Turnover Reduction: How to Hold onto Good Employees

Dr. Ryan Giffen

Every company wants to have good employee retention.  Reducing turnover makes your business more attractive to others and also helps it run smoother.  Constantly training new workers makes it difficult to move on to bigger and better things.  Here are some tips for turnover reduction.

Hire the right people from the start

One of the best ways to have good employee retention is to hire people that can do the job well.  Retention starts with the hiring team.  Bring people into your company that you would love to stick around for a long time, and then incentivize them to do so.

Provide opportunities to learn and grow

If you want your employees to stay for a while, give them a chance to get better at what they do.  Anyone can start feeling restless after a while at a job, especially if they aren’t advancing in any way.  If you give your employees access to training and other learning opportunities, your retention will get better since they will see the benefits of staying with your company.

Create an inclusive company culture 

You want your business to be a place where an employee feels safe and welcome, no matter their gender or ethnicity.  Make a point to have a diverse, culturally competent staff.  Have a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination and harassment.  Employee retention depends on work being a place your workers want to be, and that won’t happen if they feel excluded.

Advance employees from within

If a position opens up, look within your business first.  This may seem like common sense, but it is a great strategy for employee retention.  If workers see that it’s possible to advance within the company, they will work to get those higher-level positions.  Make sure that it’s feasible for employees to get raises as well. 

Make sure employees can do their jobs well

Part of turnover reduction is setting people up for success.  Make sure your employees have access to the technology and other tools they need to do the best they can.  If employees don’t feel like they have supplies they need, they may feel overlooked, and retention can go down.

Encourage a healthy work-life balance

Employees that go all out for your business may seem like the best at first, but they will eventually burn out.  Instead, encourage workers to use their paid time off.  Respect personal time by not sending emails after hours or requiring extra hours often.  People want to stay at a job where they feel respected and valued as a person, so give that to your employees.

Keep communication open

Another turnover reduction tip is to make sure your employees feel heard.  Make open and honest communication part of your company culture.  If someone has a great idea, tell them that it’s great, no matter what position they are in.  People want to stay with businesses where their voice is heard and ideas are valued.  Schedule one-on-one meetings with employees that directly report to you to discuss goals and any problems that may have arisen.  Employees should feel like they can bring topics of discussion to their managers whenever they need to, even if that is constructive feedback for someone in authority over them.

About Dr. Ryan Giffen

With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Ryan Giffen is an expert in human relations and business culture. His career began in hospitality, leading operations and human resource departments for Fortune 500 companies and the like. Not long after, Ryan found his passion for teaching and consulting. He earned a Ph.D. in Hospitality Management with a Human Resources focus from Iowa State University and now works as an assistant professor at California State University, Long Beach. For over a decade, he continues to research and speak on organizational culture, relationship intelligence, and leadership effectiveness. Ryan is also the founder of Inospire, a company helping bosses and employees build stronger relationships with one another.  Lastly, Dr. Giffen is producer and host of the Corporate Shadow Podcast. a show helping everyday employees overcome workplace nonsense.