Early in the pandemic, organizations wondered how remote work and flexible scheduling would affect their teams and business. Everyone anticipated change, but few anticipated the flood of people who started looking for new jobs. As workers retired, resigned or started looking for new opportunities, organizations had to shift to focus on employee retention.

This exodus from employment is called The Great Resignation, and it’s still affecting businesses today. Organizations now have to prioritize the employee experience at their company to keep turnover rates low and continue attracting top talent for their teams. 

At Building Champions we know that employee retention starts with your leadership. There are four ways your company’s leaders can adjust their management style to better support their teams and keep employees from leaving.

Encourage Engagement

The best way to keep employees is through engagement. Engaged employees are more likely to stick with your company because they feel like they’re part of something bigger. 

This effort needs to start at the very top. Every level of leadership should communicate the company and team vision clearly and consistently to ensure each team member makes the connection between their individual roles and the success of the whole.

Remember that hard work doesn’t always equal job satisfaction. Talented employees might seem engaged because they’re putting in long hours or completing big projects, but engagement goes further than performance. These people are working toward career goals and they need leadership that acknowledges and supports their ambition.

As the leader, don’t just be a figurehead in your office all day. Instead, check in with your team both through one-on-one meetings and around the office. Get to know your employees and encourage them to better the organization by improving their own professional skills. Create opportunities for leadership development among your team so they see a future for themselves in your organization.

You can even take employee engagement out of the office. Community service is a great way to boost employee morale and make people proud to be part of your company. When team members see their organization investing in the community through service projects and financial donations, they cling to that sense of belonging and enjoy the sense of service to something greater than themselves.

Lead With Empathy

An emerging reason employees leave their jobs is because they don’t feel the organization meets their basic needs. The leadership doesn’t know them, the company isn’t for them and no one is working to make them feel safe and supported in their role. 

The Great Resignation awakened many leaders to the need to lead with empathy. Their new employee retention strategy must be to shift the company’s culture to one that values a work-life balance. They need to establish and respect the needs and boundaries of their team’s personal time versus work time.

This extends beyond a team member’s well-being and into the work environment itself. The pandemic changed how people feel at work. Many are now looking for jobs that actively support their physical, social and mental needs. Whether they’re telecommuting or working in an office, employees want to know their leaders and their teammates–and feel connected to them.

As a leader, meeting these needs means leading with empathy. Learn what your employees need from you and from your organization, then take meaningful steps to fill those areas. It might mean offering perks to support wellness or just allowing more flexibility when people need to take care of personal matters.  

Offer Professional Development

Modern workers are looking for more than just a paycheck. They want to work for organizations that are also invested in their professional development. Offering opportunities throughout the entire employee lifecycle — from the onboarding process to the exit interview — shows you’re committed to helping everyone become top performers in the industry.

There are many ways you can help your employees grow and keep them from leaving your company, including:

• Hold regular one-on-one meetings where they can ask questions and seek direction. This is your time to give constructive feedback and help team members set their own professional goals.

• Encourage teamwork and collaboration across all departments. This helps employees learn from the other experts in your organization and develop their interpersonal skills.

• Offer formal professional development training or resources that employees can take advantage of in their own time, such as video series, eCourses or tickets to a speaking engagement. 

Building professional development into the culture of your organization is a key step to showing your team members you support them. Many companies now offer a professional development stipend or take suggestions from their teams about potential development opportunities or tools they’d like to see in the workplace. Keeping an open mind and encouraging team members to come to you with their ideas is a great way to support their unique professional journey.

Facilitate Career Advancement

Professional development shouldn’t be the end of the line. Organizations also need to invest in their employees’ career advancement. As you offer means for growth, there should also be paths to rise up within the organization. 

As you meet with new hires and current employees, talk to them to find out what they want out of their career. Are they looking for a leadership role, a supervisory position, or do they just want to be an expert in their field? 

Once it’s clear what someone wants out of their job, leaders can help them create a plan to reach that goal. They can help team members determine what their career journey might look like within the organization and what skills they’ll need to develop to reach the next step.

If employees know there’s a future in your company, they’ll continually strive to reach that goal. However, if they feel stuck, stagnant or unsupported, they’re likely to start looking for another company that can help them reach their full potential. 

Do More For Your Team

You have to do more than sign a paycheck to keep employees from leaving your organization. You have to be their partner and support their goals so they’ll support yours in turn. 

It’s time to be a better employer. Engage your team in ways that empower them to do their best work, lead with empathy, develop their skills and offer opportunities for advancement. Each of these items should be built into your company culture and top-of-mind for every organizational leader.

At Building Champions, we call this a Coaching Culture. Partner with us to learn how to build a Coaching Culture in your organization and show employees you care about their success.