Worried About the Great Resignation? Take These Two Steps to Help Retain Talent

Allow Flexibility Where It Makes Sense

While some of your employees likely have good reasons for wanting to work remotely or not, if remote work is a burden on the company, employees are likely to be understanding when they are asked to return to the office. However, if there is room to allow all or some of your employees to decide for themselves whether the return to the office, leave the decision up to them. Employees see the option to work remotely as a benefit and assign a monetary value to it, sometimes taking jobs that allow for remote work over in-office roles with higher pay.

Regardless of whether you decide to have a fully remote workforce, a flex work schedule, or bring everyone back to the office full time, make sure you are clear about the reasons for that decision. Details are not required, but letting your employees know that the remote vs office question is something you put some thought into can go a long way.

Consider building the option for remote work into your company’s career path. Maybe it makes sense for recent college grads to spend their first two years in the office so they can learn from their peers and build relationships. But once they’ve learned the ropes and fit with the company culture, the value of having them in the office may decrease. The promise of remote work, or tying the option to work remotely to a promotion, may work well with your company’s structure.

Provide Continuous Feedback

Employees want to grow – this means promotions as well as professional development. Having regular touch points with direct reports is important. It can help leaders make changes quickly where needed and become more in touch with the everyday goings-on. It also helps employees feel valued and heard.

Set aside a few minutes for weekly or bi-weekly one-on-ones when possible. Give feedback and collaborate with your reports. Real-time and near real-time feedback is much more effective when helping employees grow and always remembering to highlight areas where they are excelling or things they’ve done well since your last check-in. These can be simple – like a well-written email, taking care of a task quickly, or helping another colleague develop in small ways. Don’t be afraid to repeat these praises either; it will likely only encourage similar performance.

Providing regular feedback lets your employees know that you care about them and their work. This will help keep them around.

Steven Haug, Ph.D. is a Project Manager of ECA Partners. He can be reached at [email protected].