Best Practices in Employee Retention

Well into year three of COVID-19, our members are experiencing staffing shortages and challenges with retention. To help those institutions facing these problems, we surveyed our members who reported the lowest turnover rates for their access teams via our benchmarking survey -- and asked them key questions about their retention tactics. Sharing these strategies and tactics with all our members is at the core of what we offer as an association – an opportunity to learn from each other.

Internal Transfer Hold Period – most of these organizations reported that the period the employee must wait until a transfer can be made is six months. Some exceptions are made if they apply for a promotion or if the current and new departments agree to the transfer. There were a few organizations that reported no waiting period.

Retention Tactics – there were a wide variety of retention tactics reported from the various organizations, but four main ones were reported over and over again:

• Work from home flexibility – this was the most common tactic listed as a factor in alleviating attrition. 
• Competitive compensation – many raised their starting pay and/or provided equity adjustments to existing employees. Some organizations also established retention bonuses and “employee of the month” bonuses.
• Career ladders – many created or maintained career ladders for their team members and promoted them from within.
• Employee Engagement – there were numerous employee engagement initiatives, including town hall meetings, focus groups, Access Week, social events, 1-on-1s with team members, Open Door meetings, Development and Learning opportunities, Family First flexibility, etc.