co-founder of Undergrads LLC

Acknowledge Big and Small Wins & Allow Working Remotely

"Every team meeting, we encourage everyone to share their weekly wins. No matter what their win is, from completing their first project or celebrating a three-year work anniversary, we make sure to celebrate each win together. When we share these accomplishments together as a team, it helps us all keep track of these achievements and push each other to an even bigger goal. And it helps employees just to know that their achievements are recognized by a whole team of people and lets them know that they are valued."

Additionally, some companies are navigating back to a regular office working environment. While some workers may welcome the office environment back with open arms, others are more than likely going to be missing the remote working environment. Allowing employees to have the choice over whether they want to come into the office or to work remotely is a great way to keep employees both happy and motivated. Demanding employees have to come back into the office to work probably will not make many of them happy, especially if they can do their jobs well enough remotely. Giving them the choice will keep their spirits high and definitely make them want to keep working for the company."

- Rich Rudzinski, Founder and Technical Strategist for Oversight.co and Tragic Media

Offer Training and Development

"Giving your employees opportunity for growth is a huge factor in retention, so giving them the proper training and development for their professional growth is essential in helping them gain the skills they need to step into bigger roles. This is called upskilling, and people continue to gain new competencies as they continue to grow within a company. Training and development plans are something that everyone on a team can benefit from, and overall helps to keep your employees learning and growing."

- Adrian Pereira, Co-Founder at Eco Pea Co.

Encourage Taking Time Off

"Encourage your employees to take their breaks. Studies show that around 90% of managers believe that taking time-off is important, but 60% of employees don’t ask for time-off because they feel that their time-off requests are looked down upon. As you can see, this is mostly untrue, but it’s all more the reason to tell your employees it’s important that they take time for themselves. Not only will this help productivity and prevent burn out in the long run, but it shows your employees that you care about their well-being and helps retain them."

- Sanem Aheam, Head of Marketing at Colorescience

When Possible, Be Generous with Rewards!

"Every employer of any business should always give praise to your employees! If you have co-workers and employees doing a great job, from 9-5pm, they deserve shoutouts, praise, and rewards as regularly as possible. Rewards should be very generous as well, as EVERY human being on this planet would love to have some extra money to have on the side! Always remember to ask upper management/corporate to see if raises can be given on as many special occasions as possible. Actual money raises should be the first option, but even gift cards, small gifts, and even one extra PTO day can give your employees a breath of fresh air and shows that you care about their well-being outside of work."

- Alex Bell, Outreach Specialist at 1-800-Pack-Rat

Allow for Flexibility

"The world of the strict 9-5 working schedule has run its course. In today’s work environment, employees are looking for much more flexible working options. When trying to retain your top talent, you must open up to the idea of a flexible working schedule, one without a strict schedule and location. Giving flexibility in the workplace means letting your employees choose the manner, location, and time they work. This allows the top talent to align both their personal & individual goals with the organizational goals that they are working towards. Flexibility in the workplace has shown to improve things such as employee morale & well-being, productivity, and creativity in their work. If you want to retain top talent in today’s working world, you must give flexible options to your employees."

Kate Lipman, Sales & Marketing Consultant at embrace

Develop A Strong Company Culture

"The culture of the company defines how the employees within it interact, behave, and work. A company that has a culture that’s toxic is vulnerable to having their employees, especially their top talent, leave at any given point. Promoting a culture that is positive, fun, and inspiring to your employees is crucial in retaining the top talent in the workforce. Common signs of toxic cultures include having employees that feel overworked and stressed, coworkers feeling bullied or belittled by other coworkers, or employees speaking vulgar towards one another. Getting to the bottom of how or why your workplace is toxic is key to undoing the toxicity that exists. A toxic workplace can cost your business money while hurting your employee’s overall well-being and mental health. If you’re serious about retaining the top talent, you need to ensure that your culture isn’t toxic."

- Brandon Hulme, Product Management Lead at Deputy

Offer the Best Tools Possible

"Your employees notice the kinds of tools your organization provides them. Whether it be laptops, monitors, or desk chairs, up to date work necessities reflect how much a company values their efforts. By regularly updating things like employee computers, you can also increase efficiency by cutting down on time your employees spend on long wait times or troubleshooting."

- Jason Brandt, Customer Success Director at Podopolo

Develop A Collaborative Team

Whether your team is in the office or working from home, developing a dynamic and collaborative team will create an atmosphere that makes employee’s excited to come into work. Building a workplace based on communication and team cooperation isn’t easy. However, there are a few things you can try to get started. Try holding office hours! Allow for a weekly time slot for employee’s to come to you to ask questions and talk through any projects they may be struggling with that week. You can also try building team relationships through working sessions. Where other employees can lead meetings and trainings for newer employees. This gets the entire team involved and much better acquainted.

- Himanshu Agarwal, SVP of Solutions at WorkBoard

Start Off Strong

"The first impression employees get when they join the company is through orientation and onboarding. This can set the tone for the duration of an employee’s time with the company. To help retain great talent, orientation should give employees a look into the company's culture, support from others, and a sense of how they will be able to make a difference in the company. If you want to start off strong, don’t cut corners on the first step."

- Jeffery Pitrek, Marketing and Account Manager at Transient Specialists

Onboarding

"Every hiring process should come with an onboarding program. This process is important because it lays out very clearly the employees’ role, what the company stands for and what the company has to offer. It also helps encourage employees by creating workers that are also committed to the company’s success and helps them feel like they are part of a team. Employees that are actively engaged are also eight times less likely to leave their company in a time where applying for a new position online has become increasingly easier to do."

- Chris Hunter, Director of Customer Relations at ServiceTitan

Help With Investments and Debt

"It is integral for a company to attain their top talents so they have employees they can trust and rely on. Not only that but attaining top talent can help shape them into leaders for your company. One unique way to attain your top talent is to help them with future investments and debt. To further explain, it’s ideal if your company is helping someone save money for retirement. Having a 401(k) option is a great start, and if you have your company match at a certain percentage. The other unique way is to help with debt. This is great for almost every person who has student loan debt. If your company is willing to find a program or way to help their employees pay off their student debt, you will most likely be put above other companies. Let’s face it, student loan debt is extremely difficult to pay off while trying to save money and start a career. Furthermore, make your company stand out by having a retirement and student loan plan for future employees."

- Aaron McWilliams, Director of Marketing at 1Dental

Hire The Right People For The Job

"It is important to be honest and transparent about the position you’re hiring for and what the job entails, as well as the company culture. Be specific about what you want, and make sure you are being as open as possible with the candidate so that both parties understand the expectations. Keep an eye out for candidates that aren’t similar to everyone else- diversity is crucial for adding people to the team. The more viewpoints and different perspectives you have, the more opportunity there is for growth and expansion within your company. Consider identifying what areas your team is weakest in and seek out candidates that stand out in those categories. These factors will help narrow down the best person for the job and allow your company to retain top talent."

- Megan Jones, Community Outreach Manager at NutraSweet Natural

Feedback is Key!

"One of the only ways companies can change is by receiving feedback. If you’re asking for feedback on what you’re doing right, wrong and what to stop or continue doing you will be able to improve your employee’s work-lives. You could do an anonymous survey every quarter to make sure your employees feel heard and ultimately happy."

- Daniel Ward, Editor at Invoice2go

Offering Wellness Programs

Offering wellness programs is key to retaining top level employees and just keeping the company happy and motivated as a whole. Whether it be paying for employees’ gym membership, covering therapy costs, or offering extended PTO, these all will keep employees in the right mental place to thrive in their position. A happy employee will be committed to the company and content in their current role.

- Jonathan Finegold, Sr. eCommerce Manager at MedCline

With more and more companies moving to a flexible work environment, it’s becoming increasingly important to retain top employees by giving them the work environment and the needs that they deem necessary to continue working at a company. Employees want to feel fulfilled in their day to day with minimal stress and increased happiness all while being able to live a comfortable life in terms of pay and work-life-balance. By focusing on the employees needs and providing opportunities in-line with these needs, employees will ultimately feel more inclined to stay with a company, and companies will require less overhead hiring and training new employees with constant turnover.

Encourage Time Off

Maintaining a work environment that encourages a strong work life balance is vital to employee retention. Oftentimes employees feel pressure to be working constantly throughout the day. It is important to reassure your employees that they are encouraged to take breaks for their mental health. Specifically, allow your employees to take walks, coffee or food breaks, anything that gets them away from the workplace for a bit. Another suggestion, if feasible, is to grant your employees unlimited paid time off. Unlimited PTO is a great perk to have as an employee and would certainly be a strong incentive for them to stay at your company.

- David Ring, Senior Marketing Manager at MCT Trading

• More Work Commitment Articles