Losing skilled employees can be damaging for companies, which face a period of uncertainty while they fill the vacancies. It makes more sense to try to hold on to the workers you have.
“With employees having the power to access new prospects as global opportunities increase, companies need to have measures in place to keep employees. As such, there is an urgent need to shift the focus to employee retention,” says Lyndy van den Barselaar, the MD at ManpowerGroup SA.
She advises:
- Find out what workers want now, bearing in mind that everyone’s lives have changed since the pandemic;
- Most workers want more choice, flexibility and autonomy as well as security and opportunity;
- Exit interviews have become more common — where employers ask workers why they are leaving. Stay interviews can give employers insight into why people don’t want to leave.
- These interviews must not be used to garner information that can be used against workers, but be regular, open, safe and respectful conversations about workers’ hopes and fears;
- Stay interviews should take place between a manager and employee to gather information that can help the company retain its employees while strengthening manager-employee relationships; and
- Do not go through the motions of stay interviews and then fail to address the issues uncovered as this will make workers feel ignored.
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