Tag: retention

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Employee Retention Strategies in a Tight Labor Market

Summary:

  • Effective employee retention strategies are crucial in today’s labor market, where there are more available jobs than job seekers.
  • Flexibility is a primary factor in retaining current employees, but it can mean different things for employees, depending on the industry and roles
  • Technology plays a vital role in gathering data and feedback that can help measure employee satisfaction and spot potential issues that trigger employees to quit.

The COVID-19 pandemic. The Great Resignation. Quiet Quitting.  

All of this has created a much tighter job market with low labor participation. Currently, there are around 10 million vacancies for just 5.7 million unemployed workers. The labor participation rate is at 62.6%, down from 63.3% in February 2020. This is the equivalent of 1.8 million fewer workers.     

All of this has made it trickier as well as vital for HR professionals to keep positive employee retention rates and hold on to their top talent, particularly since remote work has become more commonplace and sought after. Employees now have a much larger job market to find new opportunities, which, in turn, means tighter competition for talent. 

Webinar: How to Retain Hourly Employees

With more jobs and a smaller talent pool, how do you retain top talent and increase your chances of attracting new employees? There are several ways to boost employee retention, but what’s challenging is implementing a strategy that makes the most sense for your organization and people. We spoke with Jack Light, a labor economics Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chicago, to provide us with more insight.

Understand why good employees quit and why they stay

It’s impossible to identify the best employee retention strategies for your specific circumstance without finding out what causes attrition. According to the Work Institute’s 2022 Retention Report, over 47 million employees voluntarily quit their job in 2021. This is the highest turnover rate since 2001 — when the Bureau of Labor Statistics began measuring this metric

According to the report, some of the most common reasons why people quit their jobs include:

  • A lack of career development opportunities
  • Stress due to a lack of resources or training
  • Prioritizing health and/or family – caring for dependents, personal health reasons, or health-related issues due to work
  • Searching for different opportunities that will give them a better work-life balance
  • Issues with their current work environment

These areas are well within leadership’s control, and they can quickly improve these conditions by implementing changes and using the right tools.  

It’s always easy to assume that compensation is the main motivation for employees to stay at a company. However, that’s not always the case. What’s valuable to your team is not always as apparent as you think. Beyond a competitive salary and benefits package, there are other areas that can be equally valuable to employees.

  • Fulfillment or finding purpose in a role
  • Job satisfaction
  • Workplace culture
  • Relationships with bosses and colleagues and teamwork
  • Company values
  • Processes such as onboarding
  • Flexibility

Once you understand what your employees value most, you’ll be more equipped to make changes and create programs that compel them to stay. 

Watch: How to Predict an Employee Flight Risk

Establish a feedback system

There are two sides to feedback that are crucial to employee retention. The first is feedback from employers about job performance. The second is feedback from employees regarding operations, policies, and colleagues. Both are key to creating a culture of employee appreciation.

And both are important and should be gathered and addressed promptly.

Employees value feedback that’s immediate and clear. It helps them improve their work, makes them feel appreciated, and shows how valuable their contribution is to the organization. 

Meanwhile, encouraging employees to provide feedback about the company and their tasks helps with retention, too. When employees are comfortable enough to share their thoughts on what works and what needs improvement, you’ll have a goldmine of insights on how to keep your best talent.

“The goal of gathering employee feedback is to try and surface low-hanging fruits that you can be actioning on that you may not otherwise be aware of,” says Light. “So it might actually turn out that a lot of your employees are struggling to get to work, for example, because there’s a bus route that’s been canceled. Or maybe you have a particular manager who many people are struggling to work with. Those are the sorts of things that are valuable from the perspective of an employee but can be quite difficult to find out.” 

That’s why having a healthy company culture that embraces feedback is crucial. And it shouldn’t stop at gathering employee sentiments. Another equally important part of the equation is the mechanism to act on them.

“If you don’t do anything with that data and that feedback, you’re probably going to get less and less of it as time goes on,” says Beau Grzanich, head of solutions at Workforce.com. Transparency is key here. You need to inform your employees about the actions you’ve taken based on feedback they’ve provided. Doing so will incentivize people to provide more information that can drive more results and benefits in terms of employee retention. 

The frequency of feedback is also important. Typically, companies do it regularly — quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. While this provides some structure, feedback tends to be more effective when it’s fluid and immediate. Moreover, it doesn’t always have to be in a formal setting. It can be casual, during quick catch-ups, or through automated tools like Workforce.com’s Shift Feedback and Rating feature. 

Engage your managers, and they’ll engage their teams

People leave managers, not companies. This popular phrase regarding employee engagement and retention is supported by data from Gallup that shows that “it takes more than a 20% pay raise to lure most employees away from a manager who engages them”. And it takes almost nothing to poach disengaged employees.

Empower your managers to engage their teams effectively. One way to do this is to take administrative and repetitive tasks off their plate. This makes it easier for them to focus on the people-centric aspects of their work.

Implementing the right technology can help managers work smarter and spend less time on tasks like scheduling, time tracking, labor forecasting, and payroll. As a result, they focus more on coaching their employees and understanding and addressing potential issues.

Offer flexibility

Employees tend to stay with a company that offers flexibility. Research has shown that flexibility at work is becoming increasingly important for job seekers, particularly among younger employees. But before you think about implementing policies around it, you first need to understand what flexibility actually means for your employees. 

Typically, people view flexibility as being able to control their work arrangements. This means having the option to work outside of the typical office setting and set hours, enjoying a flexible schedule, or being able to attend to important matters that typically warrant PTO or waiting until the weekend.

“An important thing to remember is that flexibility is often quite loosely defined. It’s much harder if you’ve got regular opening hours or you’re a retail store, and there are fixed tasks that need to be done and planned in advance,” explains Light. If that’s the case, how do you create a certain level of flexibility for hourly workers? 

Light says that offering a certain level of predictability is important for hourly workers. This means providing their schedules ahead of time, so they can plan their activities outside of work accordingly. In fact, data shows that employees who get their schedules a couple of days before their shift are more likely to quit compared to staff who receive their schedule at least 10 days in advance.

Create programs and perks that are valuable to your employees

Competitive benefits, incentives, and perks can compel employees to stay with you. But again, the key here is to know what types of benefits they find valuable. Game rooms, free meals, and company-sponsored gym memberships are all nice to have, but those perks are not always good enough reasons to keep employees from looking elsewhere. 

Get to know your employees to understand what matters to them. Consider that you have employees who are probably in different life stages. Looking at your workforce’s demographics is a good first step in determining what programs you can devise that will make the most impact. 

Your employees’ age group, seniority level, gender, as well as their personal circumstances will all dictate what they deem important. Some perks and incentives to consider:

  • Professional development. Opportunities for employees to learn new skills, such as training programs or attendance at industry-specific conferences
  • Health and wellness stipends or reimbursement. To cover costs of things like sports activities, healthcare, and mental health programs
  • Company culture. Activities, such as team-building games, that help establish a stronger company culture

Whether it’s additional time-off benefits, family activities, upskilling, professional development opportunities, or employee recognition programs, make sure that your benefits package includes items that make the most sense for your operations and where your employees are — both in tenure and life in general.  

While it’s not easy to figure this out, you can always drill down on data and employee feedback to determine the specific types of programs you should implement within the organization.

Enrich your onboarding process

Convincing and attracting new hires is just half the battle. The other half is making sure they stay. Employee onboarding sets the tone for a new hire, and you need to make it count to retain them. According to Gallup, 70% of employees who had a positive onboarding experience say that they have “the best possible job.” 

Employee onboarding is a crucial process where companies must deliver on what’s promised during the hiring process and integrate new hires into their role and the organization. Successful onboarding is not attained overnight. It is a process that can last through a new hire’s first year with the company. 

Here are some of the ways human resources teams can make employee onboarding successful:

  • Create a clear and intuitive onboarding roadmap. Define where you want your new hires to be at specific time frames, whether monthly or quarterly or what makes sense for your organization. Gather feedback about the process and iterate your roadmap and programs as you go along.
  • Incorporate onboarding programs that will help employees build initial rapport and cultivate healthy working relationships with other team members. It’s vital for new hires to feel included and part of a group.
  • Equip new hires with mentorship and training. New employees become more productive faster when they have the tools to learn and carry out their responsibilities.
  • Provide clarity when it comes to expectations and goals. Employees, especially new hires, become more efficient when they clearly understand their roles, career paths, and how they directly contribute to the organization’s overall success.
  • Use technology to organize onboarding files, keep track of employee details, and streamline new hire paperwork. This frees up time for more critical parts of onboarding. Besides, no new hire would want to deal with a pile of documents to sign and information overload on their first day of work. 

A well-structured onboarding process not only gives new employees a good first impression of the company but also plays a big part in reducing employee turnover. 

Maximize the offboarding process to benchmark market trends

On the other end of the employee life cycle, you must also pay attention to your offboarding process. While it is the stage where an employee transitions out of the company, it can still help with your employee retention strategy. 

You should ensure that any employee leaving the company has a smooth exit. So maximize exit interviews and use them to gather feedback on what you can improve and what departing employees think will make current staff stay. Use this opportunity to understand their motivation for leaving. Is it career advancement, a more competitive salary, or burnout?

You can also use the exit interview to gain insight into their new job and what other companies are doing to attract and retain employees. Inquire about what compelled them to move. Is it a generous sign-on bonus, more comprehensive learning and development, or the promise of a healthy work-life balance? 

“Exit interviews, in particular, are beneficial for benchmarking where people are going and what the wages and working conditions are gonna be like in the firms that they’re moving to,” says Light. 

With this information, you can create benchmarks on how the market is, compare it to where you stand, and strengthen your programs and processes accordingly.

Harness technology to boost employee retention

Data and feedback are crucial in strengthening your programs for retaining your employees.

“Something that’s particularly interesting at the moment is that the data is getting increasingly available in real time” remarks Light.

For instance, when an employee is coming in late more often, the right tool can help you identify this and address it before it becomes a real issue.

“Moving from the sort of survey done at fixed points in time to more proactively identifying when you need to be stepping in and checking in if everything is okay is super exciting,” says Light.

Furthermore, technology significantly contributes to the employee experience. It helps organizations streamline administrative processes so that managers can focus more on being on the ground with their teams and coaching their staff. It also helps employees perform their tasks better and more efficiently, allowing more opportunities for innovation or additional time for training and development.

Streamline workflows and improve the employee experience with Workforce.com

Workforce.com provides efficiencies around demand-based employee scheduling, time and attendance, and labor forecasting. It helps improve the employee experience by providing staff with a straightforward way of clocking in, accessing their schedules, and filing leave requests. It has real-time insights, shift rating and feedback, and an in-depth reporting functionality that can provide managers with actionable insights on key metrics. 

Book a call today if you want to know how Workforce.com can improve your workforce management and employee retention. 

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Restaurant workforce management tips to reduce turnover

Restaurant Workforce Management

The restaurant sector sees one of the highest turnover rates, at  81.9 percent as of 2019. But proper restaurant workforce management practices can help managers move the needle in the right direction and motivate employees to work harder and stay longer. 

Even keeping restaurant employees a little longer can help restaurants out, according to Lil Roberts, CEO and founder of fintech company Xendoo. Lower turnover ensures that managers spend less time training new employees, which also ultimately saves money on training costs. 

Also read: Boost your managers’ effectiveness with an essential mobile clock-in tool

Here are six restaurant workforce management tips to help owners and managers keep good employees longer and keep them engaged with the job.

Find the right team members that will be consistent and dependable 

Most restaurant employees don’t understand that their job can become their career, Roberts said. Moving higher up the ladder at the restaurant or moving to a higher-tiered establishment can be a potential career path for them. 

Managers must more carefully consider how to hire right, Roberts said, suggesting that they create scorecards unique to the establishment that allow them to vet candidates for job duties, culture fit and job expectations. Conversely, when they make a bad hire, they should “find the door they came through and nail it shut,” she said. 

For example, if a restaurant sees many employees who are inconsistent about showing up to work on time, managers can consider how to add behavioral-based questions into the traditional interview process. 

Also read: Knock out the practice of buddy punching for good

These behavioral questions shouldn’t be too direct, which might ultimately give a manager a yes-or-no answer that isn’t helpful. The question “Are you organized?” would give a more generic answer versus something like “If I opened your closet and looked left, what would I see?” Roberts said. A more organized candidate might end up being a phenomenal host or hostess, she added, while someone with different strengths may be a better server. 

Talk to employees about their future and career goals 

People often see restaurants as a workplace with few benefits and low pay, but the reality is that benefits and compensation depend on what level of the restaurant someone works at, Roberts said. It also depends on the dining establishment itself. A waiter at a casual sit-down restaurant may value flexibility and making enough money to get by until they move on, but at a more family-oriented restaurant managers have the opportunity to have meaningful conversations with wait staff, Roberts said. 

Questions include: What are your life goals? Are you going to school? Would you like to use this job as a stepping stone to a career in the restaurant industry? 

High-end restaurants like Morton’s Steakhouse with good wait staff jobs will hire based off skills and years of experience, Roberts said, and managers at more casual eateries can use the appeal of these higher tiered restaurants to retain employees longer. They can teach these workers skills needed to work at a high-end restaurant and give them the experience years needed to be eligible for those jobs.

Also read: Employee performance shines bright with valuable, continuous shift feedback

Not only do employees benefit in this situation, but employers in the restaurant industry can save money by reducing turnover.

Keep temporary employees just a little longer 

Not every wait staff member wants a career in the industry, and that’s OK. Restaurants can still benefit from enticing them to stay a few months longer than they originally planned. Managers can do this by learning what drives workers, Roberts said. 

If someone wants a fun workplace, one way to keep them engaged is creating contests that keep them entertained and happy, she said. If someone wants stability in their schedules because of other responsibilities that limit when they can work at the restaurant, managers can honor that and give them the same days and times each week. 

“Then your life is easy, and theirs is easy,” Roberts said. “And it all stems from behavioral hiring and hiring the right people. If you’re a business owner and you’ve got a revolving door, you need to not say ‘Oh, the workforce is bad.’ You need to look internally and say, ‘What process can I change?’”

Restaurant Workforce Management

Invest in the latest technology

Restaurants have been notorious laggards when it comes to adopting new technology, according to Sam Zietz, CEO of payment technology company GRUBBRR, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic has in part exposed what companies have embraced technology versus those that have been stuck in the past. Fast-food establishments like Chipotle, Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s had invested in technology before the pandemic, and they’re leading the pack, he added. 

Technology that makes restaurant workforce management simpler falls in a broad range, from self-ordering kiosks that allow former cashiers to find more satisfying jobs at the restaurant to shift-swapping software that gives employees a simpler way to trade shifts. 

Meet employees where they are

Regarding communication, managers should consider employee preferences, whether that’s texting, calling, emailing or something else. It’s simple, and respecting employee preference goes a long way, Roberts said. 

“As long as the employee is doing their job and fitting the culture of the company and the responsibilities of the job, pick what matters most,” she said. “Don’t try to have your whole team that just represents you and the way you move through the world.”

Promote a culture where team members feel comfortable approaching management

It’s very important to make sure managers create a safe workplace, Roberts said. According to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission data, hourly employees in the restaurant and retail industries are some of the most susceptible to harassment. Managers need to know how to deal with this.

“As owners, you have to train your manager team how to deal with these kinds of situations. The manager can’t just fly off the handle and yell at the employee who called an employee a name. That’s not going to solve anything,” Roberts said. “ You have to be very careful. One thing I will say is if a restaurant doesn’t have an HR person, find a fractional HR person that is HR certified who can help you handle that.”

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Effective onboarding can be done on a budget

Onboarding Blue Marker
Cheryl Strizelka
Design Interactive, Inc.’s Cheryl Strizelka.

Creating an effective onboarding process is vital when it comes to employee engagement and retention. While it may seem tedious and time consuming, there are many ways to implement a successful onboarding program without breaking the bank.

The onboarding process should be well-thought-out and not done on a whim. Keeping in mind the new employee and the nerves that come with starting a new job goes a long way. 

Cheryl Strizelka, director of human resources at technology company Design Interactive, Inc., said that it is essential to consider the little things. New hires should be equipped with all the tools and information they need to easily transition into their new position. This includes everything from the smallest details like providing pens and notepads to the bigger priorities like making sure they have a dedicated person to guide them through their transition. 

Giving a facility tour early on in the process and providing the new hire with several points of contact in case they have questions also helps make them feel more at home as quickly as possible. “These intangible considerations don’t cost a penny, yet make a huge difference,” Strizelka said.

Also read: How to create a formal onboarding program

One of the most vital parts of onboarding is introducing the new employee to their team. It’s also common for managers to take their new employees to lunch or for the company to host a breakfast on their first day to get to know the new hire better. “Those things cost money, but you wouldn’t believe how much it changes somebody’s first day and their first week because they’ve met everybody,” Strizelka said. “You want to get them integrated as quickly as possible, creating some familiarity so they feel like they’re a part of the company, even if it’s early.”

There are also crucial conversations to have with new employees that give them a sense of what their role’s purpose is in the company, as well as what workplace culture is like. 

“New employees should know almost immediately how their role directly impacts the company’s vision and mission,” Strizelka said. “It’s also important that they understand how they will interface with colleagues that aren’t in their immediate circle.”

One invaluable gift that Strizelka advises all organizations to take advantage of is employee feedback. Asking employees who have recently started their positions to look back at their onboarding experience and give input on what was good and what needed improvement can be helpful. “I see a lot of HR professionals who get offended by that. They take it personally,” Strizelka said. “But when it comes down to it, that’s a gift they’re giving you. They’re giving you your next hack for your next onboarding.”

Also read: Constant connection is key to engagement of a global workforce

An onboarding program is usually owned by both the operations and HR teams within an organization. Strizelka said. While it’s common for these teams to feel like they’re going head-to-head, it is important for both to continuously work hand-in-hand, since this process exceeds much longer than just an employee’s first day or week. 

“Sometimes we find ourselves performing onboarding activities well into the first year of employment, and the [operations] team plays a huge role in this if executed successfully,” Strizelka said.

Churning people through the onboarding process just to check off all the boxes and get it over with quickly will only hurt the organization in the long run as high turnover rates are extremely costly, Strizelka said. It is essential to think about each person as an individual when going through this process and not just something to check off of a list.“The most expensive part of onboarding is doing it wrong,” she said. 

An effective onboarding program will protect the company’s investment in new employees and help create engaged and motivated team members, ultimately boosting employee retention, she said. 

“The onboarding experience for an employee sets the tone for an entire employment experience,” she said. “It may be cliche, but it’s true — you never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

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A Fun Culture Isn’t Enough to Retain and Engage Top Talent

In today’s job market, companies are under pressure to not only attract top talent but retain it as well. The allure of flexible hours, unlimited time off and craft beer on tap may speak to the promise of a fun culture, but don’t hold much weight when an employee considers greener pastures.

Employee benefits programs  are a strong deciding factor when people consider staying with or leaving their company.  A recent study found that 78 percent of employees would be more likely to stay at their current job because of the benefits they receive. With benefits holding a priority position on employees’ pro and con checklists, it’s imperative for employers to offer coverage that is not only valuable but competitive in the marketplace.

Absence and disability programs are two primary areas of employee benefits that are undervalued in the U.S. workforce. Based on a survey of HR decision makers by The Standard, 23 percent of companies embrace a holistic approach to accommodating disabilities. Further, less than 33 percent of companies have embraced the need for family and medical leave that is more comprehensive than current laws permit. Based on these findings, it’s no surprise that only 1 in 4 employees see their employer as a leader in managing absence and disability. This poses an opportunity for companies to prove they are in touch with employee needs and offer benefits that are both valuable and competitive.

In particular, companies should consider accommodations for employee mental health conditions if they want to retain talent and increase job satisfaction. The rate of millennials experiencing a mental health condition continues to rise and conversations about employee burnout, anxiety and depression are becoming more prevalent. According to Pew Research Center, millennials make up the largest sector of the U.S. workforce with Gen Z following close behind. The impact of mental health in the workplace will only continue to grow as baby boomers and Gen X retire and exit the workforce. Millennials are more open about mental health conditions than any previous generation and expect their employers to both support them and provide realistic accommodations.

Companies are struggling with this shift. The Standard’s research found that 71 percent are not confident in managing employee mental health conditions. Moreover, 63 percent of organizations do not feel prepared to accommodate absence or disability related to behavioral health conditions. It’s time for companies to rethink their approach to employee mental health if they want to be viewed as positive places to work.

Organizations that are committed to improving their approach to behavioral health can incorporate a variety of tactics. First, company leaders can offer explicit support to employees experiencing mental health or substance abuse issues. Public communications, such as email campaigns and company-wide meetings, should aim to address and reduce the stigma around behavioral health conditions in the workplace. A strong wellness campaign backed by manager training on issues such as depression, anxiety and addiction can further bolster a strong behavioral health strategy.

In addition to a company culture that supports and responds to mental health and substance abuse needs, employers can search for a behavioral health benefits program that attracts and retains valuable talent. Organizations should consider implementing a formal wellness program that factors in “mental health days,” flexible work schedules, subsidized employee subscriptions for mental health, parental leave and other key benefits. While accommodating these needs is not always easy territory to navigate, employers who provide workers with the tools they need to address mental health and substance abuse will enjoy the benefits of employees who are far better equipped to meaningfully contribute to the company mission.

Offering absence and disability programs that accommodate behavioral health conditions while destigmatizing workplace discussions around mental health are key to the development and execution of a successful program. Behavioral health assessments can create open discussions about mental health in the workplace, but findings show that only 10 percent of companies are offering them. These assessments can help employees understand if they are likely to suffer from a mental health condition.

The U.S. workforce is undergoing a generational shift, and employers are trying to retain employees in a job market where many new opportunities abound. Companies that come out on top will do so by expanding and improving their employee benefits programs. At the end of the day, people stick with companies that value and support them through life’s ups and downs.

 

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How Companies Can Embed Purpose in Their Employees for Higher Engagement and Retention

Millennials are now the largest generation in the U.S. workforce, but they’re increasingly unhappy at their jobs. According to the 2019 Deloitte Global Millennial Survey, 49 percent of millennials would quit their current jobs in the next two years if they could.

One likely reason for this is a lack of purpose at work. In fact, the Deloitte study found that only 37 percent of millennials think business leaders “make a positive impact on the world.”

A company with strong core values and a clear mission aligns people of every generation and role to perform their best, feel like they’re making a difference and stick around for a longer tenure.

To champion happy, engaged employees and send retention rates soaring, HR leaders need to cultivate a sense of purpose among their employees. Here’s how they can do that.

Hire for Purpose

You can’t create a culture of purpose without purpose-driven individuals, and it’s difficult to instill a sense of purpose in those who don’t have one. Your best bet is to screen for purpose during the hiring process.

Enthusiastic, mission-driven candidates will help uphold a larger sense of purpose in your organization. They’ll also likely lead by example. A Harvard Business Review study found that positive behaviors and attitudes are contagious and are often passed from manager to employee. Finding mission-driven workers at every level can help you weave purpose into your organization.

To find purpose-driven employees, ask candidates about their values during an interview, add an application question about defining purpose and outline your company’s mission in job postings.

Incorporate Core Values into the Onboarding Process

A longer and more meaningful onboarding process is tied to higher rates of retention, according to Harvard Business Review. Be sure to introduce new hires to your organization’s core values and mission from day one.

Then show them these values in action with stories about current colleagues living the purpose. New hires will feel more connected to your company and more inclined to forge meaningful relationships with their co-workers. That way, they’ll feel compelled to embody these values — with like-minded colleagues — as part of their job.

Give Your Employees Purposeful Gifts

More companies are using gifts to show employee appreciation. But most corporate gifts are generic and forgettable. Branded mugs and t-shirts can’t capture a company’s values in a meaningful way.

Purposeful gifting is an excellent way to demonstrate your company’s commitment to social impact and community engagement. Mission-driven employees, especially millennials, care deeply about environmental and social causes.

A 2019 Gallup poll revealed that millennials’ concern about global warming is at a high point, and the Case Foundation’s “Millennial Impact Report” shows that millennials care about social issues rather than institutions and believe in the power of activism.

Gifts can simultaneously support those causes and show gratitude to your employees. These gifts could include a food basket filled with snacks from a company that employs survivors of abuse, a backpack created from recycled materials, or a tumbler and coffee set whose manufacturer offers jobs to individuals with disabilities.

Send these gifts during important milestones in your employees’ tenures. For instance, consider sending a food basket during onboarding or a backpack to accompany a prospective employee’s offer letter. Gifts can show gratitude in a concrete way that emails, letters and words may not be able to.

Leadership Should Embody Your Organization’s Core Values

Your organization’s leadership should be constantly reinforcing your core values, purpose and mission. As an HR leader, you can broadcast that vision to every employee at your company.

Identify company thought leaders — inside or outside of the C-suite — and highlight their perspectives on company value-driven goals and initiatives through internal newsletters and media. Purpose feels more genuine when it’s voiced by a real person at your company.

Offer Opportunities for Employee Development

Organizational purpose should nurture an individual sense of purpose. According to a 2016 Gallup poll, 87 percent of millennials consider training and development opportunities important when considering new jobs. When employees feel supported to pursue their own career and self-fulfillment goals, they’ll feel better aligned with their company.

Create room for employees to have purpose-based goals in addition to performance-only evaluations. Then, give them the resources they need to achieve those goals: one-on-one mentorship, leadership development programs, retreats, volunteering and enrichment activities such as cultural competency training. When their employer encourages and invests in them, employees want to stay and keep growing.

Purpose Drives Satisfaction and Retention

Today’s workers are increasingly looking beyond the old indicators of job satisfaction, such as job security and fixed salary.

Through hiring strategies, onboarding, gifting, leadership and employee development, HR leaders have a chance at every step of the employee timeline to show each employee how they can enact their personal and company values.

Purpose is a two-way street: you can demonstrate your company’s values in the same breath that you demonstrate how you value your employees. Values, after all, mean nothing if they’re not put into action.

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6 Ways to Retain Your Tech Talent

31 core competencies
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Attract the class of engineers who are sold on your mission, not just the number of digits on their paychecks.

When it comes to recruiting and managing talent, there’s a pretty basic concept that everybody seems to agree with: You want to keep awesome people around. After all, the better your employees, the better your company, right?

Retaining your top performers isn’t quite so cut and dried, particularly when it comes to keeping technical talent on your team. When you’re up against everything from small, trendy startups to well-paying tech giants like Google and Apple, inspiring your engineers and developers to stick with you can seem like a constant uphill battle.

But, it doesn’t need to be that complicated. In fact, there are a few key things you can do to not only retain that much-needed technical talent, but also foster an amazing work environment while doing so. These tips will help you ensure that your very best people always want to stick around.

Focus on What’s Important

Money talks. However, in regards to retaining the technical talent you really want, it’s important to note that salary isn’t everything.

Staying competitive with compensation is likely the first thing most people think of when trying to keep people on their roster. And yes, salary and monetary incentives are an important consideration, but they won’t be the deciding factor for the kinds of people you actually want to hire and keep around. Need further proof? 52% of engineers would actually take less money to work in a great culture or for an awesome brand.

Remember, you want to attract the class of engineers who are sold on your mission and excited about what you’re doing — and not just the number of digits on their paychecks. Those are the people who will be more inclined to stick with you for the long haul, which means you’re setting yourself up for success right from the get-go.

Find What Makes You Different

Zoning in on those key cultural elements that set you apart from the crowd (and, no, your free snacks alone don’t count) is key for recruiting and retaining talent — including those technical roles you’re eager to keep filled. And, while those points of differentiation won’t help you attract all talent, they will help you attract and retain the right talent.

The critical part here is to identify all of those different nuggets that make you a stellar place to work, and then actively promote those to both existing and prospective employees.

Be Selective

There are a few main points that come into play during the actual hiring process that will help to ensure you’re truly bringing on the people who are the best fit for your company — meaning they’re that much more likely to stay on board.

For starters, be selective. Remember, you’re aiming to find a really solid fit between who you hire and your organization.

Diversity in backgrounds and experiences is another key to look at when hiring. Don’t just search for engineers who happen to know the same technologies you’ve already settled upon, but rather those who show clear curiosity and self-determination to pick up new technologies.

Engineers are curious by nature, and an organization that is willing to hire outside of the company’s immediate competencies tends to create a more stimulating environment — an environment that people truly want to be a part of.

Provide a Sense of Agency

Provide a great sense of agency and independence to engineers. Ensure that technical team members are able to have a seat at the table for major decisions — be they architectural or product related.

Fostering a blameless culture is also key to ensuring all of your employees — but particularly those in technical roles — feel supported and encouraged at work. A culture that won’t turn around and place blame or point fingers ensures that engineers aren’t afraid to take risks without deferring, further preserving their agency.

Bugs and issues are bound to crop up. And, when they do, don’t beat someone over the head with them. Learn from the experience and prevent those mistakes in the future, but never use them as punishment — that only incentivizes a slow pace.

Detail Clear Paths for Advancement

We’ve all heard that famous sentiment, “The only way up is out”. Of course, you don’t want to fall into this trap. Nobody wants to feel limited in their careers — a cap or expiration date is never appealing. In fact, a reported 76% of engineers would leave their job for career growth opportunities.

Detail explicit paths for advancement to avoid technical talent from heading out the door for greener pastures. Create a career ladders document, which transparently shares minimum requirements for every level of engineering, as well as management roles. Salaries are made more objective by tying ranges to the various levels outlined in that document.

Additionally, make clear paths of advancement for both people interested in management and people who are interested in individual contributor roles. Not all stellar developers make stellar managers, but both types of roles are important.

The main point is to make it clear what employees can expect moving forward. It’s human nature: People are much more likely to stay the path if they know where it’s actually heading.

Offer Continuous Educational Opportunities

Finally, make an effort to incorporate as many learning opportunities into your work environment as possible. Send people to conferences and meetups, encourage them to write and speak, organize internal lectures, and give them chances to explore other projects.

Dedicating time and resources to continued education might seem like a waste. But, always remember this old adage: The poor manager asks, “What if I invest in my engineers’ education and they leave?” while the smart manager asks, “What if I don’t and they stay?”

When it comes to your technical roles, you want to keep the very best people on your team. Nobody can blame you for that. But, as you already know, retaining employees involves a little thought, consideration, and strategy.

Yusuf Simonson is chief technology officer for New York-based The Muse and Marco Tabini is the vice president of engineering at The Muse.