Retaining Valuable Employees Using OKRs

Retaining valuable employees is important to every company. The losses accumulated during a turnover will only drag your company backward and should be avoided at all costs. In the US alone, turnover expenses amount to 1 trillion annually. Consider where all that money could go if employee retention is taken seriously.

Loss of valuable employees will slow work progress, reduce output, cause burnout and loss of morale, loss of revenue, ROI, and can cripple your company if not properly managed.

The OKR methodology is perfect for building engagement and keeping workers happy and focused. Before we talk about how OKRs aid employee retention, let’s see why retaining your workers is essential.

Why is employee retention important today?

Turnovers are expensive

Americans spend 1 trillion dollars every year recruiting and replacing staff. Hiring a new employee will cost between 16% to 213% of the previous employee’s salary. The cost of advertisement, interviewing, and training are a significant loss to the business.

Cost of replacing employees

Besides recruiting costs, new employees lack proper knowledge of managing your clients, leading to poor customer service and loss of customers. 

A decline in productivity due to fewer hands can reduce the monthly output, leading to losses of thousands of dollars. Other employees may have to take on more work which can lead to stress and burnout, affecting work progress and leading to low output and loss of revenue.

Loss of valuable experience

It takes weeks for new workers to adapt to their responsibilities. Understanding how the company works may take months to grasp. The loss of senior employees with profound knowledge of the company can be detrimental to one or more departments because they lack proper supervision to guide them through strategic processes.

Office morale

Working together for years fosters connections and bonds between workers. The loss of employees who bring life to the office can be bad for morale. Employees might worry about their futures at the company after seeing a great coworker leave. They might begin considering leaving their jobs and seeking new opportunities elsewhere. In essence, losing valuable employees can lead to more employees, which is detrimental to your company’s growth.

Company culture

Company culture is a huge determining factor for most employees and job seekers. Retention helps strengthen company culture by creating stronger bonds between workers over an extended period. Recognition, rewards, and events all contribute to the company culture that new job seekers will find interesting enough to want to join your team. Existing members will want to stay longer because of a happy work environment.

Access to more experienced employees is vital to your company, so retaining workers is important. More experience equals increased productivity, which boosts your company’s revenue and ROI.

How can OKRs help in engaging and retaining valuable employees?

OKRs make employees see the impact of their work on the company’s long-term goals. It creates a feeling of importance and value that engages your staff and makes them feel like they are intentionally contributing to the company’s growth. This enhances engagement and boosts retention in a company. 

One feature of the OKR methodology is regular communication which is key to retention and engagement. Constant meetings to discuss projects and how they’re coming up create a sense of clarity which makes workers feel safe and focused. Clear-cut goals mean they know where and how to get there. Communication keeps them alive and on track, and it’s a vital component most long-term employees agree on. Leaving the company will feel like unfinished business when there’s an OKR formula in place.

The transparency associated with the OKR methodology gives way to recognition and rewards when employees hit their desired target. A sense of fulfillment and a desire to work more to achieve your company’s goals is established, making workers want to stay at their jobs.

Conclusion

Employee retention can take your company to where you want faster. A great way of achieving this feat is by incorporating OKRs into your business. This way, employees will see themselves and the company as one and follow you to the end.