What can employers do to reduce churn and encourage employees to stay loyal as the economy continues to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Retaining valued employees in today’s competitive labor market isn’t always easy, but it’s something that businesses should be working hard to achieve. The estimated cost of replacing a lost employee is between one-and-a-half to two times the amount of their annual salary, a hefty hit to the budget for many businesses.
And the cost of losing valued employees doesn’t end there.
The recruitment process for their replacement will cost money, and then you have to train up the new hire. Along with those costs, you might be losing a great deal of knowledge and experience all wrapped up in one person, which can be priceless.
One way of retaining top talent and reducing workforce churn is to offer your employees effective incentives. This even applies to temporary, contract, and seasonal employees. After having a good experience working with you, they’re more likely to stick with you in the long-run, or even consider working for you full time. Retaining your people, whether permanent or temporary, should be a high business priority. If it isn’t a priority for you, why not?
There’s a very strong connection between employee rewards and retention, and statistics make this connection very clear.
1. Businesses With Employee Recognition Programs Demonstrate Better Engagement
Bersin & Associates found that employee engagement, productivity, and customer service levels are 14 percent better than in businesses where there is no recognition. By giving that recognition, whether through rewarding existing performance or incentivizing employees to get desired results, your employees will feel more motivated and engaged. This will make a positive impact on your employee retention.
2. Businesses With Effective Recognition Programs Have 31% Lower Voluntary Staff Turnover
The same research demonstrated that those businesses with programs classed as highly effective had almost a third less voluntary turnover than businesses with ineffective recognition programs. This shows how important it is to not only offer rewards and incentives, but to make sure they’re effective.
In other words, simply paying lip service with a program that hasn’t been properly planned and implemented could have detrimental effects on your business.
3. Only 58% of Employees at Businesses With Recognition Programs Know They Exist
The research also showed just how much of a disconnect there can be even if your business has a rewards program. They discovered that even for those organizations that have recognition programs, only just over half of their employees actually know about it. If employees don’t know it exists, they’re less likely to feel valued, and may start to look elsewhere.
4. 82% of Employees Don’t Feel Their Contributions are Sufficiently Recognized
This statistic comes from a survey by OGO (O Great One!), and it’s probably a shocking one for employers to read. The majority of the employees surveyed just don’t feel they get the recognition they deserve. And, with 40% saying they’d put more effort in if they were to receive that recognition, it shows the impact incentives and recognition can have on a workforce.
5. Financial Incentives Help Relieve Employee Stress and Boost Productivity
The type of rewards and incentives an organization offers can really make a difference. PWC research into financial stress found that 28 percent of employees said it caused problems with their health, with 22 percent saying it caused productivity issues at work, and 12 percent said they occasionally missed work because of it.
Reward (where an employee is recognized for performance) and incentive (offerings that encourage certain employee behaviors) solutions that offer financial benefits, like prepaid cards, won’t completely alleviate financial stress. What they will do, however, is go some way towards reducing that stress along with making employees feel listened to and appreciated.
Make a Difference to Valued Employees
In today’s tight employment market, you need better retention rates and less churn. You need to create strategies that make you an employer of choice, and positive, effective rewards and incentives do just that.
Get in touch with our team to find out how a customized rewards and incentives program that uses prepaid cards can give your employees an extra reason to want to stay.
About Prepaid Technologies
Prepaid Technologies was founded in 1998 by banking industry veterans who understood that technology would shape the future of payments. Prepaid Technologies provides access to solutions for various corporate and consumer payment needs such as payroll and per diems for staff, corporate expense management, employee rewards, consumer promotions, incentives and other various corporate disbursements.