retention strategies Archives

5 Benefits to Include In Your Employee Retention Strategy

by Sam Johnson | Apr 20, 2022 | Blog

5 benefits to include in your employee retention strategy. The Great Resignation isn’t over yet. Up your employee retention strategy and keep your team where they belong with these five benefits.

Nearly 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in February of 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. These numbers suggest that the period of record employee turnover known as the “Great Resignation” is not slowing down.

The costs to employers are staggering. It costs six to nine months of an employee’s salary to hire and acclimate their replacement, according to data from SHRM. It also takes a new employee 1 to 2 years to reach the level of productivity of an existing employee.

To help avoid the high costs of turnover, employers should be prepared to reevaluate their benefits packages. Here are 5 benefits to include in your employee retention strategy.

1. Boost employee retention with personalized financial wellness benefits.

Around 87% percent of employees want help when it comes to managing their finances, according to PwC’s 2021 financial wellness survey. And employees that have financial wellness report higher levels of job satisfaction, loyalty and productivity – factors that make employees less likely to leave their current job. According to data from prudential, 60% of workers feel more committed to their employer when the employer shows an investment in their overall financial wellbeing.

However, when it comes to financial assistance, too many organizations focus solely on helping employees plan for retirement. A fully comprehensive financial wellness plan can help addresses a wide range of employee concerns. Look for a solution that is as dynamic as your workforce and support your team with comprehensive financial wellness benefits that cover everything from financial planning and coaching to building an emergency fund or paying down debt.

2. Ease employee stress with comprehensive healthcare offerings.

One of the most important aspects of an effective employee retention strategy is to listen to employees and respond to their needs. According to SHRM, 56% of US employees with employer-sponsored healthcare benefits surveyed said whether or not they like their healthcare plan is a key component in their decision to stay with their current job. Offering a healthcare plan is also a way for employees to keep up with competitors as 58% of companies offer health benefits making it the most common workplace perk.

3. Support employee wellness by destigmatizing mental health benefits.

In a response to the needs of their employees, around 40% of employers expanded their mental health benefits during the pandemic. Mental health benefits can come in many forms. Some of the best solutions have been including mental health coverage in the company’s health plan, promoting mental health programs to try and reduce the stigma around the issue and establishing an employee assistance program.

According to a survey by Teamstage, 91% of Gen Z and 78% of Millenials think that companies should implement a mental health policy. A survey by Calm found that 76% of potential employees consider mental health benefits as critical when evaluating potential job prospects.

4. Offer family-friendly benefits to care for employees and their loved ones.

The term “family-friendly” encompasses a wide range of benefits from fertility planning to extended maternity leave to childcare benefits. Family-friendly benefits may suggest to employees that the workplace has a legitimate interest in their wellbeing and is another way for companies to keep employees happy. According to a study by Utah State University, 94% of companies that implemented family-friendly policies reported a higher level of employee satisfaction.

5. Invest in paid time off today to improve employee retention in the future.

Research from SHRM suggests that encouraging employees to enjoy vacation time can actually increase productivity in the long run. However, simply providing paid time off may not be not enough for employees to enjoy the benefits. In a 2021 survey, Priceline found that only 21% of Americans used all of their PTO in 2020 and 19% felt their positions were too demanding to allow them time away. PTO is not only an important part of employee compensation but a vital tool for fighting burnout that can contribute to turnover. So, it’s important employees feel supported when taking a break.

Take your benefits strategy to the next level with financial wellness solutions from Best Money Moves.

If you’re looking for a first-in-class financial wellness solution, Best Money Moves could be the answer you need. Best Money Moves is a financial wellness program that provides all the guidance and support employees need to help them reduce their financial stress. It has tools and features that help employees measure their financial stress, budget for monthly expenses, pay down debt and plan for emergencies.

To learn more about Best Money Moves Financial Wellness Platform, let’s schedule a call. Contact us and we’ll reach out to you soon.

4 Factors Driving the Great Resignation (And What You Can Do to Help)

by AllyMauch | Oct 19, 2021 | Blog

4 factors driving the great resignation (and what you can do to help). With the U.S. in the middle of a mass-employee exit, it’s vital for employers to look at the root causes.

An estimated 1 in 4 employees quit their job in 2021, according to data from analytics firm Visier, with more expected to leave by the end of the year. This is the highest number the Bureau of Labor Statistics has recorded in two decades of data tracking.

Anthony Klotz, an associate professor of management at Texas A&M University, coined the term “the great resignation” to describe this unprecedented period. Here are 4 key factors driving this great resignation — and what you can do to keep your employee retention high.

1. Widespread and long-lasting employee burnout

For many, the pandemic has led to increased workloads and longer working hours, all while people are dealing with the external stressors of a health crisis. Employees who work from home have found their professional and personal lives blurred. Plus, without a physical office space to leave, it can be difficult to “log off” when there still may be work to be done. For those in healthcare or service industries, smaller staffs and increased demands have led to grueling hours and more work.

In a June survey from Monster.com, 95 percent of the U.S. workers polled said they were considering leaving their jobs, and one-third of them listed burnout as the top reason. To combat this, employers can commit to regular mental health check ins, offer increased time off or consider more flexibility when it comes to work hours.

2. A decreased feeling of employee belonging

With longer and harder hours has also come lower employee engagement and a decreased sense of belonging. Per a recent report from BetterUp, belonging is a leading indicator of both intent to stay and performance. The isolation of the pandemic, though, has made it more challenging for employers to feel connected to their colleagues and to their work.

The report recommends that employers focus on providing strong leadership, listen to employees’ needs and desires and think about which groups, such as parents or underrepresented minorities, may require more support in order to feel a strong sense of belonging.

3. Major work environment changes

The pandemic has brought about a whole new way of working for many of those who previously worked in an office. Some have grown to prefer work-from-home setups and have left their jobs out of an aversion to returning to an office, Klotz, the researcher credited with the term “the great resignation,” previously said.

To avoid losing employees over work environments, employers should aim to be flexible with their workers whenever possible. One solution could be to create a hybrid set up, which allows for a combination of remote and in-person work.

4. Increased financial stress among workers

COVID-19 has also undoubtedly led to higher levels of financial stress — in the American Psychological Association’s 2020 Stress in America report, 63 percent of adults said their finances were a significant source of stress. This is a major jump from the previous year, when just 46 percent said the same. With stress being a leading cause of resignation, it’s essential to tackle financial wellness within the workplace.

Adding financial wellness to employee benefits’ packages is one way to both lower overall stress and increase retention. Last year, Prudential found that 6 in 10 workers said they were more committed to their employer and more productive when their employers demonstrated a commitment to their financial wellness.

When it comes to actually implementing such benefits for your employees, programs like Best Money Moves can help. Best Money Moves uses artificial intelligence to power a mobile-first platform that measures employee financial stress, then dials it down with a unique content-mapping system that helps solve your employees’ pain points. Our triggers and alerts system, as well as budgeting tools, personal finance resources and more, guide employees to make smarter financial decisions and reduce their overall stress, which in turn, can help improve your company’s retention rates.

If you want to learn more about how Best Money Moves can bring financial wellness to your company, download our whitepapers.

4 Ways Financial Wellness Can Boost Employee Retention

by daniel@bestmoneymoves.com | Jul 14, 2021 | Blog

4 ways financial wellness can boost employee retention. Retention is an increasing problem in the post-COVID workforce. Financial wellness benefits could be the solution employers need.

In the post-COVID world, retention is an increasingly complex problem that organizations are struggling to solve.

In fact, 64% of American workers are seeking or considering new employment according to a November 2020 study by HR software firm Ceridian. That number jumps to 75% for workers under 30. For organizations to have any hope of combatting this wave of turnover, they need to first get real about the pain points driving employees to leave. That’s where financial wellness comes in.

Consider these four ways that financial wellness benefits can help boost employee retention.

1. Financial stress is a bigger problem than most employers realize.

Vaccinations have significantly improved the state of the pandemic, but experts estimate that it could take years for Americans to recover financially. Now, most Americans rank their finances as the single biggest source of stress in their life. Finances can be a taboo topic at work, but chances are you have multiple team members that are struggling. Offering financial wellness benefits can provide valuable help to employees of all ages, incomes and backgrounds.

2. Financial wellness provides tangible benefits to stressed employees — and their workforces.

Financial stress can lead to a loss of productivity, increased absenteeism and widespread mental health challenges among employees. So, learning how to manage your money doesn’t just reduce stress in an abstract sense. When employees are less stressed about money, they’re more focused at the office and spend less time on non-work related issues. This, in turn, can reduce absenteeism and improve overall retention rates.

3. Financial wellness programs can help employees feel seen by their employers.

When you offer financial wellness programs to your employees, you signal to them that you care and have a realistic view of their work/life balance. Staying connected with the struggles of your employees helps create a more intimate work culture, which in turn creates a more positive overall experience at the office and makes it that much harder to leave.

4. Money impacts every aspect of your employees life. Financial wellness can too.

At its core, retention is about ensuring employee satisfaction and successful retention strategy finds a way to help employees feel fulfilled in all areas of their lives. Money touches nearly every aspect of a person’s life, from daily spending, to housing, to family planning, or saving for a future retirement. So financial wellness can bring wide-reaching, impactful help to employees at any stage or circumstance.

Best Money Moves is a human-centered and individualized approach to financial wellbeing. The comprehensive and user-friendly platform provides a plethora of financial resources and educational tools. The library of resources contains over 700 articles, videos, and calculators. Each Best Money Moves user has their personal feed tailored to the several distinct factors that monitor their personal stress. This means your employee can use Best Money Moves to educate themselves on anything from investing in the stock market to co-signing loans to buying their first home.

Employee information is always private but employers do have access to key analytics that show overall employee financial stress and stress levels over time. The Employer Dashboard also features information on program usage, debt and savings levels and more so employers can see just how valuable Best Money Moves is to their employees.

If you want to learn more about how Best Money Moves can bring financial wellness to your company, download our whitepapers.

Employees Are Planning to Quit Post-COVID. What Can You Do About It?

by daniel@bestmoneymoves.com | May 11, 2021 | Blog

Employees are planning to quit post-COVID. What can you do about it? Many employees burnt out from the COVID-19 pandemic are looking to leave their employers. How can workforces keep their top talent?

The return of in-person work has ramped up across the country, following the national vaccine rollout. However a new problem is on the horizon: An estimated 1 in 4 workers plans to quit their job once the pandemic ends, according to Prudential Financial’s Pulse of The American Worker survey from March 2021.

Considering the challenges of working at home during the pandemic and the increasing reports of burnout, news of an employee mass-exit may not seem surprising. If organizations want to keep their strongest team members happy and in-place, it’s important to understand why so many employees are planning a post-COVID career change.

Here’s why more employees are planning to quit post-COVID and what you can do to avoid the wrong end of the potential mass-exit.

Flexibility is here to stay.

Working from home has been an adjustment for many teams, but not one without its silver linings. Remote work offers employees a sense of agency over their schedule and flexibility in their lives, something that has been sorely needed in the uncertain early days of the pandemic. And employees are taking notice. In fact, according to the same Prudential Financial survey, 68 percent of employees agreed that a hybrid workplace model is the best fit.

What’s more, a lack of flexibility could directly contribute to employees quitting post-COVID. The survey also highlighted that 42 percent of respondents said that if their company doesn’t offer long-term remote options then they will look for a company that does. When so much of life is out of your workforce’s hands, a hybrid workplace might just be essential to employee wellness.

Employees fear the pandemic has erased upward mobility.

After a year at home, many employees are asking themselves if their personal career growth can be still achieved in their current environment. The Prudential Financial survey revealed that of the respondents planning to quit after the COVID-19 pandemic, 80 percent expressed concerned about career growth.

So, what are some ways to improve your company’s internal mobility? For one, consider your current employees for new positions before new hires. If you can reward an individual’s hard work by promoting them, you’re building loyalty and long-term sustainability. Other strategies to consider are investing in external workshops to support the upskilling of your employees, or creating a system of internal mentoring that places value on mutual feedback between peers and managers.

Isolation leads to disconnection.

According to the Prudential Financial survey, another major factor for the large number of employees on the move is a lack of connection with coworkers. In fact, 42% of workers planning to leave post-pandemic gave their employers a “C” grade for ability to maintain company connectedness during COVID-19. To learn some strategies to improve employee culture and engagement check out our previous articles on the subject.

The pandemic has been a difficult time for everyone and many folks are seeking change. The thing is, for many companies that change can come from within.

If you want to learn more about how Best Money Moves can bring financial wellness to your company, download our whitepapers.

How Do You Retain Employees?

by LizStevens | Aug 20, 2019 | Blog

How do you retain employees? Forty-three percent of workers will look for a new job in the next year, putting employer focus on retention strategies.

More than 80 percent of employers are concerned about retaining employees — and with good reason. Almost half (43%) plan to look for a new job in the next 12 months, according to research from global staffing firm Robert Half.

“In a tight employment market, workers have more options, and the grass may look greener somewhere else,” said Paul McDonald, senior executive director for Robert Half. “Employers can help prevent turnover by learning what motivates their most valued employees and customizing their retention strategies. While money is an important motivator, benefits or growth opportunities are also strong enticements.”

How Do You Retain Employees Looking for a New Job?

Robert Half asked respondents if there was one thing their employers could do that would convince them to stay at their current jobs. The top answer was what you’d expect: more than 40 percent of workers would stay if their employer offered them more money.

Access to more time off or better benefits would retain 20 percent of employees looking for new jobs. Nineteen percent of workers would be happy to stay at their current job if they were given a promotion. A new boss would retain only 8 percent of employees. Lastly, 10 percent of employees said there was nothing their employer could do to convince them to stay.

What Employee Retention Strategies are Companies Using?

Forty-six percent of employers are increasing communication with employees through town hall meetings and employee engagement surveys in an effort to retain more employees. Just over 40 percent of employers are improving employee recognition programs and providing professional development to improve employee retention.

Enhancing compensation and benefits is the retention strategy 40 percent of employers are using, which makes sense since more than 60 percent of respondents said more money, time off or benefits would keep them at their current job.

Other employers are providing reimbursement for ongoing education, facilitating mentorship programs or working with interim staff to prevent full-time employees from becoming burnt out.

Surprisingly, 7 percent of employers aren’t using any employee retention strategies. If they knew nearly half of their employees would be looking elsewhere within the next year, we bet they’d reconsider.