How can HR software support an effective retention strategy?

Despite a cooling labour market, the number of job vacancies in the UK remains at a historical high. And, as businesses and individuals alike battle a worsening economic climate, it’s no wonder many employees are looking to secure a higher salary with a new role.

For employers, this means retaining talent is more important than ever. After all, perfecting your retention strategy (particularly when it comes to highly specialised roles) could make all the difference to your company’s success in the tough months ahead.

How does HR software support an effective retention strategy?

As any HR professional will know, digital tools are becoming increasingly prevalent in the HR space: from elevating employee training and development opportunities to changing the way key processes are managed.

What everybody may not be aware of, however, is just how HR software can change the game when it comes to improving rates of staff retention. Apart from more obvious applications – using analytical tools to identify performance concerns and remedy a solution, or identifying essential skill gaps when hiring – a good HR system can have a profound impact on your workforce’s levels of engagement, job satisfaction, and even company loyalty long-term.

Thinking about making the leap? Here are 5 ways an HR system could help reduce turnover in your organisation and support that all-important effective retention strategy…

1. It supports employee growth and development

In LinkedIn’s 2023 Workplace Learning Report, career growth and personal development opportunities were identified as key indicators of employee loyalty to a workplace. So, if you’re looking to improve retention rates, learning and development could be the place to start.

Although there are endless ways to utilise technology in your learning and development strategies, effective performance management software can play an essential role in ensuring development targets are met, set, and effectively supported throughout their completion.

Apart from standardising appraisal processes – ensuring every employee has the chance to voice their development goals – dedicated software allows agreed-upon objectives and activities to be recorded digitally and accessed by everybody involved.

From an HR standpoint, inbuilt performance dashboards and reporting functionality also make for better visibility over key information, as well as the ability to trigger reminders at relevant intervals – meaning nothing goes amiss!

2. It allows more effective rewards and recognition programmes

Employee appreciation and recognition, understandably, are key markers of how likely staff members are to stay with a business. In fact, according to Great Place to Work, employees who received consistent recognition were likely to report far higher job satisfaction, as well as a more positive overall view of their employer.

Contrary to popular belief, though, cash bonuses – while useful when managed effectively – aren’t the only effective approach to rewards and recognition. Peer-to-peer recognition schemes (such as Cezanne HR’s Kudos tool) offer an incredibly valuable means of promoting appreciation among employees. You can find our free guide to setting up an effective peer-to-peer recognition scheme here.

If you’re looking for more tangible incentives, many modern HR systems also support integration with retail-focused rewards platforms such as Perkbox; providing an alternative approach to financial benefits.

3. It improves your onboarding processes

In our big Onboarding survey, 63% of respondents reported that they were left stressed or overwhelmed by their onboarding experience. So, if you’re one of the thousands of UK businesses hiring this quarter, it makes sense to start off strong by getting your onboarding process right.

Onboarding technology can be useful for a number of reasons; firstly, in that it saves valuable time on administrative tasks. A good onboarding system will allow users to create task list templates, set reminders for document submission, and automate key tasks; freeing up time for more strategic HR responsibilities.

What’s more, onboarding tech allows new hires to begin their employment with an easy directory of the important people, tasks, and documents they need to know – making for a stronger, more confident start to their new position.

4. It simplifies gathering employee feedback

When looking to retain employees, it’s essential to take on your workforce’s ideas and feedback: be them concerns, praise, or ideas for improvement.

This is where HR software with a dedicated pulse surveys module can help. Pulse surveys are short, quickfire feedback surveys that allow you to tap into employees’ thoughts and feelings, and monitor progress over a period of time.

Since they’re short and sweet, they lend themselves to a far higher response rate than other feedback forums. This means a more representative view of your workforce’s views, and an efficient route through which to act on employees’ key concerns about their workplace.

5. It allows you to build a data-driven HR strategy

Last, although certainly not least, is that an effective HR solution will support an in-depth, data-driven HR strategy.

Data analytics tools – such as Cezanne HR’s Insights module – allow users to create powerful, informative dashboards and reports customised to your organisation’s needs and priorities.

If you’re looking to tackle turnover and improve your retention strategy, identifying potential shortfalls (be that pay gaps, workforce diversity, or more long-term business trends) can be the first step to creating a workplace that employees want to stick with for the long run.