Employee retention has a direct impact on your enterprise’s business performance and success in both the short and long term. That’s why leaders across your organization — not just your CEO and CEO, but also your CHRO, talent acquisition director, and departmental leaders — need to work closely with one another to keep your high-performing team members.

All you have to do is regularly evaluate of your work environment (e.g., workers’ career growth aspirations and job satisfaction, general employee morale, etc.), and you’ll put your business in the best possible position to retain employees for the long haul.

5 ways to improve employee retention (and prevent top talent from leaving your org)

There isn’t just one area you and your C-suite should hone in one to build highly effective employee retention strategies. Rather, to develop a strong employee retention program, your company must account for workforce sentiment, wants/needs, and career development goals.

Consider recent research from laptop and accessories brand Targus.

That represents an 11-point rise from the year before.

Beyond prioritizing flexible/work-from-home policies, there are facets of your business like employee engagement levels and whether your staff members have a healthy work-life balance that ultimately impact your retention (and, thereby, your employee turnover) efforts.

So, that begs the question: Where can you and your executive team get started? Here’s some expert advice and insights that can help your enterprise optimize your employee retention strategy today.

1) Define what exactly employee retention means

This may sound odd. Everyone at your org understands why employee retention matters.

That being said, not all members of your workforce (or even your leadership team) may know how retention is defined at your business, as there are nuanced versions of it from one org to the next.

• Does employee retention mean keeping everyone who works at the business for at least one year, or is the ideal target retention date much longer?
• Are only certain types of employees (e.g., full-time/permanent workers vs. entry-level/temporary staff members) accounted for in your retention rate?
• Is there “segmentation” with your particular employee retention rate (e.g., executive-level vs. mid-level vs. entry-level and/or by business unit)?

Before you can start to create an action plan to rectify your retention issues and encourage your employees to stick around for the foreseeable future, discuss these (and any other relevant) questions to ensure all business stakeholders involved in improving retention are on the same page.

2) Make sure your recruitment process is solid

Your recruitment process is the first opportunity you have to engage potential new employees and express what it’s like to work for your company. Thus, it needs to be a well-oiled machine.

If your recruitment process is disorganized, dysfunctional, inefficient, or otherwise off-putting to prospective hires, it will be difficult to convince candidates that your company is any different.

Of course, it’s not just on talent acquisition to impart how great it is to work at your business and answer all questions posed by candidates so they feel comfortable accepting an offer.

Hiring managers play a pivotal role in setting the table, so to speak, to define what they’re looking for in new hires, how their team typically operates, and what they do to empower their direct reports to thrive in the near and long term (e.g., regular 1:1 checkins, career-pathing discussions).

3) Onboard new employees efficiently and effectively

The onboarding process is crucial for employee retention. This is the time when new employees are learning how to operate in your organization, being trained and finding footing in their roles, taking on new responsibilities, and getting their first experiences as an employee with your company culture.

If they have a positive onboarding experience, they’re more likely to stay with the company long-term.

The most successful HR teams have clear and comprehensive onboarding objectives. They include:

• Easy access to new hire paperwork (eSignature capabilities are table stakes for orgs today)
• Onboarding checklists for new hires to refer to as they move through the onboarding process
• An intro to the company’s mission, vision, and values as an extension of employer branding
• Facilitating intros to departmental colleagues to begin team-building and spur collaboration
• Offering resource centers for “everything you need to know” starting on Day 1 and beyond
• Beginning the learning development process and making training available to interested workers
• Providing a resource center for all questions a new hire may have (co-owned by HR and managers)
• A clear roadmap of a 30-60-90 day plan for all new employees so they can hit the ground running

Ensuring that new workers who join your business catch on to how things are done and assimilate with your company culture is paramount to their success in your org.

4) Communicate with your workforce regularly

Open communication with your internal team, as well as the candidate, is essential for employee retention. Employees who feel unsure of what they’ll be walking into within their new company or have uncertainties about what’s expected of them are more likely to look for opportunities elsewhere.

When seeking to create both positive candidate and new-employee experiences, communication is key. No prospective or recent hire likes to be kept in the dark.

Unfortunately, many recruiters and employers treat hiring and onboarding as a one-way street, requiring prompt answers and updates from candidates without offering the same thing in return.

Make sure you communicate early and often with late-stage job candidates, those you extend offers to, and those you ultimately hire to keep them in the loop on company news, changes, and developments and ensure they understand what their people manager and your C-suite expect from them.

Writing for Fast Company, Ragan Communications CEO Diane Schwartz said many leading enterprises are hiring for the role of “communicator” to listen to the wants, needs, complaints, and questions of their workforce and be proactive in sharing organizational info to these employees.

A communicator is the “heart and soul of the workplace” and “secret ingredient to employee retention.”

“There has never been a time quite like this for communicators to leverage their unique position as chief storyteller and brand protector to co-create a better workplace experience that makes quiet quitting and the great resignation lowercase words with lower impact,” said Diane.

5) Offer competitive pay and perks to employees

Employees who feel they’re being paid fairly, have good benefits, and can easily access career development options (e.g., your L&D programs, internal mobility paths) are likely to stick around.

Simply put, many employees today are no longer accepting lagging wages and weak benefits packages from companies — and they’re still in a strong position to get what they want.

To ensure the salary, bonuses, benefits, and perks you offer to employees are seen as strong and, thus, will help keep them around — have your HR team conduct regular “retention interviews.”

Let’s say your retention interviews reveal a strong desire to upskill and reskill. The BCG quartet noted that, if you “show current employees that you value them even more than potential new hires by providing them with new opportunities to grow and advance,” they’re much more likely to stay.

Senior-level changes like these to your business have a trickle-down effect. For instance, the introduction of new L&D programs gives your talent acquisition team the ability to relay said programs in job postings on your career site and published to job boards like LinkedIn and Indeed.

At the end of the day, if you want to retain the top talent at your org, make sure you’re offering competitive salaries and benefits — something you can ensure you do by comparing your pay and perks offerings to other companies looking to hire high-performing talent.

Enhance your talent attraction and retention efforts with Jobvite. Schedule a demo today to learn all about Evolve, our unified Talent Acquisition Suite for enterprises like yours.

The post Employee Retention: How to Better Retain Your Workforce first appeared on Jobvite.

When an employee walks out the door, it can cost your company more than you might expect. Replacing a single team member can run anywhere from 50% to 200% of their annual salary, depending on the role. And we’re not just talking about hiring expenses—the ripple effect touches productivity, morale, and your bottom line. 

Factor in industry turnover rates that can climb as high as 60%, and it’s easy to see how these costs add up quickly. But here’s the good news: with a few proactive strategies, you can reduce turnover, retain top talent, and build a more resilient workforce. 

Let’s break down the true cost of employee turnover—and how to get ahead of it. 

Calculating the Cost of Employee Turnover 

Before you can fix the problem, it helps to understand where your money is going. Turnover costs vary, but here are the major areas where your budget can take a hit: 

Hiring Expenses 

According to SHRM, the average cost of hiring a new full-time employee is around $4,700. That includes job postings, interviews, background checks, and time spent by your recruiting team. For senior or hard-to-fill roles, those costs can climb even higher. 

Lost Time & Productivity 

Every day a role goes unfilled is a day of lost output. Plus, most new hires need 3–6 months to ramp up to full productivity. If it takes six months, you’re effectively losing half of that salary in value. 

Training Costs 

Getting new hires up to speed takes time, tools, and resources. Companies spend an average of $954 per learner each year on training, not including manager time or materials. 

Temporary Staffing & Overtime 

While you’re backfilling a role, someone still needs to get the work done. That often means paying overtime or bringing in temporary support—both of which can strain budgets and teams. 

Want a quick reality check? Add up these numbers across just a few roles and it’s easy to see how employee turnover costs can quickly spiral. But here’s the good news: it’s also largely preventable. 

Why Employees Leave—And What to Do About It

Conventional wisdom says that employees change jobs to increase their pay. That’s not always the case.

While compensation (e.g., low salary, few employee benefits and perks, no stock options or 401(k) match) does often play a part in the decision to leave a job, research continues to show that pay is not the most important driver. Other factors — including communication, leadership, workplace environment, and a lack of appreciation for their work — are cited far more often.

While salary matters, it’s not the only reason employees leave. These common drivers could be pushing your team toward the door:  

• Lack of growth opportunities 

• Poor management or leadership 

• Unclear expectations or feedback 

• Burnout and work-life imbalance 

• A disconnect between company values and culture 

The good news? Many of these factors are within your control. When employees feel supported, challenged, and aligned with your mission, they’re more likely to stick around. 

5 Proven Ways to Reduce Employee Turnover 

Now that you know what’s driving turnover (and how much it’s costing you) here are five employee retention strategies to keep your team happy, engaged, and sticking around: 

1. Build a Strong Employer Brand 

Your employer brand is how both job seekers and current employees perceive your company. A clear, authentic brand builds trust and helps attract people who are a good fit—which leads to better retention down the line. 

2. Nail the Onboarding Experience 

The first few weeks set the tone for the entire employee experience. A thoughtful onboarding program helps new hires feel welcomed, supported, and confident in their roles—boosting engagement from day one. 

3. Invest in Internal Mobility 

When people can grow within your organization, they’re far more likely to stick around. A solid internal mobility program turns your team into a built-in talent pipeline and boosts morale across the board. 

4. Create a Brag-Worthy Culture 

Company culture isn’t just about perks. It’s about feeling connected to the work, the mission, and the people. Encourage feedback, celebrate wins, and make sure your values are more than just words on a wall. Remember: 54% of employees would take a pay cut to work at a company that shares their values. That’s culture in action. 

5. Empower Your Team with the Right Tech 

Outdated tech and clunky processes can lead to frustration and burnout. Make sure your people have the tools they need to do their best work — whether that’s collaborative platforms, automation tools, or flexible scheduling software. 

The Bottom Line 

The cost of employee turnover is steep—but it doesn’t have to be inevitable. When you understand the full picture and invest in the right retention strategies, you’ll see stronger performance, better morale, and a healthier bottom line. 

That’s where Jobvite can help. From attracting the right talent to building a better candidate experience, our platform is built to tackle the cost of employee turnover head-on.  

Ready to build a stronger, more resilient talent strategy? Book a demo to see how Jobvite helps you hire and retain with confidence.  

The post The Real Cost of Employee Turnover (And How to Cut It) first appeared on Jobvite.