Why Is Employee Retention More Important than Hiring in 2024?

More so than at almost any other point in contemporary history, the labor market is struggling, and it’s not for lack of jobs.

The Great Resignation of 2021, otherwise known as the Big Quit, is largely to blame for this phenomenon. Though the specific reasons vary from industry to industry, a lack of workplace protection and proper compensation inspired a trend of general resignation.

Of course, there are many demographic variables to consider regarding recent worker retention, including specific industries. The food service, retail, and healthcare industries felt the impact more considerably.

That said, every workplace can work a little harder to incentivize their employees to stick around. If you’re in the position of having a severely understaffed office and in the market for some new team members, take a look at this guide.

Here’s what you can do to prioritize retention and why you should.

Why Is Employee Retention Important in 2024? 

The labor shortage can be attributed to workers not feeling satisfied or adequately cared for at work. There was much higher turnover reported amongst younger workers, particularly Gen Z. Besides low wages, one of the top factors in employees quitting was poor workplace treatment.

It should be no surprise that happy workers stay in their positions for longer and tend to be more productive. Still, some of the reasons detailed below might give you and your HR team something to think about when crafting a retention plan.

Work Culture

Even if there is no specific reason or person to blame for employees leaving, constant turnover is bound to affect workplace morale negatively.

Of course, the occasional employee who gets a good job offer elsewhere will happen from time to time. However, when an employee sees everyone else constantly talking about or actively attempting to leave, they are more likely to go too.

When employees feel engaged with their coworkers and committed to the company mission, that attitude will undoubtedly carry over and influence their desire to stay. Good communication amongst coworkers and team spirit ultimately produce employees who are confident in their capacities and excited to do the work.

These contributing factors to a positive work environment mean more productivity and, by extension, increased revenue down the line.

Recruitment and Training Costs

One of the main reasons employers hate to hear that an employee is moving to greener pastures is that there will soon be a huge void to fill. That void entails decreased productivity and a pretty hefty chunk of time and effort dedicated to filling it again.

The fact of the matter is, recruitment for your company can be incredibly time-consuming, and it takes time to get a new employee up to full working capacity.

Turnover is expensive, too. You have to pay for outside recruiters, job advertising, onboarding expenses, and other fees associated with the interview process.

Overall, maintaining your current roster of employees is far preferable to having to seek out new ones.

Customer Experience

When building customer relationships, you can’t put a price tag on experience. Unfortunately, when an office or industry experiences turnover, what’s lost is a lot of institutional knowledge and expertise.

Without proper experience, the likelihood that your customers will have a good experience working with your company or organization significantly lessens. Consumers tend to seek a service provider who knows how to get the job done right and helps them through any problems.

Without much experience, there’s little chance of satisfying the customers’ requests.

3 Top Strategies for Improving Employee Retention in 2024

All this isn’t to say that there’s no hope. Employers can position themselves advantageously in 2024. But it starts with learning a few lessons from the past year.

1. Practice Adequate Compensation

A significant number of women left the workforce during the past year due to childcare concerns raised by school closures and working from home. Don’t be one of those companies that lose workers over perceived inadequate benefits.

Granted, no company can afford to pay every one of their employees top dollar to keep them from leaving. Still, it’s a smart move for workplaces to be transparent about their pay structures and generous with their employment packages.

Perhaps your company could instigate a regularly timed out pay raise system to let employees know that their loyalty will pay off. Another option could be better health benefits or more flexible work scheduling.

At the end of the day, employees want to feel appreciated at their place of work. Adequate compensation certainly accomplishes this.

2. Welcome Open Dialogue

Often, employers find themselves blind-sided by a sudden onslaught of two-week notices. They might have believed that their employees were feeling great at work and had no plans or desire to look elsewhere.

To prevent this from happening to you, regularly reach out to your employees. Encourage them to give their feedback. Rather than simply stating that employees can come to you with problems at any time, provide proper space and time for them to share their thoughts.

Don’t look at this as time wasted while they air their grievances. Instead, think of it more as a way for your employees to collaborate with you on growing your company.

As the individuals working directly on the ground, they might have a lot of ideas on how to make operations more productive. Listen to what they have to say.

3. Encourage Development and Growth

Aside from reasonable compensation, the other thing employees want most of all at work is the chance to grow their skill sets and develop their careers. Indeed, career opportunity is the leading cause of job changes.

If employees feel stuck in a rut without any chance for upward mobility, they will start to feel frustrated and unhappy. The job resignations are not too far off.

Consider each employee’s skills and talents individually. Work with them on a game plan for moving forward in the near future.

Conclusion 

No matter how good your services or products are, a company is nothing without well-trained and happy employees working for them. The only way to increase productivity is to focus on retention.

If you have any questions about how to go about recruiting and retaining confident, satisfied employees, get in touch with ScoutLogic. Our experts will help you build a team you can truly count on for many years to come.

David Garcia

David Garcia, co-founder and CEO of Scout Logic, is an industry leader in the bulk background check world. With his strategic acumen and expertise in the HR sphere, specifically in hiring, recruiting, legal compliance, background checks, and resume screening, he’s an invaluable asset and consultant.

David's counsel extends across the boards of ScoutLogic, YipitData, and Supplier.io, drawing from his impactful stints on the boards of Infutor and Avetta. With an extensive 25-year journey, he champions unparalleled B2B commercial leadership within data & analytics, significantly shaping the HR landscape.