In real estate, as in every other business, employee retention has a direct impact on your bottom line. Post-Great Resignation, the employee-centric job market is starting to move back into balance, but employee expectations have shifted, putting the burden on employers to update and improve their strategy for retaining great people.
Whether you’re assessing a raise or a new benefit package, trying to decide how to handle your work-from-home policy, or just looking for an extra edge to retain high quality talent, the retention strategies below are worth a closer look:
Employee Retention Strategy #1: Offer Competitive Salaries and Benefits
The first step of assessing your employee retention strategy is to take a look at how competitive your salary and benefit offerings are. A competitive compensation package - although it’s certainly not the only important factor in retention - can help keep your employees motivated, engaged, and committed to your organization. The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects and provides information on national compensation data and benefits packages, and is a good place to start to see if yours are within a competitive range for your area.
Competitive Salaries: Offering a salary that's on par with or above the industry standard is essential in attracting and retaining top talent. This is especially true when 61% of candidates report compensation as the leading factor in whether they choose a job or not.
Standard Benefits: Standard benefits, such as a 401k and healthcare coverage, are also essential components of a competitive compensation package. Employees need to feel secure in their financial and physical health to remain motivated and committed to your organization. Offering these benefits also shows that you value your employees' well-being.
Non-Standard Benefits: Organizations that go “above and beyond” with their benefits packages often see corresponding increases in employee retention and productivity. Childcare benefits, for example, can help working parents balance their personal and professional lives, leading to higher job satisfaction and more focus at work. Other popular non-standard benefits can include additional paid time off, flexible work arrangements, and wellness programs.
Remember that it’s most important to offer employees a well-rounded array of benefits. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that on average, benefits make up around 30% of an average paycheck, so be sure to keep that in mind before solidifying any of your benefits.
A competitive salary and a good benefits package are crucial for employee retention. When employees are compensated fairly and feel that their work is valued, they are more likely to remain committed to your organization. This not only reduces the cost and time associated with finding and training new hires but also leads to a more productive and engaged workforce.
Employee Retention Strategy #2: Promote Work-Life Balance
In today's competitive work environment, it's important for employers in every industry to recognize the importance of work-life balance for their employees. The fast-paced, customer-service-oriented world of high-end multifamily real estate has many demands, and your employees’ ability to balance work and personal life is essential for their overall well-being and job satisfaction.
Here are a couple of the most effective ways to offer your employees the work-life balance they desire:
Create predictable schedules: Providing employees with consistent work hours can help them plan and balance their personal and work lives. Predictable schedules reduce stress and anxiety, allowing employees to focus on their work while at work, knowing they will also have time to take care of their personal responsibilities.
Encourage and enforce paid time off: Another way to build in work-life balance is to encourage and enforce the use of paid time off (PTO). Taking vacations actually improves employee health and productivity, so it is both kind and practical to give your employees regular time off to recharge. By encouraging the use of PTO and enforcing mandatory time off, you can ensure that your employees have time to rest and recover from work-related stress.
Offer work-from-home options: With more and more professionals turning to freelance work, and work-from-home models, it’s worth considering how offering some work-from-home options could benefit your business. Remote work can reduce commute times and expenses, providing employees with more time to handle actual job responsibilities, meetings, and calls. Additionally, remote work can expand your pool of potential employees, as it allows companies to hire talent from a wider geographic area.
Employee Retention Strategy #3: Invest in Your Employees’ Growth
A large part of improving employee retention is recognizing that people are more likely to stay in jobs where they are growing, and where they have a clear career path upward. By helping your employees grow, you not only improve their job satisfaction and motivation, but you also ensure that your business has the necessary skills and talent to succeed in a competitive market.
Offer skills training: One of the best ways to help your employees grow is to offer them opportunities to develop new skills. This could include attending training workshops, conferences, or online courses that relate to their job or interests. By investing in their learning and development, you demonstrate that you value their contribution to the company and want to help them achieve their personal and professional goals.
Offer mentor/mentee pairings: Mentoring offers multiple benefits, including: 1) Mentors get the satisfaction of passing on their knowledge and experience; 2) Newer or more junior-level employees learn new skills and gain valuable insights; 3) Your company benefits from a higher overall level of training and a more connected employee community.
Create career paths: Creating career paths within your organization can also help your employees grow. By providing a clear understanding of what is required to progress within the company, you can motivate your employees to work toward their goals and improve their skills. This will not only help your employees to feel more invested in their work, but it will also ensure that your company has a pool of talented employees to draw from as you expand and grow.
Employee Retention Strategy #4: Cultivate a Culture of Feedback
If you’re a property owner or property manager, you’re also a business owner or people manager, and that means workplace culture should be one of your primary concerns. The last decade, but especially the last several years, have seen a workplace cultural revolution primarily focused on creating business environments that are more “human” - and better for more humans. From an employee retention perspective, the importance of culture can’t be overstated, but there’s a subsection of culture that’s particularly important to keeping great employees, and that is creating a culture of feedback.
Give productive and timely feedback: Feedback is essential for professional growth. As a manager, it's important to give clear, productive, and timely feedback that is delivered with empathy and kindness. Be specific about what the employee did well and where they can improve, and make sure you communicate your feedback in a way that is both constructive and actionable. When you're clear and kind with your feedback, your employees will feel like they and their work are valued.
Solicit feedback from your employees: Soliciting - and listening to - feedback from your employees is a great way to build trust and foster an environment of mutual respect. It’s also essential for creating a culture that employees want to stay in. By asking for and implementing feedback, you show your employees that you value their opinions and are committed to making positive changes in the workplace.
Winning the Retention Game
Whether you are a property manager who wants your team to feel valued, or an owner/operator committed to finding and retaining great employees, retaining top-tier talent starts with investing in competitive salaries and benefits, healthy work-life balance, employee growth opportunities, and a positive culture of feedback. A dwindling overall workforce has allowed high-level talent to be exceptionally choosy about where they work. This places an even greater importance on capitalizing on the right retention strategies.
Have you tried some of these retention suggestions in your business? Have you implemented a unique strategy of your own? Which ones worked best? Let us know!