How to Prevent Employees from Leaving – Especially in a Remote Setting

In a traditional office setting, an employee will often show signs if they are unhappy or unmotivated at work. Whether it’s daily meetings or water cooler talk, you get face-to-face interactions with your colleagues, which comes with the ability to read them and their body language. However, with the drastic switch to remote working due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these interactions have been taken away from us. Sure, there is still face-to-face conversation during Zoom meetings, but those may only last an hour and you’re still not able to fully monitor others. When an employee isn’t satisfied with their job or is feeling burnt out and wants to quit, there aren’t nearly as many signs.

When an employee quits unexpectedly, there are many complications. Productivity may go down, office morale is lower and the extra workload gets dumped on the remaining staff. With remote working, the employee’s departure can come as even more of a surprise and cause a disruption in the office flow. To prevent valuable hands from packing up their things, there are a few ways you may be able to change their perspective.

While this seems self-explanatory, show your employees appreciation. Giving back constructive feedback can often be overlooked, but it’s essential to remind people that they’re doing a good job. As humans, we want to feel valued and appreciated, and hearing your superior confirm that you’re on the right track is a huge morale booster. Thank your workers for all the hard-work they’re putting into the company, discuss their career goals and show appreciation for a job well done. This small change in attitude could change the way an employee feels about the work they’re getting done and encourage them to keep going.

You also don’t want people to feel like they’re stuck. If someone in the office is under the impression that they don’t have a future with the company or that they are constantly doing the same thing, why should they stick around? As I mentioned prior, it’s imperative to discuss career goals with your workers. Take what you learn from these meetings and apply it to your employee. If there’s a project coming up that better aligns with their goals and interests, assign them to work on that project.

Make sure you’re also presenting your staff with more opportunities to expand their knowledge and experience. If an employee is valued, don’t force them in the same position because you “need them there.” By allowing a valuable member to grow in their understanding of the field, it opens more opportunities for them to progress in the company. A worker will feel much more motivated if they know that their career goals are within reach.

Even though much of what we do currently is virtual, don’t stop creating personal connections. Try taking a few minutes at the start of every meeting to just chat or ask some thought provoking questions. By creating strong relationships, your employees will feel comfortable talking to you if they’re looking for more responsibilities or are feeling trapped.

All in all, employees will come and go. It’s important to not take it personally when a member of your team decides to end their time with the company. There are several reasons why an individual chooses to leave an occupation, and it could be due to something out of your control. That being said, treat all employees as if they’re considering leaving. Like I said, it’s hard to read how happy or motivated a worker is through a Zoom call, so you can’t assume that everyone is on the same page as you. Reach out to your staff, build personal connections, make sure they feel appreciated and offer them room to grow. You may not save every person in your company from quitting, but at the very least you will have created higher spirited and a more positive work environment.