For those who keep questioning themselves as to why they see their employees walk out the door and never come back, you should consider re-thinking your employee retention program or strategy. It’s pretty clear that if this is the case in your workplace, you’ve got a bad employee turnover rate. In fact, it’s rather the fact that it’s high that make it a bad one.

The point is, developing a compelling employee retention strategy is a must when you want to minimise and keep turnover as low as possible.

You sit there reading this, asking…why?

Well it’s not only that you’re maxing out your time, effort and money to recruit new employees to replace the ones that have left. These new recruits, might not even meet up to scratch as the previous ones. There was a reason why you recruited them to begin with right? Whether it be their incredible skill-set, their personality, or their willingness to learn, it’s what made you want to train them up to become your company’s walking brand ambassadors.

To avoid them thinking “I don’t think it’s worth it here, I’m going to find somewhere else to work,” you’ve got to understand what makes them think that way to begin with. After realising and understanding what it is that drives them away, you need to put in measures that prevent it from happening.

Top 5 Employee Retention Killers

While you might think that employee retention is hard to make happen in practise, you will see that these five most likely culprits can be managed and influenced internally. So let’s look at what it is that makes employees steer away from your company:

1. Terrible Work Culture

If you’ve indirectly instilled an unsupportive, competitive and unfair work culture, it’s pretty likely your employee will feel degraded and seek comfort from somewhere else. What most employees look for in an employer is a culture of fun and support, which is encouraging in nature. Simply think about the kind of workplace you’d want to work in yourself.

Company culture has a greater impact on employee retention than we think. But don’t be misguided in believing that all it takes is a couple of bright walls and a brand new carpet to turn your culture around. In an organisation, anything starts from people. That’s right, you need a strong leadership who communicates a positive message, helping employees embrace your core values with open arms.

2. Vision is Unknown

If your company has no vision and doesn’t provide a direction for your employees, how do you expect them to perform well – if not even beyond your expectations? Your employees’ goals and objectives should be aligned with your company’s vision. Having a common vision helps employees work cohesively toward the same goal.

Thanks to a clear company vision, people can feel a sense of belonging to their team and the organisation at large. They feel responsible for the success of the business and can be more easily retained. In fact, the combination of good leadership and strong values has the power to drive positive employee retention for the long-term.

3. Managers Show No Empathy

A 2015 Gallup’s study revealed that over 50% of employees had left a job to get away from their manager. Hence why manager-to-employee relationships do matter when it comes to improving employee retention.

When you allow your employees to see that they’re working alongside a partner rather than a superior figure, you know you’re letting them become comfortable to perform their best. What really creates this ‘family’ aspect is that you’re showing your employees that their mental state of mind and wellbeing is important to you and the company.

Developing the communication skill-set and emotional intelligence of both managers and employees is important to create free flowing exchanges. That’s why fostering for more empathy in the workplace is a move that will make your employee retention rate improve and help you create a better workplace.

4. Lack of Motivation

It’s one thing to know that an employee needs to be motivated in order to do well. It’s another thing to know that you, as a mentor, is the one who will encourage this motivation. Not everyone feels motivated each day. It’s your responsibility to ensure that you help them pick it back up or else you’ll see them underperform.

Research has shown the link that existed between employee motivation and retention. Motivating employees through improved communication, great work relationships, opportunities for growth through development or upwards career moves, as well as providing an environment of trust, altogether leads to improved retention rates.

5. Work Is Just Not Fun

It’s common for employees to find work boring. If they find work unenjoyable; they’re going to hate their job and eventually seek something elsewhere more meaningful and entertaining. When employees lack fun at work, they’ll also be more easily poached by other companies. Newness in itself can make the prospect of another job more appealing.

When well managed, fun at work can promote employee retention without being a threat to productivity. An entertaining workplace is especially important to the younger generations who are used to the constant solicitation of the digital world we live in. Making work a place that can be enjoyed is a great retention strategy to keep millennials and younger workers between the walls of your organisation.

From these five points, we can see that employee retention can be affected by many factors internal to the organisation. There’s actually no reason to feel hopeless when confronted to the creation of an employee retention program. In fact, here are four ways that can help you take action.

4 Ways to Improve Employee Retention

Let’s take a look at what can be done to mitigate a high turnover, improve retention, and employee motivation:

1. Implement Annual Company Events and Activities

Let’s say you’re going for a company culture of fun and comfort. You should look towards implementing company activities and events every so often. It’ll remind your employees of what your company really stands for. Plus, it’ll show that it’s not always about getting down to business, it’s good to let loose once in a while – an important aspect about life.

2. Be a Life Coach

Being a manager comes with the responsibility of becoming a mentor to your employees. It’s about guiding your employees in the right direction and enriching them with knowledge that’ll build them up to be the company’s best asset. What’s more important is letting them know of what will enrich them in a life perspective. Guide them in the direction where their vision laid out at work is what will lay out their approach in life.

3. Encourage One-on-One Catch-ups

It’s an important thing to let your employees know that their personal life and wellbeing is important to you. Why? It lets them see that they’re important and it’s not just the work they produce that’s valued, but them as a person. Implement one-on-one catch-ups over coffee and ask them how things are going (that’s not work related). You get to know them better as a person, with what makes them do better. It’s encouraging and motivational at the same time.

4. Incorporate Work-Rotations

Sometimes, doing the same type of work will just wear your employee out. They’re too familiar and bored with the processes and the excitement in learning something new fades. Implement work-rotations amongst your divisions to let your employees have a feel for each part of the business. It’ll let them be exposed to new things and they might even find a new passion in another field.

Employee retention is all about keeping your best assets in order to do the best. In order for your company to do its best it starts with the people who really run the place – your employees.