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According to Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index, 41 per cent of the global workforce are likely to consider leaving their jobs within the next year.

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As of January 2022, the number of people voluntarily leaving their jobs had been above pre-pandemic levels for eight straight months. There’s a lot of debate around the causes of the ‘Great Resignation’, but the facts are clear: more people are quitting their jobs than ever before.

In this context, it’s not enough to focus all of your efforts on sourcing and recruiting new talent — you also need to work on retaining the employees you already have.

Reducing attrition in an organization is a complicated and multifaceted process, but there are a few simple steps you can take to lower your chances of losing your best people to your competition.

5 Tips To Help You Retain The Talent You Have

1

Keep salaries in line with new hires

When you make a new hire, a good candidate will often be able to negotiate a better salary, putting them on a higher pay scale than current employees who are doing the same job. Bringing these employees’ pay in line with any new hires you make is a great way to show them they’re valued and means they won’t need to move to another company to increase their pay.

2

Invest in the employee experience with the right perks and benefits

Perks and benefits can go a long way to improving employee experience and morale in an organization but you need to make sure they’re the right ones. Consider surveying your employees to find out what they would find most valuable.

3

Make learning and development a key part of your EVP

According to a Gallup poll conducted on behalf of Amazon, 66% of people aged 18–24 ranked learning new skills as one of the top three perks they looked for when looking for a new job. Young people want to learn, and you’re going to lose your top performers if you’re not providing this opportunity.

4

Make diversity, equity and inclusion a key focus

In a recent survey, 66% of respondents said their company’s DE&I strategy impacted their feelings on how long they planned to stay there. Companies that are serious about retention need to make these initiatives a priority.

5

Embrace flexibility and trust your employees

If the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that the world won’t stop turning if we introduce a little flexibility into the workplace. And it could actually be key to retention: a recent survey by FlexJobs found that 41% of people who had quit their jobs in the last six months did so because they weren’t allowed a flexible schedule.

Hiring Internally And Building Talent Escalators

In a recent McKinsey survey, almost nine in ten executives said their organization was either already experiencing skill gaps or expected them to emerge in the next five years. Of these, only 31% said that hiring would be the most effective action to take. 50% said skill-building would be more important.

Instead of immediately looking to make an external hire when you have a critical role to fill, consider whether: 

  • You already have the skills you need in-house, even if they’re currently not being used to their full potential
  • Any of your current employees could ‘reskill’ and develop the capabilities needed

To both retain employees and prepare for the future of work, it’s essential to offer employees opportunities for upskilling and reskilling through structured, strategic, and comprehensive training programs. Training programs provide opportunities for employee learning and development, thereby increasing employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention, while also preparing an organization for the fast-approaching future.

You do need to make sure you’re backfilling junior positions too, so you’re not left without any entry or lower-level employees. A great way to solve this is by implementing internship or training programs that allow you to train up more junior employees until they’re ready for a promotion, effectively creating a continuous pipeline of tech talent.

Not only does this help with retention by allowing your employees to develop new skills and advance in their careers, but it could also be a big money saver. According to a Glassdoor study, the average cost-per-hire in the US is around $4,000 — that’s a lot of cash to put towards a reskilling budget. 


Attracting, Hiring And Retaining Tech Talent

In today’s rapidly changing work environment, high attrition rates and the need for tech talent to support digitalization initiatives continue to create a hyper-competitive tech talent market. In our recent guide, our talent experts share key insights and tips on recruiting and retaining talent in a challenging job market.

Download the guide to find out:

  • How to source top tech talent effectively.

  • Ways to build a meaningful employer brand to attract high-quality talent.

  • How to optimize your candidate experience.

  • Top tips on retaining, retraining and upskilling current employees.

  • How high-growth tech businesses Lyst, Asana and Simply Business scaled their tech teams efficiently.

Download Guide

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