As any forward-thinking business owner will attest to, talent retention is something that, while often overlooked, is absolutely integral to business continuity. In fact, one of the inevitable fallouts from the pandemic has been the upending of the recruitment industry and an unexpected turnaround in candidate priorities. A lot of businesses typically sleep on retention because they see it as a relatively low-risk part of their business, but for already-dispersed teams or those that are now distributed thanks to the pandemic, it’s suddenly become a key focus area.

KPMG ran a survey at the end of 2020 asking more 300 CEO’s what the greatest threat to their companies’ growth was. The answer was “talent risk” – in other words, retention.

Retention refers to how good a company is at keeping talent over the long term, and also the strategies employed to maintain a stable workforce. It’s bigger than an annual turnover figure. It’s about a company’s ability to keep the ship steady and ensure productivity by keeping all staff members happy, confident, engaged and motivated over the course of years or even decades. It’s well within a business’ interests to ramp up its retention efforts too, as ignoring it can be a costly affair. In the US alone more than 3.2 million workers voluntarily left their jobs, and The U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics estimate that each parting staff member costs the organisation they leave behind more than one and a half times their annual salary to replace.

Retention is hard at the best of times, but it can seem insurmountable for businesses coping with widely distributed teams or remote workers. From hospitality and logistics, right through to desk-based teams that have embraced hybrid working, how do distributed teams keep hold of their most valuable assets – their people?

That’s a question that can be answered by Engage4, a new bespoke employee engagement tool designed to help businesses connect, onboard, unite and retain their teams, all from the convenience of a single app.

Introducing Engage4

Distributed workforces all share one unique challenge; creating and nurturing a warm, welcoming and engaging workplace culture. Keeping staff connected and feeling like part of a team is difficult when some of them work opposite shifts, are out in the field, spread out in the workplace or work completely remotely. Creating this ‘cultural glue’ is the heart of retention, and it’s one of the things Engage4 has been designed to facilitate.

Engage4 is the ultimate people engagement app, and the only tool your business will need to retain talent through fostering a community of culture where accomplishments are recognised and rewarded.

Engage4 for employee retention

Staff members are more likely to stick around if they feel included and engaged, and that’s what Engage4 aims to deliver on. It’s an app-driven experience that involves no paper-pushing whatsoever, creating a safe and easy-to-use space for teams to connect and engage with one another.

Team leaders can easily run community polls and surveys for instance, giving team members the option to have their say on big business decisions and working practices. The Check-In Pulse function allows managers to quickly check in with various team members on a one-to-one basis to see how they’re doing, giving staff the opportunity to share any issues they might be experiencing. The app also comes loaded with options for micro-learning, allowing staff to train themselves on-the-fly and become more adept with business tools and functions, adding more value to the time they spend working. In another community feature, business leaders can even post video announcements directly to staff channels, creating a family atmosphere of inclusion and openness.

Engage4 can also assist in the onboarding process, making it far more likely that staff members will stick around long after they’re hired. Research from Glassdoor reveals that organisations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by more than 82%, and productivity by more than 70%. In other words, if you use technology like Engage4 to take the pain out of hiring and retention, and make your employees’ experience as seamless, inclusive and dynamic as possible, you’re far more likely to hang on to your most appreciating assets.

Engage4 is an all-encompassing solution that helps you connect, onboard, unite and retain your valuable team members. Learn more about Engage4 or get started today with a 30-day free trial.