Employers are always striving to achieve the elusive ‘work-life balance’, but in 2020 it’s becoming more of an expectation as employees look to their workplace for more than just salary and perks.
With higher expectations on employers to be more aware of employees’ health and mental wellbeing, the relationship between employers and employees is shifting.
At Glu Recruit, we’re on a mission to work with employers on improving their staff retention, therefore we took to the limelight on Tuesday 18th February 2020 to hold an educational seminar with our partners, Freeths and Westfield Health for Connect Yorkshire members on Employee Culture, Wellbeing & Retention.
Our key speakers were Rob Shaw MD of Glu Recruit, Toby Pochron, a Senior Associate from Freeths and Reem Naylor, a Health and Wellbeing Consultant from Westfield Health, who each covered off various topics showing how if a business gets their culture and staff wellbeing right their employees in return become more productive and stay longer.
Retention
The morning began with Rob giving an introduction around how staff can be retained and what to look for around staff who may be ‘flight risks’ – those who are looking to leave.
A key fact is that 52% of leavers said that their employer didn’t try anything to retain them, and that 94% of leavers would stick with a company if they invested and developed their staff.
Rob spoke about giving staff praise and focusing on their first 45 days, making sure they receive a full induction into the business.
Key attractions to a new job:
- Working hours
- The ability to work flexibly
- Remote working
- Holiday packages
Key reasons people leave:
- Lack of flexibility
- Poor culture
- A lack of progression and the ability to develop as an individual.
Rob finished his section outlining Glu’s Top 10 Employee Retention Tips.
Employee Culture
The baton was then passed to Toby Pochron from Freeths who explained culture in an organisation.
Toby detailed that a workplace wellbeing culture is key as it helps to avoid burnout, reduce retention issues and increases flexibility without reducing value.
He explained how organisations need to define what wellbeing means to them, and embed this firstly in policy and procedure, and then how this must be lived from top down, ensuring wellbeing is constantly lived.
Wellbeing
Reem Naylor from Westfield Health, then detailed how Sheffield compares to other areas of the UK in terms of wellbeing.
Key barriers:
- Lack of time
- Lack of energy
- Low mood
A clear outcome is mental health and fitness sit side by side.
Reem then discussed elements which drain the lifestyle battery such as; working late, not planning and skipping breakfast. Things that we can all be guilty of.
She then explained what can be done to recharge the lifestyle battery including; planning our diaries better, going home on time, taking a lunch break away from our desks and moving more.
Reem also discussed what employers can do to support their staff, by encouraging staff to take lunch breaks, engaging with an EAP and utilising other services where necessary.
The event gave a lot of food for thought and how we can not only look after ourselves, but how we can look after staff better.
For further information about how you can develop better staff retention in your organisation, please contact us on 0114 321 1873 or hello@glurecruit.co.uk