The job market has been competitive for a long time and shows no signs of slowing down. The great recession continues; CNBC recently reported that “40% of workers are considering quitting their current jobs in the next 3-6 months.” Employers know they must be competitive to attract the talent they need in their open roles, but what happens after hiring them? How do you ensure they stick around? Once the new employee has accepted your offer, you’re not guaranteed that they’ll stay. Read on for some helpful employee retention tips on what you can do to make sure your new hires and all your staff become thriving, long-term employees.

A good first impression is crucial; according to Inc.com, “20% of new hires quit within their first 45 days of employment.” Make sure that your onboarding and orientation processes are informative and comprehensive. Does your organization use a lot of acronyms at your company? Make a glossary of terms, so new hires do not feel awkward asking someone. On that note, assess your company culture – is your office a safe place where people feel comfortable asking questions? (Read more about psychological safety here.)

Most importantly, check in with your new hires regularly. You may be finished with the onboarding process after a week, but new employees will likely still have questions a month or two into their new roles. A quick phone call, a stop by their desk, or even a message on Teams, Slack, or other chat-based software to see how they’re doing could make your new hire feel welcome.

Hiring and onboarding new employees can be difficult for smaller businesses that don’t have a staff of HR professionals. When you partner with PrestigePEO, we pair you with a team of specialists who will act as your remote HR team, there to answer any questions you may have and always just a phone call or an email away.

In this competitive job market, employers need to ensure they’re offering a great package to their new hires and their long-time employees. You may be able to lure new team members in with high salaries, but if you do not have great employee benefits to go along with that salary, you could lose good people. Those first few months in a new job are crucial, so be sure to provide outstanding benefits to your employees.

If your new employee realizes you’re offering empty benefits, they may return to their old position. (Make boomerang employees work in your favor, not against you – read more here!) So what benefits are your employees looking for? Offering fully remote or hybrid work schedules is very popular with candidates. Better health insurance is also up there with the most desired benefits that candidates are looking for at an affordable price. Lackluster health insurance can make or break a job offer. Since the pandemic, our health has become even more important to us all, and candidates are careful about what healthcare packages they will accept.

If you have a small team, your company may not be able to afford competitive benefits, and it may cause you to lose excellent job candidates and top talent. You are not alone, and we can help! Partnering with a PEO allows you to join with other small companies, giving you the buying power of a much larger organization. With PrestigePEO, you can access great employee benefits for a fraction of the cost you’d find on the open market.

60% of companies do not set short-term goals for new hires. But without a goal, how will your new employee know if they’re succeeding? To solve this problem, set up expectations they can achieve in specific timeframes. For example, set goals for three-, six-, and nine-month intervals. Remember, these are checkpoints – do not expect the new hire to move mountains. These should be deadlines that any successful new team member can complete within these timeframes. This may seem like you are putting pressure on a new team member, but there is always an expectation to succeed in a new position.

This provides the new hire with goal posts – something concrete for the new hire to focus on and achieve. It also gives you markers to check in and ensure your new employee is still doing well. If needed, you can also provide them with additional training or education in any area they feel they need support in. You will be giving them a confidence boost if they are performing well and allowing them to feel trusted and respected. This helps a new employee feel like a part of the team.

In many small businesses without a full-time HR team, the burden of HR management falls on the business owner. It is often not possible to give full attention to growing your business while also taking care of the daily intricacies of HR, meaning that one or both of those responsibilities will suffer. As a business owner, you deserve to focus on why you got into your industry – your business! When you allow the specialists at PrestigePEO to handle your HR management, your employees win because they are getting expert assistance, and you win because you can get back to business.

By making these changes, you can make great strides toward ensuring that your company is a place where employees want to develop their careers. Of course, there is no way to guarantee that a new hire will choose to stay with your company, but these are steps in the right direction. Interested in more information on this topic, or need further HR management advice? We can help! Get in touch with us today.