Create Your Own Employee Retention Strategy by Playing the Game

Finding positive employee retention strategies that work for your company is a major
undertaking this year. It’s critical that business leaders establish the right strategies in place to deter turnover, encourage productivity, and retain top-quality talent.

One of the best ways to achieve this is with open-book methodologies.

This post will cover six powerful ways to create your retention strategy and how the Great Game™ methodology helps to achieve successful outcomes in this regard.

The challenges facing employees are numerous: with record-high inflation, an ever-increasing cost of living, and a myriad of external circumstances, health and wellness included, workers are in a vulnerable predicament.

What are the Best Employee Retention Strategies?

The best employee retention strategies prioritize the support of deep human needs like belonging, appreciation, and safety (financial and psychological security).

In order to create a work environment employees love, you’ll need to first design a successful employee retention strategy for your business that takes into account: 

● Workplace Culture
● Fair Compensation
● Opportunities for Advancement
● Leadership and Management

If not, you might have to watch your employees leave. 

Since the pandemic, employees have been leaving their jobs in record numbers for a
variety of reasons, causing general turnover and worker attrition to go up in several
industries. There’s a difference, however. 

Workforce attrition occurs when an employee voluntarily resigns but there isn’t a new employee available to take their place.

Turnover is when an employee quits and needs to be replaced with a new hire. Both of these have seen a marked increase over the last few years.

The trend of employees quitting and going to different employers is nuanced, the result of numerous factors:

● Changing industries: leaving one industry for a completely different one
● Transitioning to nontraditional work (gigs, temporary contracts or part-time jobs)
● Reassessing their priorities. Some are leaving the workforce entirely to assume other responsibilities, like caring for children or aging parents.

Related Post: The Five Myths of Management

In order to combat this trend, company leaders need to enhance their workplace culture to create a better space for employees to work. To do so, it requires knowledge of why great employees stay.

Quick tips on retaining employees:

1. Prioritize a social, friendly and non-toxic work environment
2. Recognition and respect among peers and management
3. Gifted and engaged co-workers
4. Emotional investment in the work and the company
5. Security and fair compensation
6. Purposeful and meaningful work

Having the right information is half the battle. Next, you’ll need to create a unique
employee retention strategy that is suitable for your organization in specific.

Crafting a retention strategy that actually works means considering six crucial factors that play into why employees stay and what motivates them to perform well.

1. Purpose as a Core Retention Strategy: Why it Matters

Companies need to help give their employees purpose at work or face inevitable
turnover.

Research indicates that employees who feel a purpose and meaning behind their work are not only more productive, but less likely to leave the company.

In the wake of the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting phenomena, this fact alone is a powerful reason for companies to take notice.

How is purpose defined? It depends on the person. Most people surveyed by Mckinsey in August 2020, said that their work largely defines their life purpose.

However, when asked if people were actually living out their purpose at work from
moment to moment, a small portion of managers, as well as employees, answered “yes”.

Executives, on the other hand, were “eight times more likely than other employees to
say that their purpose is fulfilled by work,” according to Mckinsey. What’s more, employees, when compared to managers, were three times less likely to see the
connection between their work and the organization’s purpose on the whole.

There is an obvious hierarchy gap between the purposefulness felt by employees compared to that of owners.

Training employees to think and act like owners SOLVES this purpose gap. Playing the Game offers employees a similar feeling of purpose and meaning that’s typically exclusive to owners and CEOs.

It’s because, unlike before, the workers are invested in the success of the company because they have A Stake in the Outcome of the company.

They work harder, meet more deadlines, and feel more invested when employers take the time to educate them on the business, empower them to make decisions based on that knowledge, and engage them through A Stake in the Outcome.

In some Great Game™ companies, there is a literal stake in the outcome through employee stock ownership plans (ESOP) in which employees literally own part of the company, but that is not a requirement for playing The Game.

The majority of companies who have implemented The Great Game of Business aren’t employee-owned, yet their employees feel like owners all the same.

Empowering workers and giving them purpose is why the Great Game of Business has been such a successful operational model.

Employees are engaged at a new level and are beginning to truly understand the financial metrics behind what makes us as a business financially successful. I am no longer the only one taking responsibility for the company’s success.

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2. Good Leadership & Opportunities to Grow

Consistent leadership development ensures that your most tenured and effective
employees don’t stay stagnant in their position but can grow and develop.

Focus on good leadership as a starting point. Granting career-growing opportunities to workers often comes down to management and their decision on the matter. Many workers don’t quit jobs; they quit bad managers. Leadership and mentorship can be taught if you have the time to invest.

Succession planning is a great way for employees to visualize their opportunities for growth. Succession planning is the process of defining a policy that dictates how leaders will be replaced when they leave the company to retire, take a different job, etc. This process includes both identifying and developing the next generation of leaders. Employees who see a path to greater responsibility and leadership opportunities are more likely to stay and take advantage of programs that help them grow their management skills.

Professional development opportunities are a must-have. According to LinkedIn,
94 percent of employees would stay at their company longer if it invested in their career development.

3. Clear Communication

Great company culture goes to waste if it’s not communicated correctly. Creating clear lines of communication between management, leadership, and employees is important. Leaders should communicate their vision simply and authentically.

Establishing clear communication across departments is a large part of creating a
supportive and growth-oriented culture. With so many workplaces offering flexible
hours, there’s an increasing blend between work life and home life.

Knowing this, it’s not surprising that many employees wish to have a familial relationship with their coworkers. These close knit working relationships are nurtured
with the help of effective communication throughout an organization.

What should leaders communicate?

● Values
● Mission
● Vision

Businesses that play The Game have company-wide Huddles. Great Game™ Huddles are a communication rhythm where everyone is kept informed, involved, and engaged in the progress of The Game.

This is where we share the numbers, teach each other business, and see the results of our education. It’s where the organization’s vision, mission, and core values are directly and indirectly expressed to employees.

4. Positive Workplace Culture

It’s not always a toxic workplace that forces people to look for new work elsewhere.
Sometimes it’s the seemingly insignificant things that take a toll on people’s time —
constant emails, too many unproductive meetings, or employee behavior when they’re making a joke.

Little things like micro work processes and daily task loads can be greatly improved with more transparency from the top down, from leaders to workers. 

Sometimes the culture is far worse than small inefficiencies that add up. Sometimes
they’re toxic. Domineering bosses or leaders who make promises and then backtrack on them are clear indicators of a toxic workplace.

Work against a poor, non-existent, or potentially toxic culture. Strive to create a culture of recognition and praise for accomplishment. Companies with a recognition program see a 31% decrease in turnover.

Doing so will not only keep workers from leaving as soon as a new opportunity arises, but it will enhance their engagement and productivity at the company.

It’s common knowledge that among the top reasons why employees leave their jobs
in search of greener pastures is feeling under-appreciated or undervalued at their work (79% of employees who quit).

5. Fair Compensation & Bonus Structures

Compensation is a key issue. Are you paying your employees a competitive salary?
With a tighter labor market and more people opting out of the workforce, the talent
pool to choose from shrinks.

Keep a watchful eye out for the average compensation rate for your industry. 
Update your wages to stay competitive with the market’s standards.

Open-book management helps employees understand that their wage is actually fair, given what the company’s overhead expenses and profit margins are. Knowing the truth about a company’s books, employees do not harbor underlying resentment or seek to leave the company as soon as possible.

Directly raising wages isn’t the only avenue for competitive compensation. You can create positive bonus incentive plans to keep employees motivated and engaged,
thereby bolstering your company’s retention rate.

6. Accurate Evaluations

Evaluations help you create a solid employee retention strategy for your business. Key insights can be gained from exit interviews to find out why an employee is leaving. You can even give “stay” interviews to determine what motivates them the most about their current job. The causes of turnover can change over time.

So gathering and reviewing this information in the form of personal interviews or surveys can help you create a better understanding of what needs aren’t being met and drum up employee retention strategies for your company.

How Can Playing the Game Bolster Employee Retention?

By educating, empowering, and engaging employees through open-book management and operational transparency from top to bottom, employees feel more invested in their company and are less likely to leave. It’s all about giving employees A Stake in the Outcome® and having them feel like their work adds value.

Why is the Great Game of Business Methodology so successful?
Simply put: It turns work into a playful, competitive game. It incentivizes and engages talent like no other model by allowing them to take part in organizational decision making that, under normal circumstances, is reserved for CEOs and upper management.

Employees from businesses that practice the Great Game have reported increased life satisfaction and better personal financial health after learning and personally applying things like tracking company expenses, basic accounting, and cash flow management.

Recap: What is the Great Game of Business?

The Great Game™ allows business owners to harness the collective talent of their
workforce to enhance the company’s operations. By opening the books, leaders can help employees make a mental connection between their labor and the company’s
success.

Gamifying your business by allowing employees to think like owners of a company helps to incentivize greater levels of productivity, radically reduce turnover, and establish sustainable, long-term profitability for your organization.

Transform Your Company’s Culture with Open-Book Management Today

Our experts can coach you through how to apply the Great Game™ principles for
your company. We offer a unique, approachable method for your business, no matter
the industry vertical.