StaffCircle: These are three ways technology can increase employee retention

In today’s competitive market, finding top talent is no mean feat. However, 72% of businesses have shared that even once they’ve found top employees retaining them is difficult, with 22% describing it as “challenging,” according to a new study from StaffCircle.

This can lead to various problems, such as increased employee turnover, which 64% of business surveys reportedly struggle with.

The survey also found that 49% of the 250 HR professionals surveyed still logged performance management data on either paper or spreadsheets, with 48% stating they were unconfident with the accuracy of this data.

Organizations that do not utilizing real-time data and insights are running the risk of not understanding their workforce while spending time on admin duties that could otherwise be channeled to training or mentoring employees.

“The most surprising element of the study is that so many HR teams still rely on paper-based and/or spreadsheets for their employee data,” says Mark Seemann, founder and CEO of StaffCircle.

“This doesn’t only make it much harder for these teams to find the information they need, but also significantly increases the risk of this data being inaccurate. Inaccurate or untimely data results in unhappy employees and higher turnover rates.”

To overcome this, Seemann suggests that businesses should prioritize understanding employees and focusing on their happiness.

“This includes investing in the right tools to give real-time employee performance, engagement, and development data to make informed decisions,” he says. “By doing this, you can create an accurate picture of your teams’ performance and potential.”

Utilizing technology to increase employee retention

By embracing new technologies, businesses can encourage HR teams to move away from spreadsheets and towards systems that promote optimal employee performance management, which can, in turn, help with staff retention.

Similarly, as only 28% of HR professionals surveyed found it easy to retain top employees, compared to the 64% that utilize services such as StaffCircle.

It is therefore clear that there’s a correlation between an effective performance management process and better employee retention.

For Seemann, there are three key areas that businesses can focus on to improve this. The first is to understand the company’s employee retention rate.

“When faced with an increase in voluntary employee turnover, organizations must proactively tackle the underlying reasons prompting employees to depart,” he says. “This entails utilizing various tools and analytics to gain deeper insights into the factors driving these departures and to mitigate their impact.”

Secondly, he states that the link between poor performance management and high attrition rates should be well documented.

“Employees who understand their objectives and how they contribute to organizational goals improve profitability,” Seemann adds. “Better productivity leads to better business outcomes. Better business outcomes create more profit.”

His final point draws attention to the importance of communication, concluding: “It all comes down to embedding results-driven goals and feedback into employee check-ins, accurately reporting on employee productivity, satisfaction and culture, and developing and retaining top talent with individual skills and success plans.

“And with days saved on admin, managers can refocus their time on directly supporting their employees.”