5 Ways Employee Experience Will Boost Staff Retention

Developing a positive employee experience is crucial for businesses keen to keep hold of their best and brightest. In today's competitive world, companies who fail to dedicate sufficient resource and focus in ensuring their employees have an enjoyable, fulfilling and engaging time with them will not keep hold of their staff for long.

According to figures from the Bureau of National Affairs, employee turnover costs US businesses approximately $11 billion in lost revenues every year. At the same time, Qualtrics revealed in its Employee Pulse Study 2017 that while 60% of employees state they have a means to offer feedback to their employer around their employee experience, just 30% reported this is ever acted upon.

Companies must therefore focus on improving their ability to enhance the employee experience where possible, or face up to the possibility that their staff will simply leave. As a result, here are five methods for promoting a more positive employee experience that can improve your staff retention:

1. Sustained feedback can improve wellbeing

Asking staff to be open and honest about their challenges and frustrations is a positive way to improve employee wellbeing. Encouraging staff to be upfront about every aspect of their role will mean any issues that do arise can be swiftly dealt with.

Employers should enter into a dialogue with workers from the very outset of their employment, meaning there should be a focus on continuous improvement in every area of the business.

Gathering feedback from the beginning of the onboarding process right through to the time an individual leaves can be a fantastic way to make positive changes to the employee experience for all and ensures any common complaints surrounding processes, culture or expectation are quickly highlighted and addressed.

2. Strong work/life balance builds trust

Creating an employee experience that supports individuals to create a positive work/life balance will reassure them that while company interests are important, so too is the happiness and wellbeing of staff.

Supporting individuals to take time off when they need it, not to take work home with them and to avoid an 'always on' attitude will help to ensure that when staff do come into work, they are properly refreshed and able to give their best service.

Companies who support a healthy work/life balance are also far more likely to retain workers for the long-term, as well as helping to reduce the likelihood of absence due to stress or other work-related issues.

3. Positive culture promotes creativity and performance

A positive, supportive and collaborative company culture plays an important role in employee satisfaction and in making the overall experience of working for a business that much more rewarding and enjoyable.

When individuals feel they have the support of their colleagues and are able to broach difficult conversations or topics without fear of how their comments will be received, this is when new and innovative ways of working can be more easily explored.

Businesses should encourage their workers to air their feelings in a professional and courteous manner, as positive communication is a key foundation of high-performing organizations that are able to attract and retain the best and brightest staff.

4. Continuous development helps maintain challenge

Supporting employees to develop their skills and to take on new ones is a great way to ensure challenge is maintained for individuals within their role. By implementing a process of continuous development and engagement, organizations can ensure their workers do not get bored.

Challenging work is what will keep individuals engaged with their role, but this does not mean piling on pressure with the volume of tasks. To get the best out of individuals and to keep them for the long-term, roles and responsibilities should be regularly reviewed to include work that is both mentally stimulating and in line with an individual's career goals.

Failure to make a role challenging and with insufficient progression will often lead to staff moving on to pastures new. However, this can easily be avoided when business leaders take an active interest in supporting workers to expand their horizons.

5. Passion and purpose related to company goals

When organizations engage closely with their staff, this enables them to tailor the employee experience to ensure everyone is working collaboratively towards the same goals and ideals.

By understanding what each employee is passionate about and tailoring their role to include factors of this, companies can ensure they are providing a fulfilling set of tasks that align the worker's own passions and purpose to that of the organization itself.

As we've shown, a focus on the overall employee experience can therefore provide a significant boost to companies in their pursuit of lower staff turnover. By investing time and effort into the basics of delivering a fulfilling, supportive and engaging work environment, organizations can keep hold of key staff for longer and ensure they are seen as an attractive and exciting place to work.