Top 8 Strategies to Retain Staff in 2022

The last 5 years has seen power shift in the jobs market from employers to employees. With more and more job openings becoming available as businesses across the world grow, it has never been easier for people to get a job – or switch jobs if they’re not happy!

To retain their staff, businesses across the globe need to ensure they improve their practices and their environments to reinforce their employer brand and build company loyalty.

In this article from Midas Recruitment, we explore 8 different strategies businesses in all industries can employ to retain more staff in 2022 and beyond.

What is Staff Retention?

Staff retention is the number of people that leave a business compared to the number who join in a set period, usually a year.

Employees Who Started


Employees Who Left

Ideally a business will want to keep this at 1 or above. This means that the number of people in their organisation is never declining.

When an organisation sees a decline in their staff this can lead to an increased workload on remaining staff and a possible lack of continuity in work standards.

It is important to remember that staff churn is expected. As people retire, explore new career paths and have children, businesses will have to employ new people. But minimising this churn is important for businesses who want to grow.

How Can You Improve Staff Retention?

Great question. Though there is no one size fits all solution, here are 8 strategies that you could look to implement.

One of the key reasons employees switch jobs is because of pay. Of course, budget restrictions can make offering huge pay rises unrealistic. However, conducting regular pay reviews can be a good way to ensure staff are fairly compensated for their work. If they can do less work for more pay, it’s likely people will make the move.

Being open and honest about pay scales and the work that needs to be done to achieve a pay increase will provide your employees with direction. This direction and sense of purpose can help improve retention as they work towards a goal.

Read our 2022 salary survey >

We all want to become the best version of ourselves we can be. In fact, achieving one’s full potential is top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – a motivational theory in psychology.

41% of employees left their organisation in the year 2021/22 due to a lack of career development and advancement. Simply put, when work becomes monotonous and dull, employees will seek out new challenges that provide a greater sense of fulfilment. To combat this issue, provide a clear progression path for employees who want to move up in the company. This shows employees that the business respects them and is willing to invest in their growth.

It is a big red flag when multiple people within the same team hand in their notice. This can be a sign of a significant organisational issue such as a poor manager, a lack of resources, or overworked employees. In this situation, businesses need to take the time to properly assess the reasons behind the mass resignation. Failure to address these problems quickly can make them difficult to resolve further down the line.

Finding the problem and putting a plan in place, such as additional training, new systems, or new management can see retention in that department increase over time. It is important to also consider the location of these resignations; there are a lot of jobs that naturally have higher turnover compared to others as people use them as career breaks or part time jobs for extra money.

Employee engagement is essential to retention, and communication is crucial for its cultivation. Employees who receive daily feedback from their manager are 3 times more likely to be engaged. Encouraging your workforce to build relationships with their peers, subordinates, and managers can help improve their experience.

Communication ensures not only that issues are resolved quicker, but that recognition and rewards are also shared with each other. Fostering this open environment can improve the engagement of workers, showing that their views are heard, and they can see real time actions to their requests.

Your on-boarding process is incredibly important. It is so much more than an office tour and setting someone up at their desk.

Taking this time to develop a comprehensive process for new starters where you explain and what is expected from them and what they can expect from the company will naturally lead to better engagement.

To avoid bombarding new employees with too much information on day 1, you could make your onboarding a multi-step process. This could start on the employee’s first day and progress throughout their first week, first month, and first year. This continuous review and development will show your employees that you are invested in their success with the company.

Offices can quickly become dull and boring spaces. We have all seen the TV shows with endless office cubicles, void of personality. Having a working environment that excites and engages employees is going to make them want to stay. So too will having a budget for work socials, and little luxuries like a coffee machine. When people are excited to go to work, they are far less likely to leave.

More and more people are looking to work flexibly. Offering flexible working hours or the ability to work from home is a huge benefit for some employees. Of course, while this is a brilliant option for some businesses, it simply isn’t feasible for some industries such as freight forwarding.

In these cases, businesses need to work to provide their employees with additional benefits for their less flexible work. Offering extra pay, varied shift patterns that include days and nights, additional leave for new parents, or funding training and university tuition are all brilliant ways to appeal to more workers.

It may sound obvious but hiring the right people can help you improve employee retention. Ensuring that your positions are filled with pragmatic and proactive workers can help your organisation run like a well-oiled machine – which will motivate and inspire existing employees. During the recruitment process, it’s important to check that your prospective employee is compatible with your company culture and values. That way, they’re more likely to integrate with the rest of your workforce and stay with you for longer.

Your First Port of Call for Freight Forwarding Recruitment

Here at Midas Recruitment, we are experts in freight forwarding recruitment, specialising in the US and UK markets. We build long term partnerships with exciting businesses and connect them to talented individuals looking for their next opportunity.

Get in touch with us today to see how we can help you find your next recruit.

Register Your Interest.

Download Salary Survey