Ask anyone who has been involved in filling a vacant employee position, and they will tell you that it is not a quick or easy undertaking. The search process alone takes time, money and effort – not to mention the expense of training new employees and integrating them into existing teams.

Given how difficult and costly this can be, it’s clear to see why employee retention is the real lifeblood of any organization.

Of course, many factors go into whether or not an employee chooses to stay at a particular company. Echo360Point interactive polling software provides tools to make employee satisfaction a priority and to build a community where everyone feels like they have a place. The flexibility of Echo360Point also lets you choose from a desktop or web platform and allows participants to respond to real-time interactive questions using either clickers or their own cell phones, tablets or computers.

4 Employee Retention Strategies and Ideas

1. Create engaging orientations

First impressions are undeniably important, and orientation is often the first time new employees get a glimpse of a company from the inside. Unfortunately, what should be a welcoming and educational process often gets bogged down in an overwhelming litany of information and policies that are forgotten before the end of the day.

Echo360Point can help to get things off on the right foot in a variety of ways. Built-in icebreakers are a fun way to get started and encourage conversation. Even more importantly, throughout orientation new employees who are shy to speak out can have a voice, ask questions and feel like they are part of the group with the click of a button. Even the drier aspects of orientation – like safety guidelines or HR policies – are more engaging and memorable when employees are challenged to answer questions throughout the presentation about what they just learned.

2. Listen to what employees have to say

Employees want to feel valued by their organization. If they believe that their opinions and contributions do not matter, they are much more likely to look for employment elsewhere.

Echo360Point lets every employee, not just the most outspoken or highest-ranking, weigh in during departmental or company-wide meetings. Since responses display immediately for all to see, everyone gets a sense of where people stand on proposed policies, significant changes and even long-term company plans. This feedback can spark discussions in the moment, and give leadership valuable insights into the employee mindset.

Echo360Point also offers survey capabilities so that employees can share their opinions outside of a live polling session. These are ideal for gathering feedback on new initiatives or for program evaluations. Companies have the option to require identifying information, or to encourage greater candor with anonymous responses.

3. Design training that fits their needs

Employees crave valuable professional development, and the company that can offer it holds a big advantage over any rivals. Echo360Point not only enhances learning during training sessions by helping to improve retention of the material, but also makes even the most mundane subjects, including mandatory trainings, more engaging and fun. Gamification features in particular let trainers add an element of competition that increases motivation in a way that few other things can.

Also, if leadership wants to know what type of development topics employees want the most, a quick Echo360Point survey is a great way to find out.

4. Facilitate a welcoming work environment

In any organization, conflict is virtually inevitable. These problems can range from interpersonal battles to disagreements about the direction of the company. By using Echo360Point’s anonymous polling feature, managers can promote open discussions in order to diffuse these confrontations and get everyone on the same page before the situation becomes untenable.

In addition, harassment and discrimination can lead to a toxic company culture that people want to escape, no matter what other perks and benefits are in place. Proper training and education about what company policies are in place and how to report violations are vital to ensuring that your employees can work in an environment free from this kind of behavior. Check out our customizable PowerPoint to effortlessly incorporate audience response into your anti-harassment and anti-discrimination presentations.

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