Combating The Great Resignation: 6 Crucial Roles of HR in Employee Retention

This is a guest post by Bash Sarmiento

A company's human resource department plays a crucial role in retaining employees. During today's Great Resignation crisis, companies need to understand why people leave their jobs. They should also know how to combat these issues. In this article, we'll discuss the Great Resignation crisis and how HR departments can help prevent it.

What Is the Great Resignation Crisis?

The Great Resignation crisis refers to the voluntary mass resignations that began in late 2020. Several companies have seen a large number of employees quit their jobs at once. In addition to the mass resignations, some individuals have left their jobs without notice or explanation. These people may not have been fired but simply decided to quit.

There are many possible reasons why someone might want to quit their job. Some quit due to dissatisfaction with the work environment or lack of opportunities. On the other hand, it's not uncommon for employees to quit their jobs because they feel they're being treated unfairly or are unhappy with their pay.

Roles of HR in Employee Retention

Due to the Great Resignation crisis, HR professionals need to play an active role in employee retention. They need to help employees find better positions within the company and provide additional training if necessary. Here are some of the crucial roles of HR in employee retention:

Ensure That They Find the Right Candidate for the Job

When recruiting new employees, HR professionals must ensure they hire the right candidate. For instance, if you need tech talent, look for candidates who have experience working with different tech fields. You should also consider hiring people who have worked in similar fields as your current employees.

In addition, it's not enough to hire someone who meets the minimum qualifications — you need to ensure that they will fit in with the rest of the team. Considering personality, communication skills, and cultural fit when hiring can go a long way toward ensuring you hire the right candidate.

HR professionals must also guarantee that the candidates have a fair compensation package. Unfair compensations can make candidates lose motivation and even cause them to consider quitting their jobs altogether.

Create an Amazing First Impression

After hiring an employee, you need to make sure that they have an amazing first impression of your company. This is where your onboarding process comes in. Simply letting a new hire start without any training or orientation can be detrimental to their performance later on. They may also feel unprepared and uncomfortable when starting a new job.

Creating a welcoming atmosphere from day one helps build rapport between your company and its employees. This creates a more positive workplace culture, leading to higher productivity and greater engagement. In the long run, it will lessen turnover rates and increase employee satisfaction.

Provide Training and Development Opportunities

Hiring an employee doesn't stop at just finding them a position. You need to provide ongoing training and development opportunities so that they continue learning and growing throughout their time working at your company. Employees like to grow professionally and learn new skills. Providing opportunities to do so makes them happy and keeps them engaged.

A good way to provide development opportunities is to set long-term goals. Long-term goals help with motivation and encourage employees to keep progressing and developing their skills.

Encourage Open Communication Among the Team

Open communication is another crucial part of an engaging workplace. When people feel comfortable sharing ideas and opinions, it can help increase employee retention rates. As an HR professional, it's your responsibility to check whether employees are experiencing any problems with their work environment.

Set regular schedules to ask questions and address issues. Let them bring up any concerns they might have. Doing so can help create a productive and healthy workplace. If any negative situations are occurring, you can take action by addressing these problems.

Acknowledge Your Employees' Achievements

Acknowledging your employees for the little things they do goes a long way. For example, if an employee has completed a project successfully, let them know about it. Doing this shows that you value their contributions.

In addition, you can conduct performance reviews once every few months. During these meetings, highlight all your team members' accomplishments. It will also be an excellent time to bring up any areas of improvement for a specific employee. These discussions can help improve morale and foster a sense of teamwork among your staff.

Learn Why Employees Leave Their Jobs

HR professionals have a crucial role in helping companies retain their best talent. As such, it's important to understand why employees leave their jobs. Once you identify the reasons behind a departure, you'll be able to better prepare for future resignations.

Remember to conduct exit interviews to know the reason behind an employee's resignation. Ask departing employees about their experience while on the job and what led them to resign. By doing so, you can gain valuable insight into how to make your workplace even better.

The Bottom Line

The Great Resignation Crisis has led many companies to look for ways to reduce employee turnover. HR professionals have an important role in helping create a positive work environment that encourages employees to stay longer. The responsibilities stated above are just some of the many ways you can create a great workplace culture. By implementing these strategies, you can help ensure that your employees will remain with your company for a long time.