When an employee thinks of leaving, it’s not automatically the employer’s fault. They might have found a job somewhere else that better fits their goals and lifestyle. Or it could be that they are planning to take a completely different career path.
On the other hand, if an employee does not see the worth in staying with an employer, they will up and leave just like that, which is especially true for millennials and Gen Z’ers. Unlike the baby boomers, the younger generations are more open to job-hopping, having as much as 20 positions in their careers.
That said, there is no guarantee that your employees will stay loyal to your company, even if you offer the best benefits package or have a healthy office culture. Thus, if a star employee is thinking of leaving, here are some strategies that might motivate them to stay:
1. Improve work-life balance
A healthy work-life balance is a driving factor in retaining high-performing employees. If your employees want more time to enjoy life out of work, enroll in a music school or higher education or spend more time with their families, you should offer more flexibility if you want to keep them with the company.
Here are some of the best ways you can support a healthy work-life balance for your employees:
- Offer remote working opportunities or flexible work schedules.
- Encourage employees to finish their work within the day and leave the office on time.
- Focus on efficiency and productivity instead of time spent on work.
- Provide more time off when you can afford it to prevent burnout.
- Get feedback from employees on how you can improve work-life balance for them.
- Offer better support for parents.
- Allow employees to work outside the office on some days.
- Don’t take on more orders, projects, or clients than your team can handle.
- Restrict overtime during busy seasons.
2. Offer opportunities for career growth
One of the main reasons why employees leave a company is because of the lack of growth. When they feel that their career has stagnated with your company, it is enough to have them looking for greener pastures. That said, providing ample opportunities for career growth is an excellent way to retain your best employees.
Encourage employees to share their career goals with the company. In this way, you can find out what they want. From there, determine what type of growth you can offer. If, however, you cannot provide a better position for now (perhaps the current position is still filled), invest in employees’ personal growth instead by providing training and sending them to workshops.
3. Rethink your salaries
For the majority of employees, the pay is the most crucial driver in the length of their stay with a company. If they feel that they are not earning enough for the work that they do, you can expect that they will find a better job sooner or later.
How do you know if you’re offering your employees enough? Look at their job description and pay them above the 50th percentile. The higher you go, the better you can keep your best talent. Alternatively, gather feedback from your employees regarding the salary grade that they think they deserve. Doing this will help you gain insight into what they expect when it comes to compensation.
4. Review your management team
Another common reason why employees leave a company is because of a bad manager. It doesn’t matter if the pay is excellent or the office is in a swanky building–if their higher-ups are unpleasant, frustrating, dispassionate, or any other type of negative, they will leave for a better working situation.
This is why you need to review your management team if you want to prevent your top workers from quitting. Do you have frustrating micromanagers instead of influential leaders? Is there an impenetrable wall between your employees and their managers? Are the managers the primary cause of burnout for your employees?
If the management level is the problem, restructuring might be necessary. In some cases, you need to have a sit-down with both employees and managers to pinpoint the issues preventing a harmonious work relationship between them.
Convincing an employee to stay is not easy, and it will not always be practical. It is, however, still worth trying if there is a chance to retain your top talent.
Don’t wait for your employees to start looking for other jobs. Learn the reasons for their dissatisfaction and work toward correcting those issues to motivate them to stay.
