Although there is some evidence that organisations are feeling the weight of recent National Insurance increases and trade tariffs, firms are still looking to retain the staff they have
In our recent survey, almost 40% of respondent organisations said staff retention was one of their top 3 talent challenges.
Organisations invest heavily in recruiting staff, but the investment often stops when the employees are through the door. This misplaced confidence in your organisation's attractiveness can be costly. Replacing staff involves significant costs, ranging from 6 to 9 months of the employee's salary, encompassing recruitment, training, and lost productivity.
So, how can you keep hold of your employees?
Build a Culture People Want to Be Part Of. If the work environment feels disjointed, political, or undervalued, then no amount of social events and other perks will be able to fix it. The leadership sets the tone of the organisation. Respect, accountability, and transparency aren’t words to put on values posters on the wall; they should be real, observable, modelled behaviours.
Invest in your Managers. People don’t leave jobs; they leave managers. Some recent research from Encompass Equality showed that support from line managers was the number one factor in decisions about whether to stay or go. We’ve all heard about the “accidental manager” - people who have been promoted due to tenure in the role but have not been trained in management skills. In a hybrid working world, they’ve also often been unable to learn through observation.
Make Growth Visible and Accessible. Talented people want to learn and grow; if they can’t see a path forward, they’ll look elsewhere. Career growth can’t be a vague promise - it must be tangible. Employees need to see how their careers can be mapped out and that opportunities are accessible to them regardless of background. Development planning should be an activity that every leader should do with their direct reports. When people can envision a future in your organisation, they invest more in the present.
Fair and Frequent Feedback. I’ve lost count of the number of conversations in the past few weeks where I’ve heard about feedback being given clumsily - or, in most cases, not at all. Shying away from delivering a difficult feedback message helps no one. It breaks trust with your team members as you are withholding information that can help them from developing. It leads to productivity and quality issues, and it prevents an employee from understanding how they are expected to work, where they are doing well, and where they fall short.
Support the Whole Person, Not Just the Role. Burnout doesn’t just happen from heavy workloads - it comes from the lack of space to recover. Leaders must champion work-life boundaries and normalise taking holidays, having breaks and finishing on time.
Show People They Matter. Recognition doesn’t have to be extravagant to be meaningful. A sincere thank you or a quiet acknowledgement all adds up. Make it a habit to notice not just outcomes but effort, improvement, and team spirit. Be responsive to feedback and show colleagues that their input matters. This fosters belonging. And belonging drives staff retention.
At the heart of these suggestions is the need to invest in yourself and your people. Policies and guidelines will only get you so far. Training will go a little further - equipping people with the skills and knowledge they need to have courageous and uplifting discussions.
To make a real difference, managers and leaders need to take collective responsibility, see it as their role to develop and retain staff and overcome the discomfort they may feel. It’s about replacing limiting assumptions and gaining the confidence to do the right things. That’s where executive coaching can help.
Executive coaching is a professional development process that improves leadership behaviours through a series of sessions between a coach and a client. Unlike conventional leadership development programmes that follow a set curriculum, executive coaching is customised to cater to specific individual and situational needs. If you want to learn more about how executive coaching can help you with staff retention, download a copy of our report, “Building a Stronger Future.”
Keeping hold of your employees isn’t about HR policies - it’s a practice. It’s about how you lead, how you communicate, and how you treat people day in and day out.
It’s far more than another HR metric. It’s a mirror reflecting how well you’re leading.