Win The Employee Retention Battle At The Start Of 2022

Danni Rush, Chief Operating Officer at Virgin Experience Days and Virgin Incentives, explains what employers can do to keep their staff feeling valued amid a period of heightened employee dissatisfaction. 

Employee retention should be one of, if not the, biggest priority for any business. Although increasing revenue and attracting new clients may seem like more urgent focuses, employee recognition and satisfaction must not be overlooked at their expense.

Think about it — a high employee turnover, hastened by a lack of appreciation and benefits could turn off potential clients and result in a greater outlay on recruitment and training. It’s a cycle where businesses are having to constantly source and train new employees and embed them into the company culture.

Employees want to be recognised

Our whitepaper, What makes employees feel valued, which surveyed 2,000 employees across the UK, found that 22% of employees have never received a reward from their employer. That’s over one in five businesses: a massive number and truly head-scratching when you think about how important employees say rewards and benefits are to them, especially since the pandemic began. 

The good news is you can easily reward employees and teams with days off, new experiences, gift cards and vouchers – each option gaining over 70% approval of making employees feel valued and rewarded.

The options available to businesses for reward and recognition schemes

 A common concern we hear about reward and recognition schemes is that they are expensive and an outlay some businesses can’t afford, but this doesn’t need to be the case. Cash bonuses are, of course, an option available to businesses, but the cost involved can quickly spiral out of control, and your employees may expect the same amount, if not more, year after year.

Another option available, and one we frequently recommend, are gift cards and team-building experiences. You can load gift cards to a budget you see fit and your teams have plenty of time to redeem these across popular experiences or at widespread UK brands.

The latter option is one I believe is well-suited to this time of year. January is traditionally quite a gloomy month: we’ve all gone through the highs of Christmas and New Year’s, and with a whole year ahead of us, it can be easy to feel a bit downhearted. By hosting a team-building experience – such as cocktail tasting or a fun chocolate masterclass – leaders can boost their team morale, give their employees a greater incentive to stay in their roles and position the overall business as an exciting place to work where the teams’ efforts are recognised.

After the few years we’ve all had fighting the pandemic, 2022 should be a year where businesses make sure they have a strong, stable team to ride out any economic waves and take advantage of the growth that is flourishing in the economy. Retaining talented employees will be vital to this, and businesses must realise that the small outlay required to launch a reward and recognition scheme, will be paid back tenfold, through increased employer engagement, greater sales, and a more open and vibrant company culture and reputation.