How companies can attract and retain employees: 7 tips

Hiring and keeping good employees can make or break a small business. But it is often a challenging task, especially for business owners. According to the Integrated Benefits Institute, 73% of employers have difficulty attracting employees. And a staggering 61% have trouble with keeping employees around. 

If your business faces challenges when it comes to attracting and improving employee retention, it may be time to think of new solutions. Below are a few ways to refine your recruitment and employee retention strategy. 

What are some ways you can attract and retain employees?

1. Offer a strong salary and competitive benefits package

According to a 2022 Gallup survey, the majority of employees responded that competitive salary and benefits are the most important aspect when accepting a new job offer. A strong benefits package typically includes health insurance, retirement plans, paid sick leave, and disability insurance. A Human Interest survey from 2022 found that a retirement plan is the most-wanted benefit after health insurance.  

This is good news for employers because even if you may not be able to afford a strong salary, strong benefits can go a long way to show employees that you care about them. A comprehensive benefits package doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive. You may be eligible for federal tax breaks to offset the cost of your retirement plan. For example, companies with 100 or fewer employees can deduct half of the startup costs (or more) for a new workplace plan (up to $15,000) per year for the first three years. 

2. Provide career development opportunities

Providing career advancement opportunities is a critical factor in holding onto your best employees. After all, the more ambitious an employee is, the more likely they are to want to seek career growth. You can encourage your employees to kickstart their career paths by:

• Offering training courses: By providing employees with the opportunity to develop or upskill, you are allowing them to use those same skills to contribute back to your business.  

• Creating a mentorship program: It may be helpful to pair newer employees with more experienced workers who can help guide or provide professional development. 

• Delegating stretch assignments: You can help employees build their leadership and core skill sets by assigning them challenging projects that may be out of their comfort zone. 

3. Create an inclusive company culture

By 2025, Gen Z will make up around 27% of the workforce. For this demographic, an inclusive work environment is a significantly important aspect of accepting a new job offer.  Close to 70% of Gen Z employees say that they are not doing enough to build a more diverse workplace. Diversity and inclusion aren’t limited to gender or racial demographics; they include a mix of experiences, identities, and opinions, as found in a Deloitte survey.

In addition to an inclusive workforce, consider providing more flexible work schedules. As more businesses have embraced remote work culture since the pandemic, approximately 55% of Gen Z graduates reportedly preferred work that is either hybrid or remote work, and studies have shown that workers care about work-life balance. Flexible working schedules may be key to preventing burnout and poor mental health, which affects almost a quarter of employees. 

4. Conduct employee engagement surveys frequently 

If attrition has been a consistent issue for your organization, it may be time to run an employee engagement survey to get a high-level overview of the strengths and weaknesses of your business. Running employee engagement surveys on a regular basis can help you gauge current employees’ job satisfaction, what’s important to them, and what they need to succeed in their roles. You acquire honest and confidential feedback by allowing employees to gather information anonymously. 

5. Train your managers

A 2023 study by Perceptx showed that poor managers can cause employees to be three times as likely to be disengaged and four times as likely to quit their jobs in the next year. To ensure that your employees are satisfied with their managers, consider enrolling your people leaders in management training programs to help them learn how to motivate their employees better and hone their leadership skills. 

6. Create a strategic onboarding program

Turnover is often high among new employees, which is why it is important to carefully construct a strategic onboarding program for all of your new hires. It’s important that your new hire gets quickly acclimated to the rest of their team through formal and informal training and activities with their peers so that they aren’t lost in their first few months on the job. 

7. Recognize your best employees 

Incentivizing your talented employees for their hard work is important to keep them motivated. A 2022 study cited in the Harvard Business Review found that employees who reported that their managers were strong at recognition were 40% more engaged at work and less likely to quit.

While there are many ways to reward good employees, such as providing bonuses or increased compensation tied to their work performance, there are other ways to provide incentives to strong performers. This can include publicly highlighting their accomplishments to the rest of the team members through a social media platform like LinkedIn or email, providing paid time off, or flexible work schedules. 

A 401(k) can help you attract and retain your best talent

When thinking about your recruitment and improving your employee retention rate, there are several factors to keep in mind, which ultimately can help improve your employer brand and attract top talent. A strong compensation and benefits package—including providing retirement benefits—is one of the most important factors for most prospective employees. In fact, a Gusto survey from 2022 found that workers are 40% less likely to leave in their first year when offered retirement benefits. 

Contrary to what you may think, providing better compensation and benefits may not always be costly. But beyond compensation and benefits, it also helps to have a positive inclusive workplace culture, managers who are thoroughly trained in people management, and a system that recognizes and rewards your best workers. 

If you are interested in rounding out your benefits package with a 401(k) that can help improve your recruitment and retention efforts, sign up for a retirement plan that meets your needs today.