How to Reduce Employee Attrition: 11 Strategies to Retain Your Best People

High employee turnover can be costly and disruptive to any organization, impacting morale, productivity, and the bottom line. Retaining top talent requires a strategic approach that goes beyond competitive compensation—it involves fostering a positive work culture, offering opportunities for growth, and ensuring employees feel valued and engaged. In this article, we’ll explore 11 proven strategies that can help reduce employee attrition:

• Overcome low pay
• Create career growth opportunities
• Improve workplace culture
• Provide a sense of belonging
• Overhaul inefficient leadership and management styles
• Boost low employee engagement and satisfaction rates
• Address poor work-life balance
• Offer flexible work arrangements
• Combat varying attitudes toward work
• Deliver exceptional onboarding experiences
• Commit to frequent employee recognition

How to reduce employee attrition: Actionable strategies

Decrease voluntary turnover by first anticipating your employees’ challenges and then taking steps to mitigate them. Here are eleven common reasons employees choose to move on, complete with strategies to flip their decision.

Strategy 1: Overcome low pay

In a period of economic uncertainty, lower-wage employees may struggle to meet rent or mortgage payments if their annual salary isn’t keeping pace with the rise in inflation. Even your most loyal workers may turn their heads towards a rival employer promising a more competitive salary.

When budgets are tight, significantly hiking compensation may not always be possible. Still, there are several steps you can take:

• Researching the current job market: This enables you to understand what other companies are paying employees in your industry for comparable roles. Third-party benchmarking companies can support this step by providing data on average market rates
• Communicate with your workforce: If you pay above average, you can share this information with your employees as reassurance that it’s not worth seeking a position elsewhere
• Consider your perks and benefits packages: Employees value paid leave, a flexible schedule, and any other perks that make them feel valued. To retain the best talent, ensure your benefits package is competitive with access to medical cover, stock options, financial planning, etc.
• Redistribute recruitment budgets: If staff are content and not looking for another job, you may save significantly on hiring costs in the long term. Use this money on employee engagement instead
• Introduce a bonus program: An incentive tied to specific achievements, when implemented correctly, enables employees to earn more based on their performance without increasing fixed salaries

We interviewed Gemma Bullivant, a Strategic HR, Reward, and Executive Coaching consultant, who told us:

Strategy 2: Create career growth opportunities

If your employees can’t see how they’ll forge ahead with their professional development at your company, they may find other job opportunities that help them progress toward their career goals.

Prevent job-hopping by offering the following career advancement opportunities in your company:

• Regular employee training: Provide resources for your team members to grow, creating customizing learning plans via access to training management systems or learning experience platforms
• Job secondments and lateral moves: Growth and development don’t have to be a vertical move up the career ladder. Moving horizontally to a different role or department enables employees to pick up new skills, experience a range of management styles, and gain the support of a fresh team
• Mentorship and coaching: Pair up employees with more experienced colleagues in your organization so they can learn from someone who understands your culture and values
• Leadership development opportunities: Offer your most talented individuals access to workshops, seminars, or conferences related to management to hone their leadership skills
• Cross-functional task forces and special projects: Invest in high performers by allowing them to take on tasks outside their scope, such as leading strategic initiatives. This builds confidence and increases job satisfaction, which is vital to long-term loyalty. Plus, it helps them develop core management competencies
• Continuous feedback: The best managers understand the impact of consistent feedback. Keep your team engaged and motivated by setting realistic goals, offering praise, providing constructive criticism, and responding to their questions promptly

Strategy 3: Improve workplace culture

Company culture is the bedrock of your organization, and it must always support employee retention.

‍A Nectar research of 800 employees proves why: 93.5% would stay at a company for 5+ years if paid fairly, and the culture was great.

Developing a positive work environment can lift employee morale and ensure people are happy to attend work daily.

Here’s how to craft a workplace culture your employees won’t want to leave behind:

• Invest in relationships: Set aside time for your team members to get to know each other outside official business. This could be an informal gathering in the office, organized team activities, or employee socials.
• Encourage collaboration: Create opportunities for your employees to work together across teams and departments, promoting communication and fostering a collaborative environment
• Prioritize mental health: Provide access to professional resources if employees are struggling with stress, depression, or anxiety or if they simply need some advice
• Listen to your employees: Encourage an open forum where people can express their thoughts and ideas and ensure their voices are heard

Strategy 4: Provide a sense of belonging

Belonging is the often overlooked extension of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that turns DEI into DEIB. Where diversity relates to workforce representation, equity is about creating fair working practices, and inclusion allows employees to express their ideas; belonging ensures a psychologically safe space for your team members.

If your employees are scared to bring their whole selves to work for fear they don’t belong, they’re more likely to quit. Here’s how to make room for everyone in your organization to fit in:

• Collect employee feedback: Send out regular pulse surveys and ask questions like "Do you feel you belong in this organization?", "Does your manager make you feel welcomed?", "Does your team make you feel welcomed?". Use the results from these questions to investigate where your organization may be lacking in its DEIB initiatives
• Celebrate diversity: Organize events or activities celebrating different cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs. This allows everyone to share their heritage with colleagues and create understanding across groups
• Promote intergroup contact: Encourage employees from different departments to collaborate on projects, sparking meaningful conversations and helping build relationships across teams
• Incentivize team building activities: Offer incentives for your managers to lead group activities or volunteering initiatives that bring people together and inspire connection
• Stamp out workplace bullying: Team conflict can be constructive if it leads to progress, but there’s never a place for bullying or harassment in the workplace. Create an environment of mutual respect and ensure that managers swiftly address and deal with issues appropriately, involving HR as required

Strategy 5: Overhaul inefficient leadership and management styles

Gallup research reveals that poor management accounts for up to a 70% variance in employee engagement, ultimately impacting employee churn.

Leaders have the power to inspire, motivate, and progress their employees throughout their tenure, but the opposite is also true. People Management reports that two in five employees have quit a job due to a bad manager. And more than half of people considering leaving their roles are doing so because of their boss.

Avoid this happening in your company by taking the following action:

• Train managers: Provide your leaders with the tools required to manage effectively. Offer dedicated leadership training or workshops about effective communication, constructive feedback, managing workloads, and handling difficult conversations. Mentoring relationships between established leaders and managers with less experience can also be beneficial
• Establish clear expectations: Never neglect manager performance targets; your leaders must continue progressing as individual contributors should. Ensure leaders understand what success looks like in their role and create goals for them to work toward
• Actively listen: Ensure your managers are available to team members and listen to their ideas and concerns rather than following a top-down leadership style. Encourage supervisors to ask employees for upward feedback about their work and take action based on that information

Strategy 6: Boost low employee engagement and satisfaction rates

The global workplace is suffering from an engagement problem. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2023 data reveals that less than a quarter of employees feel engaged at work. 59% are not engaged, and 18% are actively disengaged.

Low engagement and satisfaction undoubtedly lead to attrition, but turning this situation around depends on understanding the root of why employees don’t feel connected to their work. We spoke to Amy Brann, Author, and Director of Synaptic Potential, who provided her recommendation:

Strategy 7: Address poor work-life balance

High childcare costs, long commutes, and burning the candle at both ends all contribute to employees choosing to jump ship due to a poor work-life balance.

Happy employees must be well-rested, so one of the critical strategies to reduce attrition should center around giving team members the freedom to disconnect:

• Encourage employees to take their annual vacation allowance and not feel guilty about taking time off
• Set a realistic workload that employees can perform within regular working hours instead of expecting people to stay late regularly or work excessive overtime
• Establish clear boundaries between work and non-work time. This includes turning off notifications outside of hours, setting expectations about responding to emails at certain times or on specific days, and encouraging employees to unplug from work in the evenings

Strategy 8: Offer flexible work arrangements

Gemma Bullivant strongly believes,

“Offering flexible work options, remote work options, additional paid time off, or the ability to curate your benefits are of significant value to many employees.”

Flexible schedules and working arrangements enable employees to manage family commitments, other interests, and mental health. For example:

• Flexible start and stop times enable people to work when they’re most productive. Similarly, compressed hours in a four-day or frontloaded workweek give employees extra time to relax
• Remote working offers freedom for employees who want to work from home or travel during the day without taking leave to accommodate things in their personal lives. This can be a game-changer for working parents and crucial for closing the gender pay gap by allowing women to progress with their careers
• Reduced hours or sabbaticals allow employees to take extra time off when needed. For example, some workers may need time to care for elders or other dependents. In contrast, others may want to spend extra time on a hobby or professional training unrelated to their current role
• Job sharing is ideal for those who want to take on a smaller workload without giving up their career

Strategy 9: Combat varying attitudes toward work

The modern workplace accommodates up to five different generations, including:

• Silent generation: Born between 1925 and 1945
• Baby boomers: Born between 1946 and 1964
• Gen X: Born between 1965 and 1980
• Millennials: Born between 1981 and 1996
• Gen Z: Born between the mid-90s and early 2010s

Each of these generations has a different attitude towards work, shaped by their experiences and societal changes. While Baby boomers and the silent generation are most likely to choose a job for life, Millennials and Gen Z workers are the most challenging categories to retain.

Gallup research suggests that 21% of Millennials have changed jobs in the past year, while Gen Z tends to be more career-driven and financially motivated than Millennials.

Here’s how to devise a retention strategy that accommodates all generations:

• Be inclusive: Ensure that ageism is never an issue in your workplace. Older workers have many years of experience behind them. In comparison, younger workers can offer fresh perspectives and gems from their recent training
• Allow employees to explore different roles within the organization, catering to the curiosity and adaptability of younger generations while enabling older generations to share their expertise
• Offer diverse training methods: Provide ongoing training, skill development, and opportunities for career advancement to satisfy the desire for growth across all generations. Tailor training methods to accommodate diverse learning styles, such as online courses, workshops, and mentorship programs
• Use a mix of communication channels: Include in-person meetings, emails, instant messaging, and collaboration tools to reach all generations of workers in the flow of their work and keep everyone in the loop

Strategy 10: Deliver exceptional onboarding experiences

New recruits are twice as likely to look for a new role if they’ve struggled during onboarding.

Craft an onboarding strategy by:

• Defining onboarding goals: Set clear goals for onboarding, such as improving retention, accelerating learning, and fostering engagement. Establish specific targets, like raising job satisfaction from 3 to 4.5 out of 5
• Creating an actionable checklist: Outline roles, responsibilities, and timelines for each process step. Ensure consistency and alignment among stakeholders
• Prioritizing actions: Rank tasks based on urgency and importance, avoiding overwhelming new hires
• Assessing from your new hires’ perspective: Continuously gather feedback from new employees to identify areas for improvement and adapt the onboarding process based on their experiences
• Roll out: Implement the structured onboarding plan and measure its impact. Collect engagement, preparedness, and job performance data to refine and enhance the onboarding experience

Strategy 11: Commit to frequent employee recognition

Employee recognition ties into engagement and praising your workers for their contributions to your overall business success. The idea is simple: Call out their positive accomplishments and motivate them to continue demonstrating that behavior.

Creating this rewarding work environment can involve investing in a formal employee recognition platform. Still, it can also be as simple as:

• Writing a handwritten thank you note to employees each month
• Extending verbal praise on the spot
• Offering monetary rewards or team bonuses when employees hit their targets
• Celebrating successes at a company party or event
• Highlighting employees in the company newsletter or blog post

Examples of companies that have successfully reduced their attrition rates

Apple

Apple’s achievement in reducing employee attrition by 28% offers valuable insights for enhancing retention. The company united its workforce around a solid mission to foster a vibrant culture by offering personalized engagement, such as “stay interviews,” increasing performance potential by 4.6 times.

Transparent communication via “Hello” and “Loop” apps keeps employees informed and connected to the company’s mission. Apple has also invested in a comprehensive onboarding process, including empathy training, transforming new hires into devoted advocates.

Zoom

Despite rapid people growth since 2020, Zoom remains committed to preserving its pre-pandemic culture of employee wellness and social connections by hosting virtual events and promoting work-life balance.

Zoom’s efforts to integrate new employees hired predominantly during the pandemic ensures that the company maintains a cohesive team environment. The “Happy Crew” initiative, monthly stipends, and mental health advocacy all contribute to employee morale and well-being, while employee reviews on sites like Glassdoor validate Zoom’s success in nurturing a positive workplace culture.

Paragus

Paragus, an outsourced IT consulting firm, has transformed its approach to employee retention in the face of high turnover rates expected in the technology sector. Recognizing that traditional perks were not enough to retain employees, the CEO embraced turnover as a reality and fostered a transparent and supportive culture to address the issue.

Paragus acknowledged departures as graduations, celebrating with farewell parties and a Wall of Fame for those who left on favorable terms. Paragus redesigned its business model and documented processes to mitigate the impact of turnover to ensure smooth client support transitions. The company also implemented transparent recruiting practices and a clear career ladder with skill and experience checklists, putting career advancement in the hands of employees.

Paragus enhanced its employer brand by being open and authentic and significantly improved employee satisfaction and engagement.

How to measure the success of your retention strategies

Employee turnover rates aren’t something you feel; there are multiple ways to measure if your strategies have successfully retained your valuable team members.

Employee attrition rates

Take a level of employee attrition benchmark to mark the start of your retention strategy implementation. Measure it again within a few months, and you should see the number of employee departures reducing.

Positive stay interviews

While exit interviews are an effective way to understand why someone has already chosen to quit, stay interviews are more proactive.

Invite every employee to discuss their current role with you and ask how you can improve their situation. This is a great way to identify potential risks of people leaving before it’s too late.

Discover the 15 best stay interview questions to ask your employees.

Tip: Score your stay interviews according to their attrition risk and compare them over time.

Employee satisfaction surveys

It’s good practice to send out frequent employee satisfaction surveys to gain qualitative and quantitative insights into how your workforce feels about your organization.

Tip: Use a mix of closed-style Yes/No and open-text questions, inviting the employee to provide more details and examples.

Measure these satisfaction surveys over time to understand if the scores improve and correlate with retention rates.

Enhanced employer brand

One way to measure employee loyalty is to look at employer review sites like Blind or Glassdoor to see how they describe their experience working with you. Feedback from employees is entirely anonymous but will be achingly honest.

Suppose you’ve previously suffered poor reviews, but these start to improve. In that case, this is an excellent sign that your strategies are hitting the mark.

Reduce attrition with Deel Engage: Grow and retain your people

Deel Engage offers a suite of tools that ensures you engage, grow, and retain your people over the long term:

• Career development: Create a continuous development cycle by defining career progression so your employees can see their future at your organization
• Learning management: Create customized learning journeys or take advantage of the vast library of world-class training courses
• Feedback and performance reviews: Collect actionable multi-source insights from peers, managers, direct reports, business partners, customers, and more
• 1:1 meetings: Set up structured one-on-one meetings between managers and direct reports to drive alignment and accountability and promote open discussion.
• Connection programs: Encourage long-term working relationships between peers to spark team spirit and evaporate workplace silos
• Engagement and pulse surveys: Drive engagement by gathering strategic insights, including eNPS scores, wellbeing scores, and DEI progress over time