This summer promises to be extremely busy: business experts predict that 30-50% of corporate America will switch jobs this year, with a significant increase in turnover to start this summer and result in diminished returns for stakeholders as companies struggle to maintain productivity.
In this blog post, we’ll review the reasons behind this huge wave of turnovers and share effective ways you can use corporate communication to fortify your employee retention.
The Turnover Tsunami
There are a slew of reasons why people are choosing to leave their current employers and move on to new opportunities. Some are typical reasons such as seeking a promotion or raise, while some are factors exacerbated by the pandemic—like disengagement and burnout.
According to Achievers Workforce Institute’s 2021 Engagement and Retention Report, out of 2000 surveyed employed adults in February, 52% were looking for a new job, which is up 17% from 35% just a year ago! The study also found that 46% of respondents feel less connected to their company and that 42% believe company culture has weakened since the outset of the pandemic.
Undoubtedly, maintaining employee engagement and company culture has been a challenge since COVID-19 forced a huge portion of employees to work from home. But now that workers are starting to return to the office and daily life resembles pre-pandemic days more and more, employee expectations for engagement and culture are rising–especially as jobs open back up and create a competitive demand for supply.
So what can companies do to combat this impending turnover tsunami?
Corporate Communication Strategies
In the next few months, human resources and corporate communications will need to work together and play an outsized role. Here are four strategies they can tackle in order to maintain your employees.
- Keep your employees “in the know” for strategic decisions.
Employees feel engaged when they are involved or at least informed with company decisions. Even if your employees aren’t part of the decision-making process behind company-wide strategies that are typically set by the C-Suite, if they’re at least knowledgeable of what’s happening, they’ll feel connected to the company. Nobody wants to feel like they’re out of the loop, and if your employees know what’s going on with the company, versus being kept in the dark, they’ll be informed and then actually able to become interested.
- Share professional development opportunities.
Seeking better professional development is always a top reason why employees leave their current employees, post-pandemic or not. Many companies, however, have cut training programs and professional development budgets to preserve cash during the pandemic. So now, more than ever, is time to reinvest in the development of your workforce. If your company has a professional development plan in place, you need to make sure that your employees understand it. And if you don’t have a program in place, you should consider communicating what opportunities your employees have. After all, employees who believe that their company is invested in their growth and development are employees who will stick around, work hard toward their goals, and ultimately contribute to the business’s success.
- Create feedback opportunities.
One of the best ways to increase employee engagement and retention is to create feedback opportunities. In a recent survey by Qualtrics, almost 60% of employees surveyed reported that they felt more engaged because their company had a feedback program in place. Employees want to be heard and supported, whether that’s giving specific feedback to managers or airing frustrations with policies. Companies should create and normalize a feedback culture in which employees feel safe giving candid feedback.
- Foster employee to employee connection.
During the pandemic, so many of us have felt isolated from not just our friends and family but from our colleagues as well, making it easier to hop to another job. If your company doesn’t have tools in place to allow employees to communicate with each other, whether it’s to collaborate on work projects or simply get to know each other, you need to act fast. By encouraging employees to connect with one another, you’ll strengthen the company culture and have more productive teams all while boosting engagement.
Bolster Your Employee Retention with Sparrow
In these upcoming months, companies need to have a tool that can actually reach and engage with their employees. Without the right solution in place, businesses will be vulnerable to employee churn and disrupted productivity. At Sparrow, we believe in the power of workforce communications and can help your business improve employee retention and navigate the summer ahead. Book a conversation with us today.
