How to Increase Productivity and Boost Retention
When employees are engaged, they are productive. Productivity boosts morale, thus increasing the retention rate. Life Orientations (LIFO®) provides a productivity tool that allows organizations to boost productivity based on a solid process.
Step 1: Being aware that there is a productivity problem, establishing this sense across management.
Step 2: This step focuses on building an agreement between top management, the organization, and the responsible human resources parties. The agreement focuses on particular problems related to productivity within the organization.
Step 3: This step is about the collection and analysis of data related to the areas of diagnosis agreed upon in step #2.
Step 4: This stage identifies the problems resulting from step 3. It is also essential to gain commitment from management and involved parties to work on the issues during this step.
Step 5: This step is about leaping the problem to finding possible solutions.
Step 6: Implementation of Improvement involves implementing plans and ideas generated in the above steps.
Seven Ways to Boost Retention1
1. Encourage Loyalty by Rewarding It
You must pay employees well enough to eliminate the question of money. Consider offering one-time bonuses, assisting employees with student debt repayment, and providing work-from-home stipends in addition to revising your total compensation package. Re-leveling compensation has the extra benefit of allowing you to identify and remedy pay discrepancies for persons of color and women, particularly moms with young children. Some companies are now offering “boomerangs,” which entices workers who recently left by promising them instant vesting in long-term compensation plans.
2. Increase the Level of Accountability
Allowing an employee to take on extra responsibilities shows that you value their contributions and trust them. Take the time to talk to each of your employees about their career aspirations, so you can provide them with possibilities for advancement when they arise. Make it a point to hire from within and give employees promotions when they deserve them.
3. Give People Chances to Develop
Assume your most valuable employees have just turned in their resignation notices. How would you persuade them to change their minds? “If you could shape your dream job here, what would it be?” ask them. Then figure out how to make it happen. For the past few months, forward-thinking companies have begun conducting retention interviews, asking each employee what it would take for them to stay.
4. Acknowledge Employees
When employees complete a project well, compliment them and explain how their efforts contribute to its overall success. According to research from the University of Alberta, employees who could identify the significance and purpose of their work had a 60 percent lower absence rate and a 75 percent lower turnover rate.
5. Take Your Mission to the Next Level
The ageless cause for your organization’s existence is its purpose. It’s why people choose to join and stay. It has been proven that in stormy times, a firm confidence in the goals of an organization is much more vital than in calmer times. Demonstrate that your company is more than just a profit center to your employees. And don’t just talk about it; put it into practice by sharing what you do and how you do it.
6. Make Culture and Connection a Priority
Make time to connect and establish relationships with — and among — your people by putting your work aside. Not only will this strengthen their bond with your company, but research conducted2 by BCG during the Covid-19 pandemic shows that social connection has a considerable favorable impact on productivity. The BCG Covid-era survey findings demonstrate that having a “good relationship with coworkers” is more critical to both blue- and white-collar workers worldwide than many other job qualities.
7. Inquire About Employee Opinions
Instead of guessing what inspires your staff, get their feedback. If you own a small business, chat with each of your employees individually to see what your organization can boost employee morale and retention. Send out a detailed employee survey to collect input if your company is large enough to make individual interactions impossible.
1HBR, 15 Nov 2021, Frank Breitling, Julia Dhar, Ruth Ebeling,and Deborah Lovich, six strategies to boost retention through the great resignation, Accessed 2 Dec 2021, https://hbr.org/2021/11/6-strategies-to-boost-retention-through-the-great-resignation Financeit, 10 Jun 2019, How to retain employees and boost productivity: 7 helpful tips, Accessed 2 Dec 2021, https://www.financeit.io/how-to-retain-employees/
2BCG, 11 Aug 2020, Adriana Dahik, Deborah Lovich, Caroline Kreafle, Allison Bailey, Julie Kilmann, Derek Kennedy, Prateek Roongta, Felix Schuler, Leo Tomlin, and John Wenstrup, What 12,000 Employees Have to say about the future of remote work?, Accessed 23 Dec 2021, https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/valuable-productivity-gains-covid-19
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