Best Retention Strategies for International Employees

By
 
Worca
 • 
Last Updated: 
January 17, 2023

Finding the appropriate candidate for a remote position is time-consuming and costly. Therefore, it's almost always in a company's best interest to retain employees with the necessary expertise and abilities to fill a position.

Employee retention is a significant challenge for employers. Worker loyalty often reflects business owners' or hiring managers' willingness to understand and act in their employees' best interests. Taking care of employees' needs and ensuring their loyalty to the organization is critical to meeting objectives and increasing long-term success. 

Keep reading for several ways to increase employee retention rates, especially with remote workers.

Get off to a good start

To keep remote workers longer:

  1. Build their loyalty to your company and mission right from the start
  2. Extend a warm welcome and deliver a positive onboarding experience
  3. Consider inviting local off-site workers to visit your facilities; offer long-distance employees video tours
  4. Introduce new employees to coworkers and team members they'll interact with regularly

A welcoming and inclusive onboarding helps establish employee-employer connections early during workers' tenure and contributes to better retention.

Implement mentoring programs for remote staff

Continuous training and development are critical components of retaining remote staff. Consider mentoring new, recently promoted, or overworked staff with your senior talent. The right pairing gives your newest employees someone to

  • Help them build excellent relationships with peers and company leaders
  • Celebrate their accomplishments
  • Assist in determining and planning immediate and long-term objectives
  • Discuss obstacles and issues requiring assistance
  • Offer constructive criticism about their mistakes and guide them forward with encouragement

Mentoring benefits new workers and gives established staff opportunities to prove themselves as managers, contribute to overall company performance, and coach future mentors!

Authorizing all team members to work asynchronously

The asynchronous work model, a new approach to flexible work, recognizes that different team members do their best work at various times of the day. This is especially true for distributed teams working across domestic or international time zones. The traditional nine-to-five work model is increasingly inconsistent with modern society and employees' priorities. However, asynchronous work accommodates work-life balance, a requirement for today's employees.

Be a leader in the remote industry

If you're a business owner or hiring manager benefitting from a remote workforce, share your positive experience with your cohorts, especially if you can teach others about growing their businesses with a global team. Many decision-makers still need to learn about increasing employee retention rates by hiring committed international employees. 

Worca's global recruiting, onboarding, and payroll services simplify hiring overseas workers. Talk with a Worca solutions expert before employee turnover impacts your bottom line.

Make communication as effortless as possible

Clear and direct communication across work teams helps avoid uncertainty. Communication technologies such as Slack, Teams, and Zoom enable instant conversations. Consistent communication builds relationships and trust. It can also increase retention rates. When an employee does leave your organization, a thorough exit interview can provide significant insight into how employees think and feel about working for your company. These insights could reshape your retention efforts.

Emphasizing work-life balance

Work-life balance is more than a catchphrase. Remote work, flextime, and job sharing are almost meaningless if supervisors still require after-hours work. Unrealistic deadlines or excessive workloads can also undo well-intended work-life balance initiatives. Managers should engage with employees regularly to verify that they can handle tasks and to encourage open dialogue about workload. Companies can also reduce retention by eliminating unnecessary meetings and administrative procedures that waste time while delivering little value. Finally, when the burden becomes intolerable, companies must assess the expense of hiring versus the cost of increased staff turnover.

Acknowledge employee contributions

Everyone likes to feel appreciated, especially at work. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 68% of HR professionals agree that adequate recognition programs are critical for employee retention. Organizations should encourage supervisors to recognize their direct subordinates' efforts. You can go the extra mile to recognize employees who go the extra mile.

Support employee well-being

Appropriate employee workload, good communication with management, and optimistic business culture are critical for supporting employee mental health and well-being. In addition, employment benefits like gym memberships, insurance coverage for counseling, and access to digital health platforms or meditation can all be significant advantages.

Why organizations must care about employee retention

High employee retention rates positively impact company costs and efficiency. Longtime employees understand the organization's vision, mission, and core values. They've also acquired the skills and experience needed to work more effectively. 

Recruiting and hiring new employees is expensive. And hiring new employees, familiarizing them with the company procedures, and training them takes valuable time. Reducing employee turnover allows you to invest more capital in other parts of the business. 

Implementing innovative retention strategies, including allowing remote work, gives you competitive advantages in the labor market. The more you invest in them, the more they will reinvest in your company and align with your objectives.

Looking for a way to help you recruit and integrate your international workforce? Worca provides services, tools, and expert advice to companies looking for the best talent, making hiring employees around the world effortless.

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