It’s no secret that employee retention is a huge challenge for businesses. Not only is it expensive and time-consuming to hire new employees, but poor retention also leads to compromised profitability, productivity, and safety. In aviation, this can be life-threatening. So how do you avoid the turbulence of turnover, mitigating your costs and reducing the stress of your top performers? By creating an engaging workplace that encourages your people to thrive.
There are a number of ways to do that, from improving pay and benefits to providing career growth opportunities. In this blog, we’ll take a bird’s eye view at what aviation employees want from their employers and their managers. (We know not everyone wants the same thing. That’s where our 2022 Aviation Workplace Culture Report comes in. It helps you pinpoint what your people want based on who they are.)
According to our report, aviation employees across the board prioritize the following in a workplace: good culture, healthy work/life balance, and competitive pay and benefits.
(1) Good culture helps avoid the turbulence of turnover.
You might be thinking, “Good culture, what does that even look like?” It’s more than just free lunches and happy hours (although those can certainly help). A good workplace culture is one where employees feel respected, encouraged, valued, and promoted. It’s a place where people want to work because they know they can make a meaningful impact on their organization and on aviation as a whole.
Here are four examples of how you can create a culture like this:
- Provide your employees with a clear path for advancement in their current roles
- Invite your employees to be mentored by you or a fellow leader in aviation
- Offer your employees additional ownership opportunities in their jobs
- Address poor performance consistently and fairly across your company
(2) Healthy work/life balance helps avoid the turbulence of turnover.
The aviation industry isn’t slowing down anytime soon. With its rapid pace, it’s all too easy for employees (and let’s be honest, us too) to get caught up in the hustle, in turn neglecting their personal lives. This can lead to burnout, which has been a major factor in “The Great Resignation.”
That’s why it’s so important to encourage a healthy work/life balance for your employees. Here are four ways you can do that:
- Encourage your employees to take vacation days, so they can recharge
- Promote flexible work hours and remote working arrangements, if possible
- Give your employees support (and grace!) as they juggle responsibilities
- Eliminate busywork that doesn’t drive meaningful results–from your schedule and theirs (including unnecessary meetings)
(3) Competitive pay and benefits help avoid the turbulence of turnover.
Twenty one percent of employees agree they are paid at or above industry norms. Twenty five percent of employees agree their company offers competitive benefits.
That said, this one is pretty self-explanatory: employees want to be paid fairly for their skills and experience. They also want to have access to competitive benefits, like health insurance, retirement savings plans, tuition reimbursement, and parental leave. Take a look at what you offer, poll your employees to understand their priorities, and consider how your company can level up.
What’s important to remember is that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to employee retention. The key is to understand what your people want and then give it to them. Our 2022 Aviation Workplace Culture Report is a great place to get started with that research, but if you are looking to take immediate action, check out our Workplace Culture Workshops. These workshops are designed to help you build a strategic plan you can actually execute.
What are some other ways you are improving employee retention? Let us know in the comments!
