You don’t know what you have until it's gone. However, if you're one of the lucky few, or should I say, the perceptive few, you'll realize the value of the talent that keeps your company rolling.
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Employee turnover is an issue that affects all organizations, and while it is sometimes unpreventable, it often stings to learn the relatively minimal things you could have done to keep some of your talent from leaving. Or keep a sought-after hi-po candidate from signing with the competition.
To better position your company to avoid such situations, you need to take action. Here are five tips HR and corporate relocation professionals agree will help you retain your talent.
1. Improve the Benefits…
A significant portion of an employee's compensation is their benefits package. Don't be afraid to highlight this fact and then actually make the package something worth highlighting. The benefits should be attractive, competitive and comprehensive. You want to include competitive health and life insurance plans with great terms. You also want to have a retirement savings plan with employer-matching contributions. These benefits are almost standard to what most workers expect.
2. …especially the Relocation Benefits
Relocation benefits can be particularly valuable when it comes to recruiting, especially when they promote flexibility. Many of our clients have found success with core-flex programs which allow the business to feel good about providing a core set of benefits and employees to select optional benefits in a way that reflects their unique situation. Lump Sums are very popular among early career candidates and college grads who have minimal needs and want flexibility in how they use their funds. However, in competitive labor markets, lump sums don’t provide a positive experience. Consider that for a new hire, a relocation represents his or her first impression of your company, and they may not have the experience or insight to use those funds wisely. Why not present a basic core policy with a few flexible benefits better suited for this demographic, like rental finding fees, additional settling-in time or pet shipment?
3. Foster Their Education
This one is a no-brainer. If you invest in an employee's education, not only will they benefit by becoming an enhanced business professional, but the company will profit as well by receiving the fruits of their labor. As an employer, it's your job to give your workers the requisite tools and knowledge they need to grow in their role, which, in turn, propels your company to an even higher plateau.
From a relo angle, rotational assignments provide a great tool for grooming and broadening your employees’ skill sets, giving them experience in a wide range of environments.
4. Keep Employees Engaged
People spend at least a third of their lives at work. If it’s not a particularly pleasant experience for them, or they don’t feel appreciated, then they're likely going to pack up and head somewhere else. That’s why it’s important to routinely that the pulse of your employee engagement levels.
Weichert, for example, conducts a detailed engagement survey across our global colleague base each year, and it allows us to assess candid insight from our colleagues that, in turn, helps make us a stronger company. Further, our managers hold regular “X-model conversations” with their direct reports to help identify the “sweet spot” where colleague engagement aligns with productivity.
Oftentimes, engagement can be sabotaged by something as simple as employees not understanding how their jobs contribute to the company’s success. Or not seeing a path of career progression. Some employees will take pay cuts to join a company that presents clearer growth potential, especially if they believe their current position is taking them nowhere.
5. Provide Assistance in Tough Times
Higher cost of living areas present a significant challenge to relocating employees and the importance of offering assistance ranges from helpful to necessary for critical employees to afford to live in the new location. In the past we have seen the cost of living assistance (COLA), being reserved for director levels and above. However, we are now seeing that mid-level employees are the ones who need assistance the most. Our Advisory Services group has seen an increase in companies that need this type of assistance to recruit effectively, so expanding your relocation package to include COLA for new hires may already be necessary.
Some of the information in this blog was provided by OMNIA Partners.
Available through OMNIA Partners, Weichert Workforce Mobility makes it easier for members to build strong collaboration with human resources to drive more value to the business by engaging your mobile workforce.
Contact Us with any questions about how this OMNIA Partners Human Resources offering can help your company.