Businesses Are Struggling To Retain Employees: Here’s How They Can Do It
Twenty years ago, businesses focused entirely on protecting financial capital, believing it to be their most valuable asset. While true in many regards, human capital is also an important asset, and businesses can protect it through employee wellness and engagement. Interestingly, despite a tight job market and rising inflation rates, businesses in countries like the United States are struggling to retain employees. In fact, a recent research study that looked at over 600 US businesses found that over 60% of them said they were having a harder time keeping their employees than hiring them. To make matters worse, employers in the US spend around $2.9 million per day ($1.1 billion per year) looking for replacement workers.
Step One: Encourage Employee Engagement
Burnout is one of the primary causes of employee turnover. When you’re tired and not engaged, you’re not productive, resulting in more turnover. According to Forbes, businesses that score in the top 20% in engagement see 59% less turnover, and employees are reportedly more passionate, present, and feel they have more energy and purpose. One of the best ways to encourage employee engagement and reignite that fire in their bellies is through gamification.
Employee gamification is a concept inspired by the gaming industry, which uses elements like leaderboards, badges, points scoring, and rewards systems to boost engagement. We see this in various gaming niches, including video games and online casino games. For instance, video games like Tekken allow players to unlock new characters. Other video games have players go through a rewards system. These systems allow players to earn a reward by achieving an activity, such as collecting a specific number of items. Likewise, online casino operators offer promotions like welcome bonuses, no deposit bonuses, and daily free spins to attract new users and retain old ones. In this sense, a parallel could be drawn between this industry and the job market, as many casinos are competing to get your custom. Similar to unlocking new characters in video games, these promotions encourage players to keep gambling while ensuring they’re getting great value for their money.
The business landscape saw how successful gamification has been for gaming and borrowed elements to encourage their own engagement. Instead of using it on potential customers, however, many companies have used game elements like rewards systems to boost employee morale. Employee gamification can include game-based employee training, such as points-based quizzes and rewards for company competitions. Interactive leaderboards and goal-tracking progress bars are also popular methods of gamification to encourage employee engagement.
Step Two: Supply The Correct Tools
Even if you incorporate game elements in the workforce, nothing is better to drive employee engagement than providing them with the right tools. By supplying the right tools, employees can achieve their tasks more efficiently. Doing so helps individuals feel less stressed and more productive. These tools can include everything from a desk monitor to access to relevant and easy-to-use IT systems.
Retaining employees and keeping them engaged has proved to be one of the most difficult things to do in the business landscape over the past couple of years. Fortunately, there are many new methods to encourage engagement within the workforce, starting with gamification and supplying the right tools.
