Here are four strategies to improve employee retention

EngageRocket said it has not come to SG shores, but employers should not be lax.

EngageRocket released the Turning the Great Resignation into Better Retention in Singapore report, which showed how Singapore was unaffected by The Great Resignation, a trend in Western countries and Australia. Data from the Labor Market Survey conducted by the Ministry of Manpower showed the resignation rate in the third quarter of 2021 was at the same level as the first quarter of 2020, which stayed at 1.7%.

The results, however, do not mean employers should relax, EngageRocket said. Employee engagement studies done by HR and payroll company ADP in 2020 showed only 11% employee engagement levels, compared to the global average of 14%.

Their study of 7,000 Singaporean employees revealed an increase of 17% amongst people who do not recommend a company to friends and family.

The company gave four tips on how to improve employee retention:

1. Find out employees’ sentiment and intentions to leave before they do. This can be done easily through regular pulse surveys and continuous listening.
2. Strategise and intervene to increase employee retention. Organisations need to make sure that their strategy goes beyond just asking employees about their intention to leave. Encourage two-way communication without compromising employees' confidentiality to explore potential reasons that may have influenced their decision.
3. Analyse to find out drivers of retention/attrition. After collecting employee feedback, managers and HR can work closely together to analyse which factors are most critical to influence their retention.
4. Empower managers to take relevant follow-up actions based on the drivers. Share best practice action with real-time tracking of action/ROI. For example, if growth is found to impact employees’ intent to stay, then managers can help carve out time on employees’ calendars for self-development or training.