Beth Pembrook
There are two parts to staff retention. Firstly, you want to attract and hire the right staff who are interested in working for you and developing their career.
Secondly, you need to find ways to retain the staff you already have so you can ensure you aren’t running a continuous recruitment drive. If you’re interested in how you can attract and retain millennial workers, why not consider the following workplace practices…
Studies have proven that pet-friendly offices promote a healthy working environment for everyone, not just younger workers. Pets encourage people in different departments to get to know each other and to work together better. Pets in the workplace are known to reduce stress and encourage collaboration, so it’s worth investigating if this is something that would be popular with employees.
It can be east to get carried with trying to work out the big perks that they forget to iron out the more basic things that people will expect from their employer. Millenials are taking things like pensions and bonus schemes more seriously. Things like comprehensive sick pay, bonus structures, and generous maternity and paternity structures can help to attract and retain millennials who are playing the long game. There are some things that you have to offer in line with employment law. But there are many other added perks which will help to make your company more attractive to the best workers.
Being happy in a job usually means moving up in your career. More people will only stay happy in their job if they're consistently learning new things and developing. Training your employees in the areas that interest and challenge them will encourage them to think about their long-term career prospects with your business. When people move on from a job, they often cite looking for new challenges as the main reason, so there’s an argument that you can skip this step by offering a good career development plan.
While this is often associated with busy working parents, flexible working practices can help millennials to feel that they are more in control of their working day and encourage them to build a career with you. Not just suitable for working parents hoping to make the school run or work from home to cut down on childcare costs, this perk will let your employees know that you are interested in them growing their career with you. Plus, many people are often even more productive and proactive at home with fewer distractions.
Your employees are looking for more than just a good salary, they are often more interested in all the added perks you can offer. You would be so surprised at how much simple things like free snacks and refreshments can go a long way to keeping your staff happy. Perks such as a company-wide happy hour on Friday, or a gym membership will also help to encourage your existing employees to stick around and keep them healthy while they are working for you. While many companies will offer these, if you don’t advertise them, you won’t be attracting the candidates you want.
