Replacing any employee is a long process. One that can cost your company thousands, undermine your teams’ productivity and impact your business’s bottom line in a big way.
However, when you consider that the average worker changes roles 12 times throughout their career, losing good employees seems like an expensive inevitability. But not all companies are built equal.
Organisations that work hard to build a strong employer brand have seen their staff turnover rate drop by as much as 28%, allowing them to hold onto their highest performers for longer and reduce the strain on their hiring process. They achieve greater stability within their workforce, and reap the rewards through more sustainable performance.
But how do you build an employer brand that can support your ambitious talent retention efforts? In this guide, we’ll explore the greatest challenges your company faces in the fight to retain talent, the steps you can take to reduce employee turnover, and the wider benefits of investing in your employer brand.
Why do employees leave their jobs?
No company can realistically achieve a ‘clean sheet’ when it comes to retention. Many employees naturally progress from their roles, even if they’re completely engaged and satisfied at work. People move, life evolves, and preferences change.
However, these external factors aren’t the only reason why employees seek greener pastures. Whether a company cannot provide flexible work arrangements or their budget doesn’t stretch to meet salary expectations, there are many answers to why staff leave that can be addressed.
Poor onboarding experiences
One of the biggest hurdles to long-term retention is bad onboarding experiences. The process of securing talent starts from day one, so without a strong, well-established process for welcoming your newest joiners, as many as 80% of your recruits could be eyeing the exit door before they’ve even gotten settled.
Lack of recognition
If top performers’ efforts are rarely ever recognised, they may start to feel disheartened at work. Even simple initiatives like personalised thank you cards and internal shoutouts can be an excellent way of encouraging your employees to reconsider their next move.
Minimal opportunities for growth and development
Most employees don’t aspire to be in the same role for their entire career, especially the latest generations of candidates. If your staff feel that they aren’t being afforded the opportunity to develop, evolve and unlock their true potential in your company, then this can inspire them to look elsewhere.
Subpar company culture
Whether it’s down to a lack of flexibility or due to a feeling of overwhelming negativity, 73% of professionals say they have quit their jobs due to clashes with company culture. To encourage your top talent to stay with you for longer, it should be one of your top priorities to foster a strong sense of belonging at work.
Opposition to company values
When your teams can’t buy into your company’s overarching missions or values, they’re unlikely to connect with your organisation on a deeper level. If you want to give your staff a strong incentive to remain, you need to build an employer brand that aligns with their expectations and outlook.
High turnover
As well as causing employees to question their own position, high rates of turnover can create a feeling of uncertainty and disposition internally. Retaining employees for prolonged periods relies on the creation of a strong, stable organisational culture that rewards long service.
7 proven strategies to build a retention-focused employer brand
Holding on to your hardest workers takes more than great work and good pay. While these factors certainly matter to many, in a world where the competition for talent is reaching new heights, your employees need genuine reasons to stay.
That’s why employer branding is so important. Acting as a rallying point that your employees can get behind, strong employer branding is all about making your existing workers feel part of a united entity, aligning your people around shared values and goals.
It’s what separates good employers from the great, and how companies like Cisco and Deloitte have retained such a high percentage of their top talent for years.
So, how do you build a winning employer brand strategy to retain your existing employees? Like any brand management exercise, unlocking the true potential of your strategy demands a thoughtful, well-considered approach.
1. Improve internal communications
Arguably, one of the most important aspects of any employee retention effort is internal communication. Put simply, when your employees feel heard, understood and in the loop, they’re more likely to be actively engaged and committed to your company and their responsibilities.
While all companies are unique, initiatives like monthly newsletters, company-wide emails, ‘ask me anything’ sessions and internal surveys are all simple and effective methods you can try to help bridge the divide between individual departments, regional offices and leadership teams.
Just remember, effective internal communication isn’t just accessible – it’s regular, structured and works best when it begins from the top down. Establish these measures to give your teams a voice and network across your organisation.
2. Host team building and company culture-focused events
Another powerful way to bolster your employee retention programme is to host regular team building and company culture events, like wellness workshops, cultural celebrations and department days out.
Providing opportunities for your teams to build stronger relationships is a great way to foster a tangible sense of community at work. Encouraging communication and collaboration company-wide can also be a great way to get your workers to feel like they fit in.
Why is this important? When employees feel as though they ‘belong’ at work, they’re 54% more likely to stay in their current role.
It can be easy to take a laissez-faire approach to initiatives like this, incorporating events and activities you think would resonate, as and when work schedules allow. But to get the most out of team building, consider taking a regimented approach by:
- Sending out an employee engagement survey to gauge how people feel about your organisation
- Using what you learn to set a handful of specific objectives you’d like to achieve
- Planning out regular activities to help you resolve the biggest reservations about your culture
- Polling your workers about their sentiment toward your company after the 6-month mark
3. Invest in career development and training opportunities
By committing to training and development throughout your company, you do more than just enhance the capabilities of your workforce. You also send a clear message to new and existing employees that you care about their long-term growth.
This is especially important to younger talent, as a recent study revealed that 74% of Millennials and Gen Z have considered quitting their jobs due to a lack of skill-building opportunities.
Whether this involves getting teams to attend industry conferences and events, or providing them with digital classes and webinars in the office, the best internal training and development programmes:
- Are tailored to meet the specific skills gaps of your teams
- Utilise technology for the best learning experience
- Foster a culture of continued education
- Remain adaptable and flexible to employee feedback
4. Recognise and reward employee performance
When you consider that 79% of employees cite ‘underappreciation’ as a key driver for quitting their job, it’s clear to see the value that an employee recognition programme can have in your talent retention strategy.
Not only do the uplifting effects of positive reinforcement strengthen your workers’ connection to your organisation. A rewarding work environment can also elevate overall job satisfaction, improve your workplace culture, and position your business as an employer of choice in the competitive global talent market.
For these programmes to work well, it’s important you give them the time and attention they need. That means ironing out specific details early on, like rewards and success criteria. You should also look to establish a process for monitoring other colleagues’ performance on a regular basis, and creating resources you can use to educate people about your scheme all across your enterprise.
With this in place, you can reward staff for:
- Surpassing performance goals, like sales or reach
- Spearheading helpful, innovative solutions at work
- Displaying exceptional collaboration and leadership
- Providing excellent customer service
5. Embrace DEIB initiatives at work
No member of staff wants to work somewhere they’re treated unfairly. To help nurture a culture of acceptance and understanding throughout your company, DEIB is the beating heart of any fair and equitable organisation.
Standing for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, initiatives like this help instil a sense of identity in every worker, enabling individual employees to feel heard and respected at work, regardless of their background, preferences or beliefs.
As you can imagine, creating a culture where everyone feels included is one of the best ways to hold on to your top talent. In fact, in a recent poll, 92% of employees agreed that an inclusive culture had a big influence on whether or not they wanted to remain with their employer.
In other words, by aligning your company’s values with your employees, and creating a work environment where everyone feels seen and respected, you give your enterprise a solid foundation from which to retain talent.
6. Incentivise brand ambassadors
Brand ambassadors are another tried-and-tested strategy for improving long-term talent retention. The way it works is two-fold.
Firstly, by instilling your most engaged supporters with a sense of pride and ownership, you recognise their value and make them feel more connected to your employer brand. Naturally, these added responsibilities can form the basis for a strong and productive long-term partnership with your top talent.
Secondly, the genuine endorsements your ambassadors share can promote trust, credibility and positivity among your other colleagues, crafting an attractive image of your workplace that can entice people to stay far longer than industry averages.
To learn more about brand ambassador programmes and how to set yours up for success, check out our in-depth guide: 6 techniques to turn your employees into true brand ambassadors.
7. Integrate the right technology
Finally, to shape a bright future for your organisation and help your teams actually implement some of the winning talent strategies we’ve discussed, you need the right technology by your side.
In practice, finding the best platforms for your needs can be its own challenge. Countless tools exist that can streamline everything from remote working and employee advocacy to internal feedback and communication.
To help you narrow down your list, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite talent acquisition and retention tools that can transform your approach.
Our first pick is PostBeyond, a clever solution that allows you to harness the power of your employees on social media with greater ease, so you can empower your talent to get talking about your employer brand.
Another great solution is Small Improvements. From enabling managers to praise coworkers for a job well done, to allowing individuals to request feedback any time – this software can pave the way for strong internal communication and collaboration.
Finally, two more key tools for today’s employer brand experts are Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems and content creation software:
- DAM systems directly engage people with the essential components of your employer brand, and enable you to oversee and share this content across the entirety of your teams and locations
- Content creation software enables you to scale up the development of your employer brand assets, using templates to speed up production, simplify the process and lock-down consistency
These tools can be contained within a broader, end-to-end brand management suite, giving you a firm foundation from which to control and elevate your employer brand materials.
The value of a retention-focused employer brand
With the right steps, you can create an environment and culture that resonates with your teams, opening the path to stronger connections and longer tenures.
This does more than simply save precious resources. Uniting your departments behind your brand values can be an effective way of motivating your employees to work harder, boosting your business’s overall productivity by as much as 12%.
Pair that with the morale-lifting effects of a well-considered employer brand, and it’s easy to see how investing in a happier, longer-tenured workforce can minimise friction, conflict and absenteeism. This also enables your company to stand out when it comes time to hire someone new.
Transform your employer brand into a retention powerhouse
Few things benefit your long-term talent retention than a winning employer brand. But taking the steps to build one is often easier said than done.
With the right expertise and investment, however, the benefits can be astounding. Beyond creating a culture that entices your existing employees to stay for longer, you can drive productivity, improve job satisfaction, and cement your organisation as an employer of choice in an increasingly busy talent market.
Combined with the right employer branding software, your long-term employees can become a springboard for your company’s ongoing success.
