What does it take to keep employees? Do you need to give perks like nap rooms, no set hours, or free on-site meals? Or is it something else such as effective onboarding that helps employees fit in quickly and understand their responsibilities while on the job? Let’s look at ways for raising employee retention rates at your company.

Perks Are Great

Image via Flickr by Global Panorama

Happy employees make for a motivated and loyal staff. Some companies offer incredible perks like video game time, on-site massages, or free food. Incentives encourage employees and increase your retention rates. Other companies might offer extended parental leave or on-site child care for employees with young children. Still, other popular perks encourage health and wellness at work through on-site gyms, yoga classes, and free health clinics. No matter what size company you own, show your employees you care about them personally and not just what they contribute to the bottom line.

Other well appreciated ideas include time off for attending children’s activities, tuition reimbursement, flexible hours, or relaxed dress code. Some companies even help employees pay off student loans. Think about what your employees want help with and come up with some creative ideas as perk you offer.

Proper Onboarding

Top reasons new employees quit their jobs include not feeling they fit into the workplace culture or were unsure of their job responsibilities. These problems and other similar complaints stem from ineffective onboarding, the process of welcoming and training employees. How do you build a strong onboarding program?

When you hire new employees, make sure you spell out their job duties and performance expectations. Discuss company culture and introduce new hires to co-workers and management. Also, let employees know where to find information about your company policies whether it’s a hardbound manual or a website.

Another important part of onboarding is the right tools. Create training lessons and quizzes for new employees to understand rules and responsibilities. Organize all your resources in one place for easy access. And set up the ability to accept electronic or digital signatures on HR documents, cutting down paper use and streamlining the process for new hires.

Must-Have Benefits

According to recent studies by the Glassdoor Economic Research team, employees expect certain benefits. These include:

• Health insurance
• Paid vacation
• Retirement plan
• Dental and vision insurance
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Generous sick days
• Paid holidays

These are the bare minimums most employees want when searching for a new job. If you’re company cannot afford to offer fully paid benefits, then at least pay a reasonable amount so employees know you’re trying.

Over 50 percent of workers want increased benefits at their workplace. It’s what makes working for you better than working for someone else. Some companies focus on health and offer free or discounted gym membership, nutrition counseling, and on-site or off-site fitness classes. Other companies might steer their benefits toward families, offering extended parental leaves, on-site child care, and even lactation consultants for new mothers.

Recruitment Tips

The way to recruit new employees is by making people want to work for you, so add a unique perk. Easy and cost-effective benefits include no dress codes, flexible working hours, and promoting community volunteer activities during the work week. Today more than ever, people like feeling that they give back to their neighbors, and company-sponsored volunteer programs help fulfill that need. Try and schedule party times for company picnics and get-togethers that create a unified feeling among employees. If a worker believes the company cares about them, they are much more likely to stay on the job.

Today, employees look for several things when accepting a new job. Company culture and values, room for advancement, leadership opportunities, and benefits all play major roles in deciding where to work. It’s a competitive market so, make your company stands out by offering a few extras. Once hired, start by introducing the new employee to all staff members. Then, make the onboarding process simple but thorough. Lastly, toss in a few perks and reap the benefits of a loyal and productive staff.