Losing great employees to turnover is a terrible waste of your time and training investment. Luckily, there are things you can do to help prevent this loss and attract people who will stay with your company for the long haul. Loyal employees can provide numerous benefits to the workplace, so it’s worth finding those things that will make them stay. Here are some things you should do to reduce your employee turnover and retain loyal employees.

Provide Competitive Benefits and Compensation

According to Workhuman, you should review what compensation rates are in your industry both in your area and in nearby cities. You are competing for talent not only among your local business owners and leaders but also with those in nearby metropolitan areas. Due to the option for many people to work remotely, you may actually lose great employees because they suddenly get the chance to work from their home for your competitor. If employees are interested in increasing their salaries, offer guided training structures that will improve their skill set for the benefit of your business, and make this information available to anyone who asks.

Be Picky About Who You Hire

Hire for attitude. More often than not, you can teach a skill, but a poor attitude from one person can wipe out the positive company culture that you and your other employees have worked so hard to build. According to On the Move, having a rigorous, thorough vetting procedure and checking out all references in the application process helps reduce employee turnover by ensuring that you only hire the best. If a new hire simply isn’t working out due to a lack of skills or if a new person is disrupting relationships in the office, be ready to fire fast.

Encourage Strong Friendships

Your employees don’t come to work without issues, challenges and social needs. In addition to promoting a strong culture of appreciation for everyone at every level in your organization, try to foster events that will allow your employees to build social connections, one employee to another. Great work friendships make it harder to quit and can be the glue that holds your employees together when the workload gets heavy. Encourage mentorship programs by presenting all employees with the chance to assist one another both in the office and outside the workplace. Give them the opportunity to get away and have lunch on the expense account.

Excessive and unnecessary turnover will cost you more than just dollars. Client connections, special skills that you now need to retrain, and stable social structures in the workplace will need to be rebuilt after a valued employee leaves. Prevent this departure with the suggestions listed above.