Employee retention is a strategy that encompasses a set of premises by which the company tries to retain people who demonstrate quality in their work, good performance, and attitude. Having people like that who also add value to the company is key to any business strategy. In return, people have a series of needs to cover, and the better an organization does and covers them, the longer the employee experience will last.
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Importance of Employee Retention in Companies
The latest trends in human resources focus on improving the employee experience, a technique that has evolved and that has incorporated benefits that workers have demanded overtime. Generating a positive brand image has been one of the tasks that organizations have tried to attract and retain the best talent.
For the Director in Spain of Bosch Service Solutions, “our point of view is to base ourselves on the experience of our employees, listening to them and asking them frequently to be able to adapt and walk in the same direction. In fact, along with the customer experience, the employee experience is a pillar of our organization’s strategy. And it is that we believe that our workers are the differential value to offer excellent services with the highest quality and satisfaction in the end-users.”.
The world of work has evolved, and people have had to adapt to the new supply and demand. Access to a good education has always been the first step to achieving job qualification, although today, with the emergence of new technologies, having studies is not enough to be considered “highly qualified” in the business world. Professions need specialization and future employees as well.
Companies demand they are educated and qualified, but they are also committed and have leadership skills.
Factors that employees value
There are many and varied factors that workers value to enter a company or to stay in it:
- Salary
We are not going to fool ourselves; the main one is the salary (and not the emotional one that we will see later), which constitutes the main consideration that a worker needs to evaluate a position. It is not the only or the most important, since this depends on the circumstances of each one, but perhaps it constitutes the nucleus on which the others pivot. Economic remuneration determines many aspects of our lives and therefore takes on a special role that the company has to consider.
- Reconciliation
Another highly valued factor is the reconciliation of work and personal life. Being able to combine and attend to personal aspects in a balanced way is a benefit that employees demand, and although it seems obvious at times, it is not. The flexible hours will allow us to carry out the conciliation; it does not mean doing the hours that you want or how you want; it is about being able to carry out your work life without harming your personal life.
- Work environment
The emotions of those who make up that organization generate relationships and the environment. A good work environment is perceived as something very positive by workers; after all, it is the space and environment in which we have to spend a large part of the day and where we have to carry out our professional work. Toxicity in the workplace can create a very negative brand image for the company.
For the experts at Bosch Service Solutions, “it is also very important to allow space for critical thinking, that the person can say what they are thinking, that they can work as a team, that they have initiative, and that they always want to learn.”
- Development and growth opportunities
When we feel committed and satisfied with our work, we need to see that there are opportunities to grow or to move within the organization—a change that supports our concerns and allows us to stay motivated. Companies that offer opportunities for growth or cross-movement are best valued by those workers who need to feel that when they master their position, they will not stagnate but will have the opportunity to grow within.
Communication and transparency are essential so that all of the above is visible and reaches the entire organization clearly.
Along these lines, Vargas recognizes that as a result of the transformation of the context itself and the new work scene, «we have had to learn to communicate in different ways; we realized that the way we used to do it no longer worked and we had to re-understand how to do it.
Employee retention strategies
Employee retention is an indicator that minimizes job rotation and helps improve the organization’s stability and continuity, two fundamental aspects of business competitiveness. But how do you get that retention? Develop strategies that address the needs of workers and are attractive enough to achieve your main objective. Let’s see 3 in particular:
- Employer branding
It is the employee retention strategy par excellence. One of the areas of development and main dedication of human resources in an organization. The strategy focuses on the brand image that a company generates to attract and retain talent.
The brand image determines the opinion and vision of a worker towards the company. A positive brand image is characterized by the transmission of values that characterize the company, the knowledge of its priorities, and the emotional salary it offers its workers.
- Immersion programs
Young talent tends towards job rotation; sometimes, this is excessive, given that no company meets the needs of these junior professionals. Immersion programs can help young people to know in depth the roots of a company, its culture, its work environment, and its benefits to help them generate a feeling of belonging and commitment that helps them stabilize in a certain position.
- Recognition, reward, and development plans
This strategy is based on three main pillars: recognition, reward, and development in the organization. Many studies claim that one of the main concerns of employees is their lack of appreciation for their work. Something so simple that it is not being done can generate a lot of frustration. Feeling valued and recognized in the workplace is vital to giving our best and increasing the company’s productivity.
The development and generation of opportunities within the company is also a motivating factor that an employee will undoubtedly value when staying with a company: if they can grow and develop professionally, they will do so within the home.
And last but not least, the reward system that the organization has will determine the person’s decision to keep their position or, on the contrary, to seek a better-paid and valued one.
There are many tools that the organization can use and put into operation to retain its best talent; practice shows that from a business point of view it is difficult to activate them and focus on employees, although employer branding is increasingly present in our organizations in order to generate a feeling of belonging that contributes to people’s loyalty.
Talent is undoubtedly the oil of the 21st century, and attracting and retaining it is a great challenge for companies. In the words of the experts at Bosch Service Solutions, “People are the way, the brain, the engine, and the heart of a company. We are vital to meeting the objectives of the organization.