4 Proven Retention Strategies for 2022

When it comes to human resources in 2022, it seems most businesses are focusing on the same thing: how to keep their retention levels steady amid “The Great Resignation”. According to a survey by Willis Towers Watson, 44% of employees are currently “job seekers”, meaning they’re actively looking for a new employment opportunity.

Of course, retention and recruiting are intricately linked: the lower your retention rate is, the greater and more desperate your need to recruit new candidates will be. These concerns can become major problems for any organization and can derail all types of business objectives. As such, we’ve got 4 ideas you can use to keep your top performers loyal and attract the best possible candidates for your hiring needs. 

Consider retention bonuses

Depending on your organization, there may not be money in the budget to offer bonuses. But, if it can be done, it should be! Employees at all income levels are feeling the pinch of inflation as it increases their cost of living and makes it tougher to get by on what they used to. While there’s been lots of news of businesses offering signing bonuses as a way to entice potential employees, we would instead suggest that you allocate those funds towards offering retention bonuses.

The logic here is simple enough: your organization may be dealing with challenges in both recruitment and retention right now, but if you aren’t able to retain the key employees you have, both problems become significantly worse. Plus, if your top employees see you giving out bonuses to new employees who haven’t had their first day but they aren’t getting anything, it might contribute to their decision to look for a new opportunity.

Emphasize your company’s character

Earning income is essential, but it’s not the only thing your employees and potential future employees consider when they think about working for your company. There are a variety of non-monetary factors, including your company culture, your organization’s goals and values, working conditions and more that influence an employee’s overall level of satisfaction with their job.

Most people seek to work for a business that aligns with their personal beliefs, respects their work/life balance and values their contributions. Many are willing to forego a pay raise if it means they can find an opportunity that offers them greater fulfilment in these aspects of work instead.

So, whatever sets your company apart from your competitors, put it front and center! Whether your focus is on promoting diversity, reaching hard targets, environmental conservation or anywhere in between, it should be common knowledge to current employees and emphasized to interview candidates. That way, over time you’ll attract employees who mesh best with your organization, making them most likely to stay with your company for the long haul.

Bump up your benefits plan

If your company isn’t offering a benefits plan, you’re at a clear disadvantage when it comes to retention and recruiting. Focus on employee wellness has continued to grow a great deal over the last year, and with more and more employers taking note, those who are late to offer wellness benefits will suffer when it comes to retaining and hiring the best employees.

If you’re looking for an innovative financial wellness benefit, QUBER offers customizable group saving plans that’ll give your employees something they both want and need. Through QUBER’s mobile app, employees can develop the habit of saving money, matched by a contribution from you, and increase their level of financial literacy. A group saving plan offers employees an excellent opportunity to build a short-term emergency fund and is an easy-to-offer benefit in industries where employees don’t typically have a benefits plan (ex. retail, food service and hospitality).

If you’re interested in learning more about QUBER, you can book a free 30-minute demo with us to see our platform in action and learn more about our offerings by clicking here.

Go remote

If you can do so, going remote is one of the easiest ways to keep your recruitment and retention rates high. By hiring remotely, you get to choose from a much wider pool of potential candidates than if you’re asking for employees to come into the office even just once a week.

 Beyond this, employees are largely in favour of remote work because of the flexibility it offers in balancing one’s personal life with their job. According to the 2021 State of Remote Work Report from Owl Labs, 74% of employees said they were happier working from home, with 84% saying they’d be happier to continue working remotely after the pandemic.

 Remote work is here to stay. Instead of prioritizing returning to the office, companies that can should take advantage of the increase in their talent pool and employee satisfaction levels made possible by remote work, not to mention the money that can be saved by not having a fixed office.