What is a Good Employee Retention Rate and How Can You Improve it?

November 14, 2023

A good employee retention rate is 90 percent or higher, meaning your company should aim for an average employee turnover rate of 10 percent or less.

You can do many things to help improve employee retention rate, such as treating your employees well, offering a competitive salary, and offering perks. In this article, we will review employee retention and ways to improve it.

What Is Employee Retention?

Employee retention is the organizational goal of keeping talented and productive workers by providing a positive work environment.

By doing things such as showing appreciation to your employees, encouraging a healthy work-life balance, providing competitive benefits and pay, and promoting a positive work environment, you can reduce your turnover rate.

It is especially important to have a good employee retention rate during periods of low unemployment and when there is more competition for talent.

How Do You Calculate Employee Retention Rate?

To know how to calculate employee retention rate, follow this formula:

The number of individual employees who remained employed for the entire measurement period the divided by number of employees at the beginning of the measurement period multiplied by 100

When figuring out how many employees remained employed during your measurement period, be sure you only include the employees who stayed employed on the first and last day of the measurement period.

How to Increase Employee Retention Rate

To learn how to increase employee retention rate, you can implement the following strategies:

Onboarding and Orientation

Having a good onboarding and orientation process helps set up your new hires for success. The onboarding process should not only teach your new hires about the job, but it should also explain company culture and how they can contribute to it.

Employee Compensation

It is important to offer employees competitive compensation, and you may need to adjust and evaluate salaries regularly to make this happen. Even if your company cannot increase pay now, offering other forms of compensation, like bonuses, is just as sufficient.

Additionally, you should also offer health care benefits, retirement plans, and job perks (like fitness stipends, stress management programs, or work-from-home opportunities) to help employees feel a better work-life balance.

Provide Clear Growth Opportunities

To keep employees for the long haul, you should provide clear growth opportunities and encourage professional development. You should ensure your employees are aware of these opportunities so they understand that they can grow with your company.

Communication

Clear communication is essential for a good employee retention rate. As a leader, you should ensure you are doing your best to promote positive, timely, and constructive communication with your whole team, including those who work remotely.

Connecting with your team regularly can not only help your employees communicate with you effectively, but it can also help you to get a better sense of their workload and job satisfaction.

How Do I Make My Employee Retention Rate Look Good?

To allow your employee retention rate to look good, you should implement these strategies:

Onboarding and orientation
Mentorship programs
Competitive compensation
Perks
Wellness offerings
Training and development
Feedback on job performance
Effective communication

Factoring these strategies into everyday life for your employees, including new hires, can help you improve your retention rate and lower the turnover rate.

What Factors Hurt Employee Retention?

Many factors can hurt employee retention. To avoid lowering your employee retention rate, it is important to be aware of these factors to avoid any potential issues.

Employee Burnout

Many employees leave their jobs because of employee burnout. They feel overworked and exhausted, causing an overall dissatisfaction with their job. This burnout can cause employees to feel both physically and mentally unwell, leading to decreased job performance and productivity.

Lack of Recognition

If employees feel unappreciated and their work goes unnoticed, it can lead them to feel unmotivated, causing lower self-esteem and reduced job satisfaction. As a leader, you must acknowledge your employees’ efforts and make them feel respected and valued.

Poor Employee-Manager Relationship

It is important for employees and their managers to have a healthy relationship. Without a healthy relationship with their manager, employees often are unproductive and dissatisfied with their job. By having a good relationship with your employees, you can create a more positive work environment and increase your employee retention rate.

Lack of Work-Life Balance

A healthy work-life balance means that you need to find a good balance between your work life and personal life. To help your employees balance out their work and personal lives, you can offer flexible working hours, offer work-from-home options, and create a special area at work where employees can take breaks, unwind, and relax throughout their workday.

Is Low Retention a Sign of Bad Management?

While low retention is not always a sign of bad management, it often can mean problems within the work environment. A low retention rate usually means that employees are not satisfied or committed to the organization, and they may have problems with their work environment, company culture, and compensation.

Benefits of High Retention

Taking advantage of these opportunities to increase your employee retention can offer many benefits to your company and employees.

Cost Reduction

Having a high employee retention rate can help your company save money, as you will not spend as much time and money on advertising, interviewing, and screening new employees.

Experienced Employees

Having high employee retention means that you have experienced employees who typically have in-demand skills and are top performers for your company. This can be helpful in the long run for your company, as your employees work to their best ability and can successfully help train new hires in the future.

Increased Productivity

A high employee retention increases productivity, leading to a boost in your company’s overall performance. This can also increase employee morale and engagement.