4 Mistakes That Could Be Hurting Your Employee Retention

High turnover is a problem managers in many sectors have to contend with, from sales to restaurant work. Unfortunately, turnover can’t always be attributed to hiring mistakes. Sometimes, it’s related to the way an organization is run. Many managers make decisions they didn’t realize were pushing invaluable individuals away. Below are four ways that you are pushing talented employees away from your organization.

1. Lousy Company Culture

Company culture is more than just the occasional Happy Hours and team lunches. It’s a feeling of belonging to something that’s more than an employee’s work and feeling fulfilled in their position. If you told your employees to summarize your organization’s company culture in one word, which word would they choose? Would they say “open-minded” or use words like “authoritative” and “stifling?” Great company culture comes from the top; if you’d like to improve it, lead by example. Invite coworkers to join you for lunch if you’d like a more collaborative atmosphere and encourage others to feel comfortable through engaging team building activities and events, like social hours at the end of the day or collaborative projects.

2. Terrible Work/Life Balance

Issues with clients and projects can happen at any time, but expecting your employees to always be “on” and available, even when on vacation or outside of work hours, can lead to increased stress and unhappiness with their position. Employees who take vacations tend to be more creative and productive at work, so encourage your employees to unplug and take time off. It’s great for their morale and also great for your organization.

3. Falsely Attracting Employees

LinkedIn Influencer Jeffrey Pfeffer asserts that what matters the most to employees isn’t having perks to entice them, it’s an autonomous work environment where they feel valued. Instead of trying to get and keep employees with perks like free food or even a personal assistant, you’ll find much more success in prioritizing their mental and physical health. Offer a comprehensive health benefits package and vacation.

Employee retention rises when individuals feel appreciated and heard within their organization. Don’t make the same mistakes that many others do by focusing on the frills instead of the meat. The best employees– the ones that you want a long tenure with– are the ones that care more about their work within the organization than flashy perks.

4. Lack of Career Path

Finally, providing a career goal (and path) to employees is not a ‘nice to have;’ its an essential part of a robust retention strategy for ambitious team members. According to HBR, this is achieved by “moving them through job titles on a regular progression over time” to avoid “this type of harmful stagnation.”

Join Us. We’re Hiring!

We at Mimeo may not each have personal assistants, but we do have a family-like culture that encourages autonomy and a passion for contributing to an incredible place to work!

From Memphis to New York, Mimeo is looking for individuals that share these qualities! Check our Careers Page to see where we’re currently in search of Mimiacs. We have offices and production facilities in: Memphis, TN; New York, NY; Cambridgeshire, UK; and Berlin, DE.