6 strategies to improve employee engagement and retention

Knowing how to improve employee engagement, retention, and experience is a win-win-win. You’ll save time, resources, and the hassle of trying to replace exceptional staff. 

While you can’t stop your top talent from walking out the door, you can do your best to prevent it. This article breaks down six ways to strengthen engagement while encouraging your workforce to stick around.

Why is employee engagement important for retention?

Employee retention is a company’s ability to hold on to its current workforce. It’s the opposite of turnover, which is the rate at which employees leave. While some individuals see work as nothing more than a paycheck, the vast majority are looking for something more from their jobs. That’s why employee engagement plays a huge role in retention. 

Engagement is how connected people feel with their work, their team, the company, and the company’s goals. This connection helps them form emotional and intellectual bonds with their organization and colleagues. Engaged employees find their roles more meaningful and fulfilling, making them less likely to seek other opportunities elsewhere. On the other hand, when staff engagement dips, your risk of losing talent rises fast. 

Here are four benefits that highlight the importance of employee engagement and retention: 

1. Lower recruiting and training expenses: Filling an empty position can be expensive. Retaining employees means avoiding job advertisement costs and agency fees. Managers also won’t need to take the time to interview potential hires or onboard and train new starters. 
2. A more stable culture and higher morale: When your staff stay put, your people have the chance to connect with one another and build a network of support. This contributes to a positive company culture and overall lifted morale throughout the workforce. 
3. Internal development: Holding on to employees means you’ll be able to identify individuals with potential and train them to take on senior or leadership roles. Strengthening internal talent pipelines reduces the need to hire externally.
4. Stronger, longer-lasting customer relationships: Your customers notice continuity and trust teams that stick around. When they interact with the same employees over time, it leads to deeper relationships, better communication, and a more productive partnership. 

4 reasons why employee engagement and retention strategies fail 

Even the best employee engagement and retention strategies can fall apart if the basics aren’t in place. Here are four of the most common reasons efforts stall: 

1. A lack of leadership support: When managers and HR leaders don’t take engagement and retention strategies seriously, employees notice. They won’t believe your efforts are genuine, and you’ll lose their trust.
2. Overly complicated strategies: Complex engagement and retention strategies that rely too heavily on processes rather than action cause managers to lose sight of what actually matters.
3. Misleading metrics: When your metrics don’t reflect reality, it's tough to see growing risks around disengagement and employee turnover. You need accurate figures to know how and when to act.
4. Failing to act on feedback: Collecting feedback from employees but doing nothing with their input destroys their trust. If their constructive criticism never leads to anything, you can expect morale to take a serious hit. 

Workleap Officevibe’s employee engagement surveys and custom tools ‌help you collect accurate insights from your workforce, which you can use to jumpstart your retention strategy. Officevibe’s ready-made templates simplify the survey process, and AI-powered guidance helps managers respond to employee concerns faster. It helps you hold meaningful conversations and strengthen alignment across your team. 

How to improve employee engagement and retention: 6 strategies for success 

Understanding employee needs, motivations, and frustrations is essential to maintaining engagement and reducing turnover. Here are six ways you can connect with your team and encourage them to stick around.

1. Offer opportunities for professional growth

When you offer progression, training, and mentorship opportunities, you show your employees that you care about their future. Giving them professional targets to work towards and the potential for development keeps them motivated and engaged. If people feel like they can reach their full potential and achieve their career aspirations at your company, they’re far less likely to look for opportunities elsewhere.

2. Make managers the drivers of engagement 

Managers set the tone for day-to-day communication and support and have a great deal of influence over the employee experience. Train managers to spot the early warning signs of disengagement, encourage them to carry out regular check-in meetings, and learn how to turn performance reviews into follow-up conversations that strengthen alignment and trust. A supportive manager can be the difference between a loyal, engaged worker and one who feels undervalued and disrespected.

3. Listen to your employees

Regular 1-on-1s, open conversations, and employee engagement surveys - including structured employee satisfaction surveys - help you figure out what’s wrong before it turns into churn. Actively listening to your people’s concerns and responding to them quickly reassures them you have their best interests at heart. When they see real action in response to their feedback, they’re much more likely to stay. 

4. Recognize employee achievements

Recognizing and celebrating employees’ achievements can go a long way in making them feel valued. While they’ll certainly appreciate grand gestures, even small efforts like a public Slack post will help people feel seen and celebrated. Try building things like gift cards and personalized thank yous into your company culture. 

5. Encourage connection and collaboration 

Personal relationships are a big reason people stay at a company. Help your staff get to know each other by encouraging team introductions, cross-functional projects, informal meetups, and clarifying your organizational structure so everyone understands how teams connect. They’ll be more willing to support each other when they need it, and the bonds they’ll form will keep them engaged and motivated. Camaraderie will also provide a hefty boost to morale, and tools like a team spirit template can help spark meaningful conversations and strengthen bonds across teams.

6. Use technology and smart tools 

There are lots of tools and technologies you can use to boost your engagement and retention strategies. For example, with Workleap AI, you can analyze engagement survey data, spot any trends, and use its recommended follow-up actions to figure out the next steps for HR and managers. It’s one of the best pieces of software for figuring out what’s working and what’s slipping.

Boost talent engagement and retention with Workleap 

Improving employee engagement is about creating a culture where people feel valued, heard, and supported. When you stay present, ask thoughtful questions, and follow through on what you learn, engagement turns into increased retention, productivity, and job satisfaction for your employees.

To give your engagement and retention strategies a boost, try Workleap Officevibe. You’ll have access to pulse surveys, custom surveys, and AI-powered insights, helping you gather and act on feedback from your team. Officevibe keeps teams aligned, helps leaders act quickly, and boosts the employee experience. 

Demo Workleap Officevibe today and see how it can help you build a workplace with engaged employees who stick around.

FAQs

Why is competitive compensation important for employee retention?

Competitive compensation tells your talent they really matter. It reduces the chance that your skilled team members will walk out the door because someone offered them higher pay or better perks. Employers who get compensation right are more likely to attract the best talent and keep hold of their current workforce.

How can employee engagement surveys improve the workplace?

Surveys give you insight into the day-to-day employee experience. Learning from your people’s valuable perspectives, you’ll be able to spot any issues affecting their engagement and respond swiftly. When workers see leaders act on their feedback, they feel valued, and trust receives a welcome boost. 

What are the 5 C’s of employee engagement? 

The five C’s of employee engagement are clarity, connection, contribution, credibility, and career. Each plays an important role in shaping how your people experience their work and environment. When you build these five elements into your engagement and retention strategies, your team is more likely to feel supported and motivated to stick around.