Retention doesn’t happen because of pizza parties, team building activities, annual retreats, lunches, or cute swag.
Retention doesn’t happen by checking off compliance activities either, like completing continuing education hours.
Retention is ultimately how people feel about your organization. If they feel positively, you retain them.
So how do you retain your team? Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
There are a variety of different rewards and incentives that might keep employees in the organization. These rewards and incentives must represent the organization and the available budget.
To find out what will work, you need to ask your team! Collect data about what your team members are feeling, why they’re feeling that way, and which policies and practices can be changed.
In one organization, the right lever might be compensation. In another organization, it might be paid leave.
The right retention levers are always changing. New employees come in, team members leave, the world changes ― so people will need new things. The work of figuring out how to retain your team members is never done!
Explore potential retention levers
There are probably many more options for retention levers — the rewards and incentives that can help keep employees in your organization — than you even know.
So check out our comprehensive list of total rewards opportunities. This may expand your view of what’s possible!
Work with us: A case study from Cincinnati Public Schools
It’s fun to get a peek into large talent projects in other organizations! We’re midway through a project for Ohio’s second largest school district, Cincinnati Public Schools. This project is for a relatively large school district, but the work is directly applicable to nonprofits of any size.
Cincinnati Public Schools brought in TalentED Advisors during a time of leadership change to take a strategic look at their teacher recruitment and selection processes.
Starting in spring 2024, TalentED assessed Cincinnati’s candidate pool building, applicant tracking system and its implementation, communication systems between principals and the HR team, the talent team’s organizational capacity, and teacher talent data and metrics ― and made recommendations to revamp recruitment systems and structures.
In the next phase, we will complete comprehensive plans for recruitment & selection, marketing, new staff orientation and induction, staff retention, and Standard Operating Procedures for areas such as hiring, onboarding, retention, and data management.
This engagement is helping Cincinnati Public Schools reimagine what it means to recruit and select high-quality educators. It’s transformative work that will impact 36,000 students every year!
If you’re a nonprofit that needs expert talent support, book a free, no-obligation call so we can explore your goals and see if TalentED can help.
