In the wake of the “Great Resignation,” employees are jumping ship on their long-term employers. Companies that haven’t yet adapted to employee demands for remote work flexibility, liveable wages, and a better focus on work-life balance are scrambling to keep up.

However, even in these companies, some employees are willing to stick it out for the long run. If you find yourself with a few loyal staff members remaining, it is time to consider how you can reward and retain them.

Why Employees Quit

There are numerous reasons why employees decide to leave a company. If your organization is experiencing high turnover rates, it’s important to understand why your employees are leaving in the first place. Exit interviews are a great place to start. 

When accepting an employee’s resignation letter, ask them to provide reasons for leaving. If you notice a common theme, take steps to address those issues as soon as possible to prevent a chain effect. 

The popular job listings website Indeed recently published a list of the most common reasons employees leave their posts. The top reasons include:

  • Low salary
  • The job is not challenging enough
  • Not feeling passionate about the job
  • Poor relationship with management
  • Fewer opportunities for career advancement
  • No work-life balance
  • Lack of clear vision for the company or project
  • Feeling demotivated due to little employee recognition

Strategies for Rewarding and Retaining Loyal Employees

If you’re having a hard time keeping turnover rates low or run the risk of losing top talent, you need to rethink your employee retention strategy or create one from scratch. 

Here are six tips for what you might want to include in your employee retention strategy.  

Create an Incentive Program

Set up your rewards program to align with your staff’s professional goals. For example, if a team member has expressed an interest in earning a credential, provide tuition reimbursement to help them achieve that goal.

This approach will give you better talent at a lower cost. Staying competitive when it comes to hiring and retaining talent may not be cheap, but it’s definitely a good investment over time. In fact, it can help you save money and increase revenue down the road by reducing your hiring and training costs.

If you want to create a successful rewards program for employee retention, it’s important to understand what your team members value and link that with how they will benefit. 

Your program should also have different levels of rewards, so there’s a better chance of everyone being satisfied with their perks. For example, top performers might get an extended vacation package while average employees might get four weeks off with pay.

Offer Additional Benefits

As your staff stays in their roles, you might be looking for ways to keep them around. One of these incentives may be to provide benefits that come with staying on with your company. 

These benefits usually don’t cost a ton of money and can help improve employee morale and productivity — both of which will ultimately mean more time spent at work and less time off.

Retirement funds, investment portfolios, health benefits, and extended vacation time are all great employee retention perks that should be offered to staff who have been with your company for the long term.

Don’t forget about their families too! 

Providing benefits to help children’s education or offering a child care subsidy can also be a great way to show your appreciation for staff members who have stuck around for longer than expected. Not only will these help support them but it will also show them you care about their life outside of work.

Rewarding loyalty goes beyond providing material goods; it’s an opportunity to show those closest to you that they mean something.

Employee Recognition

The most basic method of employee recognition is verbal praise. While it may sound old-fashioned, it’s easy to forget how powerful positive feedback can be. A simple thank you means a lot to most people, and one of your main roles as a manager should be to make sure every staff member knows they are appreciated.

When it comes to employee retention, it also helps to remember that people value stability in their personal lives as well. If you’re able to offer benefits like paid time off or telecommuting options, those perks can make people feel happier at work and more willing to stay with your company for longer.

Even non-monetary benefits can have a big impact on employee retention. 

For example, managers can be encouraged to hold weekly or monthly lunches with staff who need advice or feedback. This creates an informal bond and gives team members a chance to express their concerns and ask for help without feeling like they’re bothering their manager.

Team building activities are perfect for helping people communicate more effectively and build strong relationships. 

TeamBonding’s Escape the Blizzard activity was designed to do just that – stimulate creativity and encourage strategic communication. To escape the blizzard, your employees will have to pool their efforts and come up with creative solutions to unique survival-style challenges while racing against the clock. 

 

 

Share Your Goals with the Team

Employee retention and employee motivation are two sides of a coin. To retain your long-term employees, you need to make sure they feel valued and empowered. 

One way you can accomplish that goal is by involving your employees in setting goals for your company and putting them in charge of seeing those goals through. Not only will they feel like an integral part of the team, but they’ll also be accountable for their work. 

There’s nothing like having your hard work recognized to keep you motivated!

Putting your employees in charge of their own goals will also help you improve employee retention. When employees feel like they have a stake in the company, they’re much more likely to stick around.

In fact, Gallup found that when managers meet with their teams regularly, employees are three times more likely to remain engaged.

Renegotiate with Current Employees

In some cases, the best way to focus on employee retention is to renegotiate their current salary or position. If an employee feels like they’re not being valued, a pay increase or title change may be just what they need to feel appreciated again.

If you can’t afford to give them a raise, see if there are other benefits you can offer instead, such as more vacation days, a day off on their birthday, company outings, or flexible work hours.

Don’t wait to engage in specific employee retention strategies before trying to renegotiate their contract – start early and try to keep the lines of communication open. This will show your team that you’re invested in their professional development, and it could lead to some great new ideas.

Focus on Leadership Opportunities

Leaders are an essential part of company culture and if your long-term employees feel like they’re not being promoted, they’ll likely start looking for other opportunities.

If you have a more experienced employee who’s ready to take on new responsibilities but isn’t getting the opportunities to do so at your company, consider promoting them or putting them in charge of new projects.

Consider organizing a team building activity with your newly appointed team leaders to help them further develop their leadership skills. Charitable team building activities such as the Do Good Bus or The Charity Bike Build are great for encouraging teamwork and helping employees level up their organizational skills.  

When you give people leadership roles, this keeps them engaged with their work and motivates others on their team to step up too. This will give everyone else some much-needed guidance while also helping retention rates among your best talent.

When considering those who stay, remember that it’s not just about your company. People stay at jobs for a variety of reasons, and it’s important to find out what motivates them in order to better reward them with promotions and other forms of appreciation

While money may be one of these motivators, you’ll also want to make sure you have an overall philosophy for rewarding employee loyalty with leadership opportunities. 

 

 


Retaining top talent is important for company culture and growth – but it can be difficult to do in today’s business world. When your employees start to feel like they’re not valued, it can affect performance. Reward them for staying with you and doing their job well by giving them the appreciation they deserve.

Anna Webber

Team Contributor

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