When hiring remote workers, employers often have a similar fear: employee retention. It’s not easy when workers are spread across time zones and states. 

Remote work isn’t going anywhere.

Kate Lister, president of Global Workplace Analytics, told Vox  she estimates that by 2025, approximately 70 percent of the workforce will work from home at least five days a month.

“More than 20 percent of the workforce could work remotely three to five days a week as effectively as they could if working from an office,” McKinsey reported .

As the workplace evolves, there’s an opportunity for organizations to rethink the relationship between employer and employees.

Employee retention becomes paramount

There’s nothing a recruiter or hiring manager likes more than a candidate unencumbered by the constraints of a physical office. These potential employees are not restricted by a lack of privacy. Learning about a new opportunity is easy when there’s no one around to listen in on the call.

This is trouble for employers who don’t want to lose their people. Twenty-one percent of CEOs surveyed by KPMG  said talent-risk concerns are the biggest concern to their organizations overall.

These executives know that turnover is costly and hinders progress and growth. One study from Millennial Branding , reported companies lose between $15-25,000 for each millennial employee they lose.

People don’t feel the same connection to their employers when they’re working from home. Suddenly co-workers feel like spouses, children, and roommates. To keep people engaged, companies can prioritize employee retention with these strategies.

Inspire loyalty through educational opportunities

A recent Salesforce report shows that 57% of workers wish they had more up-to-date skills. Today, corporations are spending over $180B annually on traditional tuition assistance and internal education programs; but only 2% of employees use these programs and employers see minimal demonstrated impact. A modern approach to employer-supported education is needed to help employers retain and recruit talent, and to equip employees with the skills and credentials to advance.

This is where companies like InStride  come in. Building from a foundation of more than 1,500 online degrees and certificates from a curated network of academic partners, InStride helps organizations identify the programs that will best meet employees’ needs.

This approach helps companies achieve essential objectives – from more effective recruitment and retention to skills development that creates a more adaptable and innovative workforce.

“Employers are making strategic investments in their employees’ education as part of their larger business strategy,” says Monet Banihashem , Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at InStride.

For companies that are ever more focused on making meaningful progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion, workforce education can also be a critical tool. By investing in quality education programs for employees to earn skills, credentials, and degrees, companies can support diversity, equity, and inclusion goals while also delivering tangible benefits across their entire organization.

Initiate check-ins

Remove some of the barriers between employees by creating supervisor and subordinate check-ins. Set an intention for the meeting. The purpose is not the focus solely on business. Both parties can talk about workload and work/life balance.

It’s no secret there is a tremendous amount of stress in everyone’s lives these days.

A Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll  from July 2020 found, “about half (52%) of adults report that worry and stress related to the coronavirus outbreak have had adverse effects on their mental health and wellbeing in specific ways. About a third say coronavirus-related worry or stress has led to problems with their sleep (36%) or has led to a poor appetite or overeating (32%)”

Empathy has never been more important. Companies will do a service to themselves and their people by genuinely caring about their well-being.

For an employee, it’s that warm feeling that their company sees them as a human being, not just a worker bee.

Increase employee communication

One-to-one relationships are important for building human connections at work. There’s also something to be said for forming a bond between the company and the employee.

Before the pandemic, internal communication was lacking in corporate America. Research from Gallagher  showed that 60 percent of companies did not have a long-term internal communications strategy.

Start small with email messages. Use these are an opportunity to share good news and recognize employee achievements. Set them to a regular cadence. Introduce people to the larger community of their organization.

When you’re ready to prioritize employee retention, start with one of these strategies. Figure out what jives best with your company culture. People are an organization’s best asset. A plan around retention is key to driving growth and keeping people happily employed.

This piece was originally published by our CEO Camille Fetter in 2021.

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