What causes low staff retention and how can you avoid losing talent?

When it comes to your team members it may feel as though holding onto the ‘good ones’ is getting harder. That’s because it is. Staff retention continues to be one of the biggest challenges facing UK businesses. But why?

Employees today have more choice, higher expectations and a stronger focus on wellbeing and work-life balance. For employers, that means you need to understand not only why people leave, but actively address those issues so your staff don’t look elsewhere. 

In this blog we’ll explore the key causes of low staff retention and, more importantly, 

explain how to improve staff retention with practical, easy-to-implement solutions and staff retention ideas you can apply straight away. 

Why staff retention matters more than ever 

In the UK, the average employee turnover rate is around 34%, meaning roughly one in three employees leaves their job each year. Additionally, labour market trends indicate that one in three employees may not remain in the same role year to year, highlighting the scale of workforce movement. 

Employee retention is also a growing concern for organisations, with 27% of UK employers ranking retention and turnover among their top HR challenges.

Low staff retention can lead to a number of issues for employers, including: 

•  Increased recruitment and training costs 
•  Reduced productivity 
•  Low morale amongst employees 
•  Disruption to customer experience 
•  Financial loss to the organisation 

Understanding these challenges is the first step in learning how to improve staff retention and identifying the right staff retention ideas for your organisation.

What causes low staff retention, and how do you fix it? 

There are a number of factors that can contribute towards a member of your team wanting to leave your organisation. The good news is that the majority of them can be combated with practical solutions and staff retention ideas that are easy to implement.

So what are the most common causes of low staff retention?

Lack of recognition and rewards 

Employees who feel underappreciated are far more likely to disengage and leave their job. In fact, research shows that over half of employees who feel undervalued in their role plan to leave, which could be a big problem if you have more than one team member who’s unhappy. 

Ways to make your staff feel appreciated 

•  Celebrating achievements regularly: Celebrating doesn’t have to cost money or consist of a big gesture. Sometimes an email to the team (or better yet, a personal shout out at your next huddle) recognising the achievement of an employee is enough 
•  Encouraging peer-to-peer recognition: Encourage your staff to be mindful of how well their peers are performing. You may even go so far as to implement a peer incentive scheme whereby employees report their coworkers’ achievements to senior management. The employee with the most positive remarks at the end of the month is rewarded 
•  Remembering birthdays: A bottle of wine or box of chocolates often goes a long way. A number of florists and online card services can automate birthday gifts so you don’t have to worry about forgetting any special days 
•  Offering personalised rewards: Something as simple as remembering if your employee drinks white or red will go a long way. Do they prefer milk or dark chocolate, etc. 

You may also consider introducing trivial benefits. A trivial benefit is a tax-free, non-cash perk provided to employees, up to the value of £50. An example of a trivial benefit could be workplace pizzas for lunch, a bottle of wine to celebrate an engagement or gift-cards for electronics or home goods.

The BHN Extras platform is a quick and simple way to deliver instant and flexible rewards to staff, such as gift cards and discounts. By automating and personalising rewards, recognition becomes more tangible and impactful. 

Poor workplace culture 

A negative or disengaged workplace culture can quickly lead to a high turnover of staff. It’s been proven that employees who lack trust in leadership, or feel disconnected from their organisation are far more likely to leave. 

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) highlights factors such as poor management, lack of fairness and weak employee wellbeing support as being key drivers of staff turnover. 

Ways to build a positive and inclusive culture

•  Promoting transparency and open communication: Do your team members know who they can speak to if they have concerns or problems? More importantly, are they comfortable approaching that person?
•  Training managers to support and engage teams: Are your managers and senior leadership equipped with the right tools and training to support your staff? Are they leading by example with positive attitudes and inclusive behaviours? 
•  Implementing a formal wellbeing strategy: This is a plan or framework that organisations use to support the health and happiness of their workforce. It outlines the ways in which the company supports mental health and overall wellbeing, along with the services and benefits available to the team. 

Many organisations support their wellbeing strategies through employee benefits platforms such as BHN Extras. This online dashboard provides staff with access to discounts, savings and wellbeing perks that support multiple aspects of everyday life including physical and mental health, as well as social and financial wellbeing. 

Limited career development opportunities 

Career stagnation is a major contributor to low staff retention. Your employees want career growth and progression, and opportunities to develop new skills. If there’s no room to prosper in your organisation, your workforce may seek it elsewhere. 

Research shows that re-skilling and career development were among the top HR priorities last year, reflecting employee demand for growth. It’s therefore important that you’re creating clear and achievable career pathways for your employees. 

Ways to boost career progression 

•  Offering training and development programmes: Provide training in areas that benefit both your employees (they advance in certain areas and improve skills) and you (you gain knowledge and skills in an area that may be lacking) 
•  Providing regular performance reviews: Performance reviews are beneficial to both you and your team members as they allow opportunities to discuss career progression and enable you to identify key areas of strength, as well as those that require improvement 
•  Supporting internal mobility: Try to fill vacancies from within your workforce instead of hiring externally 
•  Offering secondments: Do you have the ability to temporarily transfer an employee to a different role (or department) to gain experience and develop skills?

Burnout and poor work-life balance 

One of the biggest contributing factors to low retention levels within the workplace is burnout and poor work-life balance. 

Research shows that 36% of employees experiencing burnout are actively considering leaving their jobs. And 42% of UK employees report not feeling physically or mentally well at work, with many citing stress and workload pressures as the culprit. 

In addition, flexibility is now a key expectation with employees increasingly prioritising roles that allow them to balance work with their personal life. If your organisation is failing to offer flexibility for staff and poor work-life balance, you risk losing talent to competitors who do. 

How to prioritise wellbeing and flexibility across your organisation 

•  Offer flexible working arrangements: Are you able to offer hybrid or remote working options? What impact would this have on productivity and output?
•  Flexible hours: Have you considered offering flexi-time? Are team members who need to pick up their children from school able to make back the time a little later in the day, for example? 
•  Encourage time off and work-life balance: Do you team members use their holiday allowance effectively? It’s extremely important your staff are able to rest on annual leave without the worry of what they will return to 
•  Provide a wellbeing strategy and mental health support: As mentioned previously, a wellbeing strategy is key to building a resilient and productive workforce 

BHN Extras offers a wide range of benefits for employees, a number of which can be used away from work to enhance their personal lives - mentally, physically and financially. To find out more about cyclescheme, supermarket vouchers and the many other perks BHN Extras offers, click here. 

Uncompetitive pay and benefits 

Reviewing your total rewards package is another important step in how to improve staff retention. Whilst salary is important, employees are increasingly focused on the overall value of their package. Economic pressures have led to slower pay growth making benefits even more important to retaining staff. 

How to enhance your total rewards offering

•  Provide flexible, relevant benefits: How can you make your teams’ work environment (both in-house and remote) more comfortable? Would they benefit from an under-desk heater or new chair with better back support, for example?
•  Offer lifestyle and financial perks: Consider flexible hours and hybrid working, salary sacrifice schemes and ‘trivial benefits’ such as restaurant vouchers
•  Focus on value beyond salary: Think about perks such as giving your team their birthday off work, or quarterly wellness days to relax and unwind 

It’s also important to factor in regular pay reviews, including cost of living increases. Whilst it may not be feasible to offer annual pay rises, giving where you can and being conscious of paying a fair (and competitive) salary will go in your favour. 

BHN Extras gives employees instant access to discounts and savings on major brands. It also offers a reduction in cost-of-living pressures through discounts and cashback. By introducing a platform such as BHN Extras, you’ll boost perceived value and support your workforces’ overall wellbeing, all without increasing your payroll costs. 

Poor onboarding and early experiences

First impressions are crucial, and employees who don’t feel supported early on in your organisation are less likely to stick around long term. Strong onboarding is often overlooked, but it’s one of the simplest staff retention ideas to implement.

Ways to improve the employee experience 

•  Set clear expectations: From the off make it clear how your organisation runs and what’s expected of your employees. That way, there’s no surprises 
•  Provide strong support from managers: Make sure employees know who they can speak to if they have a problem, and that managers and senior leaders are equipped to support their teams 
•  Encourage early connection with teams: Introduce new employees to their co-workers in a relaxed and informal manner. Something simple such as sharing what you all got up to at the weekend during your weekly huddle is a great way to promote connection 

If you implement an employee benefits scheme such as BHN Extras, you’ll be able to offer immediate access to benefits for new employees, creating a positive and supportive first impression. 

Lack of employee voice 

Creating feedback channels is a practical way to improve staff retention and boost engagement. Your employees want to feel heard and when feedback is ignored, engagement drops. In fact, the CIPD emphasises that organisations that actively listen to their employees are better positioned to improve retention and engagement.

How to create clear feedback channels

•  Run regular surveys: With a number of free and paid-for options available, there’s no excuse not to provide your employees with the opportunity to voice their opinions 
•  Hold 121 check-ins/regular appraisals: Give your employees regular, fixed opportunities to discuss their feedback with you/ their line manager/senior management and listen
•  Act upon feedback: Knowledge is power so make sure you make changes where necessary (and appropriate), based on the feedback you’ve been given. In the majority of cases, employee niggles are easily fixed. 

Finally, use your employee insights to shape your benefits offering, ensuring platforms such as BHN Extras reflect your teams’ real needs.

How can BHN Extras support your staff retention strategy?

Employee benefits are one of the most effective ways to improve staff retention. If you’re looking for a platform that offers mental, physical and financial perks for your team, then BHN Extras can help. 

The platform will enable you to: 

•  Reward and recognise your employees: In some cases, rewards can be automated so you don’t have to remember important events and dates 
•  Provide discounts and cashback from leading brands such as Costa, Footlocker and AirB&B 
•  Support social and financial wellbeing by offering salary sacrifice schemes and vouchers for supermarkets and eating-out 
•  Enhance overall engagement by offering benefits employees actually use 

For more information about how BHN Extras can turn your staff retention strategies into a long-term competitive advantage, click here.