Successful Employee Retention Strategies

The economy is good and employees feel less worried about leaving their jobs to find greener pastures. While turnover will occur during a down economy, it tends to be higher when the economy is strong. So, what can be done to ensure you keep good employees from leaving? Luckily there are many employee retention strategies you can use. As you will see, most of them don’t cost anything except your time and energy.

Factors Associated with Retention

Employees are people. They have basic needs, wants and desires that require attention and fulfillment. If their most basic needs aren’t met, they may feel unwanted, unimportant and unfulfilled. Feelings like these can lead to turnover. What are some of these needs? Many employees like to feel that they matter and their ideas are worth something. They like to be involved with decisions, changes, and creating something new. They also hope that if they are talented and committed, there will be room for growth and better opportunities down the road.

Employees like to feel prepared and well-trained, so they can deliver excellent care every day. They like to be motivated by others every now and then. This is where good leadership is important. Good leaders should not only know their employees, but they should know what makes them tick. What will make your team more effective and efficient? More caring? What can you do to get them fired up to be better?

Most employees like routine and want consistent assignments. They may not like to “float” unless it is absolutely necessary. They like predictability and not too many surprises at work. Employees also like to feel valued. Does their position carry meaning and purpose? Of course it does, but does someone remind them how important they are? They also want to feel that they make a difference, so remind them that they in fact do. Most employees want to feel like they’re part of the team and have good relationships with their co-workers and administration.

Practical Strategies

The day-to-day interaction between employees and administration is important, and can make a big difference in retaining or running out employees. One good practice is to know your employees by name and say hello to them when you see them. It is good to be highly visible to your staff. I once walked into a nursing home and asked for the DON. The employee looked at me like I was speaking another language. She had no idea who her Director of Nursing was or where I could find her. How comforting.

Help your staff cope with stress and the daily grind. Address underperformance before it is too late. No one wants to hear that they are not living up to expectations and no one addressed it until it became a big problem. So, always be clear about work-related expectations.

Administration can train supervisors and managers to act and behave like leaders. As a matter of fact, make training, education and orientation priorities that need to be heavily frontloaded. If you place a high priority on this, they will, too. And, if you give managers and supervisors authority, let them exercise real authority.

They can also get input from employees, make them a real part of the team, and involve them in daily decision-making. A practical thing to do on a daily basis is to say “Thank you”, “I appreciate you”, and ask “Is there anything you need from me?” These can all be signals that your employees are appreciated and embraced.

Recognizing employees when they do good things is another practical way to keep them around. People like a pat on the back every now and then, so give them one. Let them know they are doing a good job and are an important part of the team. Let them know you have their back. Some employees leave because they feel alone and that no one will support them.

Lead by example. Embrace a culture of high quality, professionalism, and compassion and it will spread to your employees. They will want to stay in a culture like this.

Final Thoughts on Employee Retention Strategies

I could go on and on about the many ways of retaining good employees, but all good things must come to an end. As you can see, there are many practical ways to decrease turnover which don’t cost anything but common sense, time and a willingness to treat your employees like the valuable assets they are. So, if it is this easy, why don’t we have higher retention rates in senior care? Because, I’m afraid, we are distracted by everything else on a daily basis and retention isn’t on our radar until we have significant employee shortages. The takeaway from this, you may ask – love your employees or lose them. The choice is yours.

More About Recruiting and Retention

• How to Retain Good Employees
• Recruiting the Best Employees
• Employee Turnover in Senior Care

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