Employee Life Cycle Part 9: Attracting & Retaining Talent

Paychex HR consultant Margie Bassford explores how you can find star performers and keep them around for the long-term.

Discover more about the employee life cycle:

Part 1: Paying Employees

Part 2: Proper Employee Documentation

Part 3: Human Rights & Discrimination Laws

Part 4: Paid Time Off

Part 5: Employee Behavior & Performance

Part 6: Workplace Safety

Part 7: Employee Handbook Policy

Part 8: Employee Discipline & Termination

Part 10: Deepening Employee Engagement

Transcript:

Finding and retaining stellar employees can be one of the biggest challenges of the employee life cycle. It requires providing a work environment with personal and professional advancement, and benefits that keep star workers around.

Improving employee retention starts with your hiring process. While focusing on hiring the most qualified candidate is a must, companies with great retention records also seek out a long-term fit during the interview process. That means gauging candidates’ long-term career goals and whether they fit culturally. By looking for a strong fit from the beginning, you may have more control over employee retention.

Your managers are also one of the most important elements of your company's employee retention strategy. Establishing employee retention as an important metric can help give managers the incentive they need to focus on retaining talent. Also, make sure they understand the costs of replacing workers who leave, including the expense of recruiting, hiring, and training replacements, the negative effects on company culture, loss of valuable knowledge about the company's internal operations, and the damaging effects on employee morale.

On top of a competitive salary, offering a top benefits package is generally considered a must-have when it comes to hiring and retaining quality employees. That includes health insurance, dental and vision coverage, paid time off, and a retirement plan.

And while salary and benefits are key retention drivers, they're not necessarily the only ones. Consider rewarding workers with an annual raise, stock options, or other similar financial perks. If you don't have the budget for it, look for new projects or responsibilities employees can take on that will promote their professional growth.

You may also want to institute frequent reviews that include a focus on employee concerns and issues so that they can be addressed as soon as possible. Annual employee performance reviews can easily miss an employee's dissatisfaction.

Some employees will come and go, regardless of the benefits you offer them, but with the right combination of benefits and opportunities, you can retain a hardworking and satisfied workforce.

Thanks for watching. To learn more about more aspects of the employee life cycle, please visit paychex.com/worx.