8 ways to keep your staff amid the great resignation

Hamilton Recruitment

Corporate hiring was in dire need of an overhaul even before the pandemic and the so-called “great resignation”.

The majority of employees have come to favour job-hopping in recent decades, a trend that does not serve the best interest of employers. 

Talent sourcing and recruitment is an expensive business. A large company hiring 200 employees annually with an average spend of $4,500 per hire will incur a total cost of $900,000 each year.

Add in the cost of training and development as well as the “lost experience”, this perpetual churn not only affects customer service, but it also reflects negatively on the bottom line. 

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Post-pandemic, we see people reassessing their careers, working conditions and long-term goals. Now more than ever organisations need to pursue the right path for talent retention.

So what measures can employers take to improve staff retention and boost productivity levels?

1 Give employees a reason to genuinely care

Providing employees with the option to own a nominal stake in the company may prove most effective in retaining talent and enhancing productivity.

Knowing that business growth will truly result in personal growth and revenue generation, employees will be more likely to genuinely care and deliver. 

2 Give employees a reason to be loyal

Many companies talk to their staff about career paths but then provide vague career plans or unrealistic objectives, with only a few following through on implementation.

A clear career path is one agreed to by employees at the point of hiring, with a detailed timeline tied to specific performance metrics.

3 Treat employees as finite resources

In an attempt to maximise productivity, some employers border on the enslavement of their talent pool, leading to burnout among staff, especially among full-time employees.

The new work from home culture and the gig economy are now enabling professionals to set their own boundaries. We are seeing fewer and fewer employees willing to stretch themselves thin, going beyond their scope of work just to please their employers.

4 Assess the market worth of human capital

Many people will leave their current employers at the first chance of better pay. Therefore, companies should engage in an ongoing assessment of their talent pool against market trends, inflation rates, offers from the competition, cost of living and other personal and economic factors.

This will ensure their human resources are well compensated based on their current market worth.

5 Cultivate trust and enhance corporate culture

Honest employer-employee relationships and a sense of belonging are key at all levels of an organisation. Openness between leadership and employees to discuss structural, hierarchical and other company policies and issues can help businesses thrive.

Employees tend to be more satisfied and deliver better results when they trust their leaders. Corporate trust has a lot to do with employee treatment – poor trust levels have been known to contribute to diminishing levels of dedication and productivity.

6 Align corporate strategy with sustainability 

Placing sustainability at the core of a business gives employees a sense of purpose.

Companies whose operations or brands contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals have an opportunity to leverage their environmental, social, and governance policies in staff retention. 

7 Cater to employee mental wellbeing

According to the World Health Organization, some of the world’s largest economies, such as India, may lose over $1 trillion in value due to mental health issues by 2030. 

Responsible employers should remove any stigma attached to mental health and take pre-emptive measures to ensure mental wellbeing in the workplace. This will help employees to openly discuss and resolve their mental health challenges.

8 Support employees and their communities

Employers ought to support their employees, their families and communities in difficult times. Community involvement can boost employee engagement and lead to higher staff retention rates.  

Baha Hamadi, board member of the Public Relations & Communications Association (PRCA) MENA