Resignations can be hard for any business, given that people are the best assets of any company. Here’s how you can take care of your employees so that they stay.

According to survey results from Monster Survey, about 96% of employees are looking for a new job. And although the reasons may vary from one person to another, the most common reasons why employees leave their companies include looking for higher pay, new opportunities, or a better work-life balance.

The large influx of resignations in 2022 led to the monicker “The Great Resignation,” as about 50.5 million people quit their jobs. This was a big deal in the business landscape, which alarmed many employers, especially since employees are considered the best assets of any company. 

In fact, this mass exodus also made an impact on the Philippines. A survey showed that around 74% of professionals consider resigning but 38% decided not to. This means that it’s important for businesses and business owners such as yourself to exert their best efforts to make their employees—including their best ones—stay.

That being said, here’s how you can take care of your employees in order to retain them in your workforce.

Provide Higher Salaries and More Benefits

Just as people are the lifeblood of any company, money is the end goal of every employee. After all, it is essential for survival. This is why one of the best ways to retain employees is by giving them a salary that matches up with their skillset, position, and output. If employees feel like they’re not getting paid enough in their company, this can be reason enough to leave.

What’s more, this addresses a prevalent culture of changing companies to get a higher salary. In fact, a report from Forbes states that “Staying employed at the same company for over two years on average is going to make you earn less over your lifetime by about 50% or more.”

“Keep in mind that 50% is a conservative number at the lowest end of the spectrum,” the report adds. “This is assuming that your career is only going to last 10 years.  The longer you work, the greater the difference will become over your lifetime.”

Why so? For one thing, it’s better to pay your current employees better, as they already know what needs to be done in the company and understand its culture. This works better than offering a new employee a high salary once your old ones leave, given that you will incur more expenses and use more time to train the replacement. Also, company loyalty is just as important and that deserves to be rewarded.

Bigger salaries are also helpful for employees, given the fact that the inflation rate as of April 2023 is already at 6.6%. Therefore, giving employees the pay that they deserve will not just encourage them to stay and even motivate them to work harder, but it will also help them financially.

Aside from salary, providing benefits like transportation and food allowances or Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) memberships are just as important, while rewarding them with performance incentives can sweeten the deal.

Avoid Micromanaging Your Employees

Webster defines micromanagement as “excessive control or attention to detail“. Though there are certain situations where it might be needed, micromanagement can be restrictive in nature and can generally break the trust between the managers and the staff. Overdoing it may also cause employees to feel incompetent about their skills.

“Micromanagement will eventually lead to a massive breakdown of trust between you and your staff. Your staff will no longer see you as a manager, but a despot whose only desire is to wall up its staff,” a report from Pluralsight notes. “This crushing act breaks what little trust already exists between [the] employee and manager.”

Micromanaging also makes employees feel that they are not in control of their daily tasks, given that each aspect is overseen and controlled. When trust is gone, it can lead to a loss in productivity, and in worst-case scenarios, it can even cause employees to leave the company, especially the high-performing ones.

To avoid this, train your employees and teach them what to do. Once they’ve understood the task, trust them enough and give them the freedom to do their job comfortably. Check the results and base their performance from there. This is important, especially since not all employees are built the same way and their ability to learn and execute a task varies. What matters, in the end, is that the job is done properly and efficiently.

Praise and Show Appreciation

As much as it’s easy to point out the mistakes of employees, mentioning the things that they’ve done right and praising them for it does wonders with their morale. After all, showing appreciation doesn’t just translate to higher salaries and bonuses—giving your employees positive reinforcement as often as possible can motivate them to work harder.

How? Show or tell your employees what you liked most about their output. This will also help them know their strong points and will improve their self-esteem. What’s more, it will fuel them to do better, since they know that their efforts are being appreciated. 

While correcting and giving constructive criticism is still essential, fostering an environment of positive reinforcement by praising employees verbally also makes it easier for them to accept these points of improvement, since they’ll know that you only want what’s best for them. 

Allow Schedule Flexibility

The lockdowns borne from the pandemic have made people realize that they can work at their own pace, and even at their own homes. This has caused a spike in work-from-home settings or hybrid setups among companies, given that people now have the option to work from home and go to the office.

That being said, being flexible with work arrangements is something employees now seek—especially for businesses whose jobs can be done remotely. Given that transportation fares often increase in the Philippines, implementing a flexible work setup also allows employees to save time and money from going to the office back and forth.

By observing such practices, businesses can make the employees who live far from the office stay, since the work needed to be done can still be done anyway.

Offer Learning Opportunities

While managers and in-office mentors can guide employees toward improvement, it’s better if the company itself can help its employees upskill. Defined as the act of “[providing] someone, such as an employee with more advanced skills through additional education and training,” upskilling can help them learn new skills and technologies, improve their work performance, and expand their expertise.

After all, when your employees become better, they’ll apply their new learnings to make your company better. They’ll even see your company as a good avenue for personal and career growth, which is a factor that most people look for and want in a company.

That being said, you can provide learning opportunities through coaching sessions, seminars, masterclasses, online or face-to-face classes, and the like—whether in-house or outsourced.

Encourage Employees to Have a Work-Life Balance

According to statistics, about one-third of employees resign because of stress. This is why it’s important for businesses to assign manageable tasks to avoid burnout and eventually, resignations.

Aside from ensuring that assigned tasks are doable within a time frame, you should also limit your tendencies to message employees after office hours—even on weekends, holidays, and when they are sick or taking a leave of absence. It will also help employees if you encourage them to take time off as needed for their mental health.

When employees feel that their well-being is prioritized and that their personal time is respected, they are more likely to stay in the company.

Fostering a Good Work Culture

By fostering teamwork and a collaborative culture of support and learning in the workplace, employees are less likely to treat their job and fellow coworkers as competition. To do so, you will need to be good examples by being hands-on, showing kindness, and treating your employees with respect. That way, people can be more comfortable working within the environment.

“Think of all the programs, communications, and organizational behaviors within your organization,” a report from Asana reads. “These hundreds and thousands of touchpoints make up your organizational culture—anything from your budget to the language you use in job descriptions to how decisions and business objectives are defined and communicated.”

When a good workplace is established, employees tend to feel safe while working. Once they do, they are more likely to perform better, since the place doesn’t become corrupted with toxicity. 

Let Employees Talk and Listen to Their Feedback 

In order to improve your relationship with your employees, it is important to foster a safe space of openness and communication. You, as their boss, should always be open to any complaints and concerns that your employees have and act on them if needed. After all, they need to feel that they can tell the company things without being judged or facing repercussions.

As for employees who do not feel comfortable approaching you or their immediate bosses and supervisors, you can hold surveys that assess their satisfaction with the company so that it will be easier for you to address any issue before it gets big. It will also be a way to learn what areas can be improved on. And who knows—the concern raised may even be a prevalent issue that many employees have been wanting to address.

Learning is a two-way street, which means you can also learn from your employees in the same way that they learn from you. By implementing necessary changes, employees will find it easier to stay. What’s more, you will find it easier to foster a great work environment that allows employees to find their purpose in their work.

Although these efforts are beneficial for your employees, they will also help the company as well. How? By implementing measures that will help your employees stay, you will retain a productive and loyal workforce. And this positive workplace that allows employees to thrive will help build up your company for success.