Shifts and changes within a company can lead to a staggering amount of employee turnover. Humans are naturally reluctant to change, especially changes that may affect stable necessities in their life—work. Many hourly employees will even begin to look for work elsewhere as soon as changes begin occurring at their current place of employment, making employee retention a critical challenge.
However, there are valuable and strategic methods companies can take to reduce the amount turnover during a change and strengthen employee retention in the long run.
Gain Trust Before Change Occurs
Employees are much more likely to not fear change if they already have trust in the company. Has your company made wise decisions during previous changes? What has your company done to deserve trust from your employees? Ensuring your employees that they can rely on your company’s decisions before they’re made will make shifts that much smoother and contribute positively to employee retention.
Validate Employees’ Voices
Employees are much more likely to accept change if they feel they are being listened to during the process. When employees are called into a meeting to be informed of a decision that has already been made without them, they feel helpless in a sense. This helplessness creates fear and anxiety, which only leads to a hasty choice to look for other work and leave the company. Active communication is one of the simplest ways to secure stronger employee retention.
Support Managers and Supervisors
A common mistake business owners make is leaving the dirty work of a company shift completely in the hands of managers and supervisors. This makes leaders feel frustrated, and they too will begin to look for other work, especially if they’re hourly. Your leaders need tools and resources from the company to help guide their team through changes.
One way to keep employee retention is through employee referral programs. Employee referral programs give your hourly employees incentive to stay employed at your company and find other qualified employees. Talk to Refered today about employee referral and retention software.