What is a Retention Tool Kit? A retention tool kit is a collection of tools and ideas that you use to keep your employees engaged, benefitted, and on your team for longer periods of time. Did you know that the cost to replace an employee who leaves is 50 percent of that person's salary? What do we need to do? Build a better mousetrap? No, but if you develop a Retention Tool Kit specific to your business and USE it all the time with all of your people, you will improve your retention rates, distinguish yourself as an employer of choice, and have happier employees overall. In this five-part series, we will define a typical tool kit, identify what it contains, discuss each kit section and provide ideas in each of the areas.

As I mentioned, a retention tool kit is a collection of ideas and incentives for you to keep your employees happier and for longer periods of time, thus improving your retention rates. Not too different from the tool chest in your garage, one tool won’t fix all. So, what is the first step? You need to find out more about your employees. Who are they, why do they work, what kinds of recognition do they respond to, and what keeps them motivated. There are many ways to find out what drives your employees, and of course, employee surveys, feedback from current employees about their concerns, and exit interviews will shed some light on your best retention approaches and efforts. A caution in using exit information to improve your retention – you have already lost the employee. The idea is to keep them.

There are many different things that can go into your retention tool kit. Providing individualized work sites, promoting the value of relationships with peers and supervisors, and providing valuable training are just some techniques employers can use to reinforce their respect for employees. Most contain the following sections: Employee Relations, Compensation, Workplace Enhancements, Benefits, and Scheduling. In each of the next parts of this series, I will delve deeper into each section to define and develop a model that you could use after making some adjustments that depend upon your geographic location, your market, your employees, and your business.

A final note: Obviously, increasing and improving communications allows you to let employees know about the advantages of employment with you and where you stand in and among your competitors. Developing a retention tool kit to include employee relations, compensation, benefits, scheduling, and workplace enhancement tools are sure to help with retention rates. However, loyalty and respect are values that appear to be reciprocal in the workplace. There is no substitute for respecting your employees.