If you think traditional perks and annual bonuses are enough to retain your employees, you’re in for a surprise.

The workforce has undergone a major transition in recent years, influenced by generational shifts, tech advancements, and changing work models. The old employee retention playbooks don’t work anymore.

Retaining top talent now requires a deep understanding of employee needs and expectations. The modern workforce is prioritizing things beyond the paycheck, like the option to work remotely, flexible work timings, sabbatical leaves, and career development programs.

Not sure where to start?

This article reveals 17 employee retention strategies for 2025 that go beyond the basics along with the practical ways to execute them.

Why Employee Retention Matters for Businesses 

Employee retention influences every aspect of a business, from culture to productivity and even customer satisfaction. 

Here's why investing in employee retention is important:  

‍Financial impact: The cost of replacing an employee can be 1.5 to 2 times their annual salary, which can be far higher than retaining current ones. By keeping your current talent, you save on recruitment, onboarding, and training costs.

‍Operational impact: New hires typically take months to reach full productivity, temporarily slowing down operations. In contrast, seasoned employees have expertise that takes years to develop and cannot be easily documented, replicated, or transferred. Retention also safeguards intellectual property and sensitive data from moving to competitors.

‍External impact: Long-term employees build strong, trusting relationships with clients. Their deep understanding of customer needs drives better service and long-term business growth, particularly in service-based industries.

‍Internal impact: Lower retention can negatively impact the morale of remaining employees. When colleagues leave, it can create a sense of instability, with other employees feeling disengaged or uncertain about their future.

With a clear understanding of how employee retention affects your business, from costs and productivity to client relationships, let's now shift our focus to 17 effective strategies for preventing turnover.

The Best 17 Employee Retention Strategies 

Following are some tried-and-tested employee retention strategies used by companies worldwide to hold onto their best talent.

1. Understanding Employee Needs and Expectations

To retain employees, you must actively learn what they want from their roles, careers, and workplace environment. Train managers to implement one-on-one meetings or a 5-15 framework where employees spend 15 minutes preparing weekly reports and managers spend 5 minutes reviewing them. 

Map career trajectory through quarterly meetings, create individual growth plans, and track professional milestones. Use skip-level meetings and focus groups to gather unfiltered organizational insights.

Surveys are great for understanding your employees’ mindset. Go beyond traditional lengthy surveys. Conduct anonymous pulse surveys or company-wide employee satisfaction surveys to identify pain points. Then, act on this feedback. Share survey findings, including what changes will be implemented and which ones are not possible, during monthly or quarterly town halls.

2. Build a Positive Workplace Culture

Create a work environment where employees feel safe, respected, and motivated. Define company values, mission, and goals, and show how each employee contributes to the bigger picture. Be supportive and flexible to accommodate individual employee needs like working location, timings, emergencies, etc.

Also, ensure a safe workplace for everyone by establishing a zero-tolerance policy for bullying and harassment. 

Conduct team-building activities, like Scavenger hunts, off-site events, or team retreats, to help employees connect across different departments and levels. Recognize employees and strive to be an inclusive organization by hiring people from diverse backgrounds. 

3. Offering Competitive Compensation and Benefits

Salary and benefits remain key factors in employee retention. 55% of employees (Lattice Report 2022) consider leaving the company for higher compensation. 

Start by analyzing industry wage statistics from trusted resources like the Bureau of Labor Statistics or platforms like PayScale to verify if you offer competitive salaries. Go a step further and study what your direct competitors are paying using tools like Glassdoor. 

Internally, maintain pay parity so that employees in similar roles and at similar seniority levels are compensated fairly. Think beyond base pay by offering benefits that include health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and retention and performance-based bonuses. 

4. Encouraging Employee Engagement

Employees fully engaged with their jobs have an 87% less chance of leaving their current employer. Retain employees by creating an engaging experience.

Assign projects that align with the employee’s passions or strengths. Implement engagement initiatives like hackathons, cross-team challenges, or gamified recognition like offering badges and virtual trophies. Engage the new hires by sending them onboarding material and packages. 

Regularly gather feedback through engagement surveys and use the results to build actionable plans. Closing the loop by communicating changes made shows employees that their input drives action, making them feel valued.

‍ClearlyRated is a comprehensive survey platform that lets you design and launch employee surveys within minutes. It also has built-in features for employee recognition.  

5. Build a Supportive Leadership Team

Leadership can make or break an employee’s experience. Have managers and leaders who empower, support, and advocate for their teams. 

Train new/transitioned managers on active listening and conflict resolution. Host bi-weekly "leadership circles" where managers share challenges and solutions. Create accountability through manager feedback surveys. Pair new employees with mentors and encourage open-door policies for all leadership roles. 

Leaders must also regularly check in on their team’s workload and advocate for their needs, whether it’s securing the necessary resources or pushing for well-deserved promotions.

6.Implementing Effective Work-Life Balance Policies

Work-life balance is essential for preventing burnout and retaining talent, with 25% of Gen Zs and 31% of millennials choosing an organization for work-life balance.

Consider implementing a “no email/meetings after work hours” policy. When employees take time off, allow them to fully disconnect by setting clear boundaries and designating a colleague to cover their responsibilities. Shift towards performance-based metrics, focusing on results rather than clock-in hours, to build a culture centered on output.

Offer your employees the flexibility to alternate between working in the office and working remotely. Encourage shareable online calendars to monitor meeting loads and after-hours work. You must also provide vacation leaves that expire within the same year to urge employees to take their time off.

7. Provide Flexible Scheduling and Reduced Workdays

Allow your employees to have flexible schedules and work fewer days if needed to maintain productivity.

Test flexible models through pilot programs, like a four-day workweek or adjustable daily start times. Collect feedback at all levels to see what works best for both the company and employees. For instance, introduce a “Focus Friday” with no meetings to improve concentration and productivity. 

Such initiatives acknowledge that employees have unique needs and give them the autonomy to manage their schedules.

8. Employee Recognition Programs

Employees stay loyal to organizations that value and recognize them. As per a Bonusly survey, 46% of the employees have left a job because they felt unappreciated. 

Create recognition programs that highlight different levels of achievement, from major milestones like closing a big client to smaller wins such as receiving positive customer feedback. This makes recognition a part of your company culture. Use a mix of monetary rewards (bonuses, gift cards) and non-monetary ones (public recognition, awards, shoutouts).

Implement peer-to-peer recognition where employees can nominate colleagues for specific achievements or give them shoutouts. Set up channels in your communication tools like Slack or MS Teams for instant appreciation.

If you’re using ClearlyRated’s survey platform, you get an in-built Shout Out feature that lets you give employees the recognition they deserve.

9. Building a Culture of Trust and Openness

Trust is the foundation of any lasting professional relationship. Build it through transparency in decision-making and communication.

Maintain an open line of communication so that employees feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, challenges, and ideas. Host town halls, feedback forums, and monthly AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions with leadership for honest, constructive conversations. 

Train managers to be transparent by discussing both company successes and failures. Reinforce trust by sharing company metrics and goals. 

Be careful with company data and create a framework for handling sensitive information with care. Clearly define what constitutes confidential data and ensure that employees understand the boundaries of what can be shared in various communication channels. Implement strict protocols around the release of sensitive company information.

As a leader, acknowledge mistakes and promote a culture where failures are seen as opportunities for growth, not blame.

10. Create an Emphasis on Teamwork

As per ADP Research, employees who feel part of a team are more likely to be highly engaged. Retain employees by creating a sense of collective responsibility for company goals. 

You may organize team activities that directly align with your business objectives. For example, run a "Hackathon" where teams solve a real company challenge, like building an internal process or a new product feature. 

Encourage role-playing for support/sales scenarios, helping employees collaborate and learn. Set up clear, shared KPIs like project delivery timelines, CSAT scores, and team incentives for achievements. Break down silos with informal interaction opportunities like assigning a cross-functional team to plan an event or virtual coffees for remote employees.

11. Address Burnout and Mental Health

Research indicates that up to 44% of employees experience burnout (SHRM research, 2024). Burned-out employees are 63% more likely to take a sick day and 2.6 times as likely to be actively seeking a different job. Addressing it should be a top priority for organizations.

Managers should regularly review deadlines to ensure they are realistic and attainable and conduct one-on-one check-ins to assess whether employees are feeling overloaded. Make it easy for employees to take leaves and short breaks throughout the day. Implement flexible start and end times to give employees more control over their schedules.

Train managers to recognize signs of burnout early like declining performance, frequent absences, withdrawal from team activities, etc. Create a stigma-free environment for discussing mental health concerns. 

You must also track wellness indicators like work hours patterns, meeting loads, etc to identify potential concerns. Provide free access to mental health resources, such as counseling services and stress management workshops, and encourage their use. 

12. Provide Wellness Offerings

More than half of Gen Zs and millennials consider wellness programs important or extremely important when looking for a job. This underlines the importance of investments in employee well-being to attract and retain top talent.  

Create wellness programs that address physical, mental, and financial well-being. Offer a range of benefits, such as gym memberships, subscriptions to meditation apps, financial advisory services, ergonomic setups for home offices, or nutrition counseling. Organize challenges like step competitions or healthy luncheons to encourage healthy habits and team bonding.

13. Give Other Job Perks

40% of employers believe workers leave their jobs to find employment that offers better benefits. Balance salaries with non-monetary job perks that make employees appreciated. 

These include paid volunteer days, employer-covered family insurance, free office snacks, remote work bonuses, discounts on local businesses, or exclusive invitations to events. 

Customize these perks to suit the preferences of your workforce, and be sure to communicate them clearly. When employees feel they are receiving something extra, they’re more likely to stay with the company.

14. Foster Growth and Offer Professional and Personal Development

Make sure employees are constantly encouraged to grow at your company. Give them the opportunity to upskill in areas relevant to their roles or careers. Set up mentorship programs, both within and outside of the team. For instance, you can urge software developers in your company to earn certifications in emerging tech like AI and offer financial support for these.

Host skill-building sessions led by senior leaders or invite industry experts to run workshops for junior employees. Create individual development plans based on quarterly reviews and transparent promotion criteria for employees to understand exactly what skills, achievements, and competencies are required to be eligible for promotions. 

Challenge employees like letting them lead a project to stretch their abilities.  Also, offer opportunities to attend conferences, workshops, or trainings that help them develop and see their future in your company. 

15. Manage for Retention

82% of employees would quit due to a bad manager. Clearly, managers play a huge role in shaping the employee experience. Train them to adopt a retention-focused managerial style that prioritizes not only results but also actively supports employee growth, development, and well-being. 

Here are a few things you can do: 

• Regularly review eNPS (employee NPS) and performance metrics to identify at-risk employees
• Provide clear career progression paths and solve any issues your team has before they lead to turnover
• Give them autonomy and ownership over projects
• Be receptive to their ideas
• Support them in overcoming daily challenges
• Advocate for their needs in leadership meetings
• Offer performance-based rewards

16. Know When It’s Time To Say Goodbye

While investing in employee development and trying to resolve performance issues is important, there comes a point when continued efforts may not yield the desired results. Know when it’s time to end the employee relationship with signs like constant underperformance despite coaching or misalignment with the company’s values and goals. 

Before making this decision, explore retention options to see if a department transfer or a shift in responsibilities could reignite their engagement. If a transition is still necessary, have all their tasks and responsibilities documented so that you can onboard the new hires with ease. 

Offer support like outplacement services or career coaching to help the departing employee. Be transparent and compassionate during the exit process and part ways on good terms.

17. Exit Interview Insights for Retention Improvement

Exit interviews have a lot of potential to improve retention for current and future employees.

Instead of treating them as a formality, structure these interviews to dig deep into the departing employee’s true reasons for leaving. Ask open-ended questions about what could have been done differently and how the organization can improve, focusing on specifics related to management, workplace culture, or job expectations. 

If possible, have interviewers who don’t have a direct personal connection to the departing employee for unbiased conversations. Time the interview well; neither too early, when the employee may not yet be ready to reflect on their experience, nor too late, when they may already be disengaged or mentally checked out.

Let employees know that feedback will stay anonymous and confidential. Collect and analyze patterns from these interviews, then use the findings to make possible changes. 

Keep employee retention high with ClearlyRated 

Employee retention is all about creating a workplace where people actually want to stay and grow. ClearlyRated fits well into your employee retention strategy by keeping you connected with your team every step of the way.

From launching surveys to recognizing employees, ClearlyRated enables you to understand, act, and continuously improve your employee experience. 

Here’s how: 

• ClearlyRated offers fully customizable survey designs so that you can capture insights that are specific to how your team works and interacts; whether it’s a collaborative culture or a flexible remote setup.
• Improve participation by deploying the survey with ClearlyRated’s guidance on the best ways to engage your team. 
• Its dashboard calculates your Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) and gives insights into employee perception of optimism, fairness, recognition, etc.
• With the tool’s identity-based questions and industry benchmarks, you can gauge the diversity of your workforce.
• ClearlyRated also allows you to segment satisfaction by identity and demographics to pinpoint disparities in the employee experience.
• Its built-in “Shout Out” feature lets you recognize outstanding contributions from your team when a client gives you a high NPS.
• ClearlyRated is more than just a survey platform. It’s your partner in building a team that feels heard, valued, and motivated to work with your organization.

Learn more about the platform by booking a demo today.  

Execute one strategy, at a time

Now, you don’t have to execute all the employee retention strategies at once. Instead, prioritize based on your organization’s most pressing needs and current challenges. 

The first step is identifying the root issues contributing to low retention at your company. Use tools like ClearlyRated to gather unfiltered employee feedback and narrow down areas for improvement, whether it’s recognition, communication, or opportunities for growth. Once you understand the key issues, focus on strategies that will make the biggest impact right away.

Gradually roll out more initiatives, allowing time to evaluate their ROI and make any necessary adjustments. Remember, small, meaningful changes can add up and greatly improve your employee experience.

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