All organizations want to build an efficient resource pool and even take apt actions to do so. However, its maintenance and retention can prove to be a challenging task.

There are several reasons behind high employee turnover and attrition rates, such as employee dissatisfaction, lack of developmental opportunities, poor work culture, negative work environment, insufficient perks, etc.

In this article, we will discuss strategies that can help organizations to avoid employee attrition and promote employee retention. By focusing on these strategies, organizations can combat the reasons for employee attrition effectively and increase their employee retention rates.

  1. Right Hiring Procedures

 The quality of an organization’s hiring procedures determines the kind of employees it is going to recruit, which is why these procedures should always be well structured, thorough, and must involve meticulous planning.

The right hiring procedures help organizations to maintain a high-quality resource pool and avoid last-minute hiring costs. It also helps them to avoid any potential project bottlenecks in the future, as they are ensuring that the right talent is being hired.

At the time of hiring, the following steps can be taken:

  • Define the job role as clearly as possible
  • Teach the candidates about company culture and standards
  • Talk to them about how they can contribute to the company culture

These steps will help recruiters understand well if a candidate is fit for the job or not. In return, it can help them to reduce employee turnover by ensuring that they are hiring the right candidate in the first place.

  1. Apt Task Allocations

 Believe it or not, task allocations play an important role in maintaining an employee’s productivity and interest in the job. If managers are constantly allocating tasks to employees that don’t align with their skillsets, they will feel frustrated, burnt out, underqualified, and misused.

It is important for managers to ensure that they are allocating tasks to apt candidates. When employees don’t get to work on projects they’re skilled for, they realize that their competencies are not being deployed to the right places and consider leaving the organization due to a lack of opportunities.

By implementing the right tools for successful resource allocation, such as intuitive resource scheduling tools, managers can ensure that they are booking employees for suitable projects. Managers can receive a unified view of their workforce’s skills and make their employees feel valued.

  1. Optimize workforce utilization

 Both overutilization and underutilization are significant contributing factors to employee attrition. When employees are being overutilized, they get burdened with immense pressure, whereas if they are being underutilized, they experience low morale and disengagement. Hence, organizations must invest in optimizing employee utilization to retain them and help them achieve their maximum potential.

Some practices that can help managers achieve optimum utilization of their workforce are:

  • Offering strategic work
  • Not assigning mundane tasks for long periods of time
  • Allotting work that aligns with their skillset
  • Leveraging appropriate dashboards to get insightful metrics about each employee’s utilization
  • Minimizing bench time
  • Investing in on-job training to help employees increase their productivity

Optimal workforce utilization is a great way to reduce employee attrition and increase employee retention. Hence, companies must invest in such practices effectively.

  1. Plan team-building activities

 Strong interpersonal relationships among employees can play a great role in increasing their retention rates. Hence, companies should emphasize facilitating strong bonds among their workforce via team-building activities and seamless communication channels.

Investing in the development of a workforce with amazing interpersonal relationships creates a positive working environment. Employees feel more welcomed and comfortable, which directly impacts their performance, productivity levels, and stress levels.

Some examples of effective team-building activities that facilitate genuinely affable and warm interpersonal relationships among employees are:

  • The buddy system (i.e. assigning a “buddy” to a new employee to help them to catch up with the existing teams and act as a mentor)
  • Organizing monthly team lunches, brunches, or dinners
  • Holding weekly informal meetings with interesting games

It is the responsibility of leaders of an organization to ensure that their work environment is positive, lively and their employees are getting along. Building a positive work culture by investing in team-building activities can help organizations to avoid employee attrition and reduce their employee turnover rates.

  1. Perks

 Perks play a vital role in increasing employee retention rates. Perks and added benefits make employees happy and keep them satisfied with their jobs. However, more than just any kind of benefits, it is the right kind of benefits that keep employees loyal to organizations and reduce turnover rates.

Companies must offer their employees perks beyond the annual salary hikes and a few paid sick leaves spread throughout the year, such as:

  • Flexible working schedules
  • Opportunities to work from home
  • Work-life balance
  • Financial awards for exceptional performances
  • Generous paid leave policies
  • Paid maternity and paternity leaves
  • Celebratory bonuses
  • On-job training for new skillsets
  • Growth opportunities
  • Stock options for long-term employees, etc.

The above-mentioned perks can give a significant motivational boost to employees to stay with an organization for a long time.

Conclusion

For all organizations, their workforce is their success driver. The quality of the workforce directly impacts the kind of success an organization will achieve. However, being a part of an ever-evolving market with exceptional opportunities, employees tend to jump at options that offer them the most. Hence, it is important for organizations to invest in strategies that reduce their employee turnover rates and increase their retention rates. The strategies mentioned in this article can help organizations to avoid employee attrition effectively.