Imagine if your employees had contracts that needed to be renewed annually, just like residents sign annual lease agreements. What would change about how you managed your team if you knew that each year, they would decide whether or not to stick around?
Employee Retention Reality Check
The reality is that employees are constantly evaluating whether or not they want to stick around. That’s truer in recent months than it has ever been thanks to a tight labor market and abundant job opportunities available in multifamily and beyond. To keep your team members from becoming just another statistic of The Great Resignation, focus on maintaining—or to continue our analogy to a lease agreement, renewing—their commitment to you and your company. Fostering a satisfying workplace culture can keep your employees from walking away.
How can you do that? “A lot of organizations are failing to realize the cultural stakes in this competitive labor market,” says Tom Miller, co-founder and CEO of ClearForce, a cyber and employee risk management company. “Today’s employees want a work environment they can feel comfortable and safe in, along with caring and transparent leadership they can be proud of. It’s critical to cultivate a supportive and reassuring environment for workers.”
Our research within the apartment industry supports this. According to Ingage by Swift Bunny™ survey respondents, top drivers of multifamily workplace satisfaction include:
- Positive working relationships with coworkers and colleagues
- Respect for the organization’s leaders
- Employees feel confident and competent in their roles
On the flip side, here’s what survey respondents indicate are among top drivers of their workplace discontent:
- Overwhelming workload
- Poor communication
- Lack of clear career path or promotion opportunities
Company Culture Influences Employees
To create a workplace culture where your associates want to stick around for another year or more, use our research findings to guide you. Spend your time and energy on strengthening relationships among coworkers; giving team members maximum exposure to your company’s inspiring leaders; and enhancing their skills and abilities so they feel like they are true experts in their field. Also, be mindful of the drivers of discontent. Take steps to make the workload more manageable; improve communication by doing more of it at every level; and spend time talking to team members about their goals for the future and helping them chart their path forward.
We understand that retaining highly satisfied, high performing employees is a primary goal for all multifamily leaders. Communities and work teams are more successful when they’re fully staffed. Our clients use the Ingage by Swift Bunny™ employee feedback program as a tool to help identify employees who are at risk of turnover. Keeping an eye on their Ingage™ dashboard, and specifically the Likelihood to Remain meter, can make employee retention more manageable. If the dashboard indicates that there are employees who are at risk of turnover, here’s the good news: leaders now have the opportunity to take action and save them. Isn’t that better than being surprised by a two-week notice?
If you’re committed to creating an outstanding workplace culture for your multifamily associates and driving down employee attrition, we’d love to assist you. Please call on me to talk through how our solutions can help. I’m here for your employee renewal campaign!
