Keeping your current employees happy and loyal to your company is likely one of your main goals for 2020, and it should be. According to a recent survey by The Conference Board, employee retention is the top concern of CEOs due to the risk of recession, trade uncertainty and competition. The construction industry alone is facing an uphill battle with four workers leaving for every one hired.
Construction firms want to skip the revolving door of incoming and outgoing employees and focus on keeping the employees they have. It makes sense as retained employees already know your company culture, and there’s no need to cover the hiring and training costs that come with a new employee, which can be high. The average cost of finding a replacement when a team member quits is a staggering $15,000.
Prepare your company for a prosperous 2020 by implementing these five tips to retain your top employees.
1. Map a clear path with your company.
Your employees want to learn and grow in their careers, but that doesn’t mean they want to leave your company in order to do so. In fact, 94% of employees say they’d stay at a company if it invested in their career. Promoting from within gives your employees options for their future while saving your organization time and resources spent hiring and onboarding new candidates. Plus, your current employees should already have a rapport with co-workers and understand how your company operates. Succession planning is one tool you can use to map out your employees’ careers and put them on track to progress with your company.
2. Lay all your cards on the table from the beginning.
Some surprises are welcome, i.e., “We’re getting a bonus this year!” Other surprises, like “Everyone is working this weekend!” not so much. Communicating with your employees about their roles and responsibilities from the start helps to increase overall employee satisfaction and thus improves retention. Be open and honest about salary, raises, company culture, hours of operation, overtime and any other important details. The more potential employees know about their position, the less likely they’ll be disappointed and move on to other opportunities.
3. Make performance reviews a regular thing.
Performance reviews help your employees become better at their job. In turn, your company benefits by having high-performing employees. Scheduling performance reviews multiple times throughout the year allows you and your employees to set clear goals for every season. This keeps motivation fresh, whether your workload changes seasonally or not. To get the most out of performance reviews, let employees know what they’re being measured against, how they’re tracking towards those goals and what the rewards are for exceeding those goals.
4. Offer great benefits and exciting perks.
One of the biggest changes to benefits over the last decade has been the cost of healthcare for employees. In 2019, healthcare costs reached about $15,000 per employee, with employers covering about 70% of that cost. Offering voluntary healthcare options, like supplemental plans and critical illness insurance, to cover the rest is a benefit welcomed by many construction workers. Don’t forget to add those perks that cost little to nothing, like flexible working hours, wellness programs and gym memberships. Using a benefits management program can not only allow your employees to open enroll for the benefits they want, but helps keep your company compliant with the Affordable Care Act.
5. Show them the money.
Money talks; it’s as simple as that. When it comes down to it, your employees’ check allows them to pay bills, reduce debt, save for vacations and enjoy their free time. With the amount of competition out there, you need to give your workers a reason to stay with your company. Offering a competitive, above-industry-average wage goes a long way towards keeping employees loyal and producing at a high level, but also helps improve recruitment by attracting top talent and boosting word-of-mouth referrals.
Retain more employees with the cloud-Based Arcoro platform
Using the right tools to manage employees automatically complements your retention efforts. With less time wasted on mundane tasks, you’ll be able to focus on big picture management initiatives, like setting goals and career mapping, while allowing your employees to choose their own benefits from cafeteria plans and manage PTO.
The automated Arcoro platform acts as a bridge between all your human resource management processes. The platform helps administrators configure customized workflows, secure data, stay compliant with labor laws and regulations, reduce user errors and more.
Arcoro features a built-in integration that connects to top-of-class insurance carriers, ERP, payroll, HRMS, HRIS and business intelligence tools. Employees can easily access important documents benefits statements, workflows PTO and more. With configurable modules, you can add or remove which parts of the platform you want to use as your business requirements change.
The Arcoro platform was created with a modular approach, and can offer innovative technology in the following categories:
