Retention strategy ideas

Posted by Emily Hatton on March 15, 2014 at 10:47am in Talent & Resourcing

Hi All,

I am currently working on a project to attract more staff into our organisation (we have an issue with high turnover). The project will involve a more intense training programme than our current staff go through, and involve rotation around the business. I am struggling with ways of then retaining those staff. The options that I have come up with are:

Pay back for the training if they leave
Keep back some of the salary then give it to them at a later date if they stay
Promotion pool at the end of the programme

Has anyway implemented a successful idea which overcomes this? We are worried people will get a couple of years into the rotation then leave, but also we need to make it attractive enough for them to join us, so I am conscious of running a scheme like salary sacrifice that we may not attract candidates in the first place. If anyone has any ideas they would be gratefully received!

Thanks

Emily

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attrition, exit questionaires, retaining employees, retention strategy, staff turnover

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Replies

Blake Henegan March 24, 2014 at 11:22am
Hi Emily

Just some quick devil's advocate questions which I'm sure you've already asked however thought you might want to consider them:
- why do people leave?
- where do they go when they leave?
- how soon do they leave after they start?
- how are new starters supported?
- why should people remain loyal to your company?
- what do management do to make people leave?
- what do management do to make people stay?
- how much does it cost to replace and retain each member of staff? (money/time/lost productivity/clients)
- what do your competitors do to retain staff do?
- what do market leaders do to retain staff?
- what do successful companies outside of your industry do well to retain staff? (copy from the best!)
Good luck.

Blake
Matthew Tatenda Muguti March 19, 2014 at 3:23pm

Hie Emily,

i'm quite new to this but will try to answer in the best possible way i can. I would like to know if your staff receive the necessary support after training. Many organisations suffer from high turnover because of improper job placements, thus it would be important to give employees positions that tally with their skills (those which they already possess and those acquired through training).

also, some organisations do not provide employees with the necessary Responsibility to use the skills acquired through training, thus even though they have acquired new skills, they are not given a chance to show their full capabilities. employees then feel that management does not give them the support they need to get the job done, and frustrations exceed the employee's threshold, then they leave.

it is important to create a culture of involvement and engage employees in decision making, and they will feel an integral part of the organisation. chances of them leaving may decrease. hope this helps.
Mike Collins March 17, 2014 at 10:48am
Hi Emily,

I agree with Alison knowing why people are leaving will help in ultimately understanding the route cause. The first two options feel a little preventative and almost like a punishment whereas the last one is a positive thing and would be viewed as such. I really like the idea of job rotation.

If people are really set on leaving then getting them to pay back things might make them think again but I can imagine moral would be effected even more and there is nothing worse than an employee who wants away but feels like they are being stopped. Some things to think about:
- What does your overall employee package look like? Is this attractive and in line with your competitors or industry average? Is it just financial or do you offer other benefits or flexible working.
- Is it the type of work that lends itself to a high attrition rate e.g. contact centres?
- This may also be a recruitment issue, are you recruiting the right people for these roles e.g. if you want someone to pick nuts you don't hire a turkey - ultimately the turkey will think he's rubbish as picking nuts (which he is) and will want to leave.
- What are your people managers like, do they coach and have good relationships with staff - this is also linked to culture - how to employees feel when they work for you - proud or indifferent......
Once you understand the true reasons why people leave and start to look to at some of the above things (which I'm sure you've been doing anyway) it may be that you need to re-think things from recruitment through to performance management & training and succession planning to give people a clearer idea of where they can go.

Here are a few links that might also give you some ideas

Employee retention - How to keep you best

Five Top Employee Retention Strategies

7 Top Tips to retain your employees

Hope this helps - do let us know how you progress

Mike
- Emily Hatton > Mike Collins March 18, 2014 at 12:21pm
  
  Hi Mike,
  
  Thanks for all this. We are having various issues in our org due to the reward package not being attractive, which there is a piece of work being done on. However it will not be in place for the time we launch this scheme, so we need come up with an idea for this, which should show a best practice approach for the rest of the organisation. You are right about not trying to keep people who do not want to be there though, so the solution will need to be rewarding not punitive. I will keep you updated.
  
  Thanks
  
  Emily
Alison Simmons March 15, 2014 at 3:12pm

Hi Emily,

Do you do exit questionnaires when people leave? Do you understand any of the reasons that you have a high turnover?

Is it because there is a high demand for staff with the expertise your organisation needs and other places pay more money?

I presume you are going to offer intense training to add value to someone's employment with you (so they choose you), and that you want rotation to enhance their expertise and thus their flexibility to perform within the business.

Would it be possible to start new employees as "apprentices" on a scheme where their progression is mapped against clear objectives and their development is measured. This way they can feel that their achievements are part of a valued framework, rather than, at best, purely to exploit them to deliver into the business and, at worst, haphazard and not valued.

You could perhaps try to attract younger staff who cost less, and who will learn the ways of your organisation (as they are new into the business and haven't worked elsewhere first). You could try to find out how to best gain their loyalty by surveying them - maybe before they join the organisation, during interview or at recruitment fairs. Do they want you to include externally recognised training (you could add this in after year 2 for example), or would they like the option of more flexible working (long weekends once a month or something)? Would they want the option of purchasing more holidays perhaps or would free gym membership or subsidised canteen meals be of interest (or free parking or whatever.)

If you start them on a "trainee/apprentice grade" salary then you can reasonably increase the salary as they progress, at natural points in the development framework.

eg after initial training (or at the end of the probation period) and then after so many stages in the rotation training piece.

The identified favoured benefits could be dangled as carrots to become available as bonuses after working in the organisation for two or three years say.

Just a thought. :)
- Emily Hatton > Alison Simmons March 18, 2014 at 12:17pm
  
  Hi Alison,
  
  Thanks for this. This is for newly qualified nurses, so we will already but putting them on the lowest salary, and if we go any lower I think it will become unattractive. I like the survey idea though, we have just carried out a staff survey but I think it would be useful to carry out a survey on this specific group, as we need to do some digging as to what appeals to them.
  
  We are doing a lot of work on why people leave, and the reasons are lack of development and progression opportunities for this group, which is why we are emphasising the training aspect.
  
  I am working on this this week so will let you know what other ideas come up, thanks for your suggestion.