Increase Retention by Prioritizing Staff Engagement in 2023

On average, 4 million Americans have quit their jobs each month throughout 2022. And, each day there are approximately 10 million job openings posted throughout the country.

The Great Resignation has impacted organizations in different ways. What can organizations do to instill a renewed sense of engagement in their workforce and retain their talent? Staff engagement is a huge contributor to increasing retention.

Staff engagement is multi-faceted; it is a combination of how someone feels about their work, their motivation to achieve work goals, their commitment the organization and their desire to add value to organizational goals and growth.

Here are five ways to influence staff engagement:

Foster strong work relationships

It is important to allow staff opportunities to establish quality relationships with each other and their leadership team. Think about on-site and off-site opportunities to promote these relationships. Consider team lunch dates that are off-the-clock and meant for casual conversations. Promote cross-team lunches, round-table meetings, or other outings to strengthen collaboration and partnerships. Leadership and management staff should demonstrate

By Sarah Meusburger

a genuine interest in learning about each staff member. Publicly recognize and praise the efforts both of the teams and individuals in your organization. These work relationships are a big part of what makes any position enjoyable and have a direct impact on staff engagement.

Capitalize on 1:1 meetings with staff

Develop a consistent practice of having one-on-one discussions to stay connecting with staff. Are your staff’s work efforts aligned with organizational goals? While performance metrics and deliverables are commonly spelled out for staff, have you asked them about their own individual goals? The only way to determine if their goals align with those of the organization is to talk about it. Ask questions. Learn about their professional interests that may allow them to expand continued on page 14 continued from page 13 or shift the scope of their position, and increase their opportunity to add value, perhaps in new ways. Invite and encourage ideas. If employees feel that their goals and ideas can be discussed and are valued, they will be more engaged in their work.

Celebrate “ordinary” and small wins

Celebrate the small things that make your organization successful. While small wins are rarely viewed as successes, imagine the impact to your organization if no “ordinary” or small wins occurred. For example, take the time to recognize employees that can effectively enter important data that keeps your business running, those that carry out service orders, those that handle customer calls, and offer exceptional customer service.

What about the staff that plan client events, draft press releases, implement new software, train or mentor others in the organization or suggest a process improvement that saves everyone time? These “ordinary” things allow your business to be sustainable. Recognizing these wins is a way of showing these staff that you value their contributions.

Promote and foster adaptability in the workplace

Everyone in your organization is different. Champion a workplace that recognizes these differences and thrives as a result. Be willing to consider suggestions or new ideas that may improve processes or in some way make your organization better. Challenge staff to think about obstacles in new ways and applaud those that step up.

Remain open and articulate an open-door policy of receiving ideas and suggestions. You may be surprised that an employee that appears be struggling is merely looking for the right opportunity to shine.

Demonstrate compassion & a humanistic approach

Organizations that have the highest levels of engagement are those that operate their business always with compassion for their employees. Demonstrate a humanistic approach with your team and promote their wellbeing by encouraging a healthy work/ life balance. If you notice that an employee is behaving differently or comes off negatively during a work discussion, offer to talk one-on-one to see how they are doing. Be flexible in meeting someone where they are at. If your organization offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), make sure your employees know about the free benefits associated with that.

Although it may be easiest to sidestep these efforts, the reward for engaging your workforce is MORE; more retention; more teamwork, more ideas, more productivity, more profitability, etc.

All of these things make your organization more successful in 2023 and will significantly increase staff retention.

Sarah Meusburger, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is a Senior Human Resources Business Partner with the State of Minnesota, Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). She has worked in human resources for twenty years and has enjoyed supporting different organizations throughout the region during that time.