Five Proven Ways to Improve Staff Retention

Robbie Kerr, Director of roofing recruitment specialists The Externals Group, shares five tried and tested ways to improve staff retention.

Robbie Kerr, Director at The Externals Group

LOSING good staff costs more than most people realise.

When someone leaves, you’re not just refilling a vacancy. You’re dealing with lost productivity, the time spent recruiting, going through CVs, interviewing, the cost of training someone with time or additional certification and also the impact on your existing team who now have to pick up the slack. I’ve seen roofing contractors lose multiple people in quick succession because they overloaded the team that was left behind and it created a domino effect.

Retention is cheaper than recruiting and cheaper than burning out the staff you have left.

Most staff retention issues come down to people not feeling valued or not seeing a future where they are, however, these are fixable problems and they don’t require massive internal overhauls.

Here are five tried and tested methods:

1. Scheduled Salary Increases

This one should be obvious but I still see companies that don’t do it. If someone has to ask for a raise or worse, hand in their notice before it even becomes a topic, then you are already behind.

Scheduled salary increases, whether that’s annual cost of living adjustments or performance-based raises at set intervals, show people their compensation will grow without them having to fight for it. It does need to keep up with market rate as well, candidates will likely get a bigger wage increase by jumping ship to a competitor than staying put and replacing them will likely cost the new market rate anyway so why go through all the extra steps?

When employees know a raise is coming in 12 months as long as they’re performing well, it gives them something to work toward. It also removes the awkwardness and frustration of having to ask. If you wait until someone comes to you asking for more money, there’s a good chance they’ve already started looking elsewhere and you’re just playing catch up at that point.

2. Progression Paths

Telling someone there’s “room to grow” or “progression available” means nothing if you can’t show them what that looks like. A foreman needs to know what it takes to become a project manager. If people can’t see where they’re going or what they need to do to get there, the glass ceiling feeling creeps in.

This doesn’t mean you need a promotion every year but it does mean being clear about what the next step is, what skills or experience they need to get there, and roughly what timeline that might happen on.

I’ve spoken to people who’ve been in the same role for 5+ years with no indication of what’s next and they leave because they feel stuck, not because they don’t like the company. It goes without saying, but don’t make false promises on progression either.

3. Regular Check-Ins That Aren’t Just About Work

Waiting until someone hands in their notice to ask if they’re happy is too late. Regular check-ins, whether that’s monthly or quarterly, give you a chance to catch issues early. Ask them if they’re enjoying the work, if they feel supported, if there’s anything they’d like to be doing differently and not just to tick a box but genuine empathy goes a long way.

A lot of times people leave over small things that could have been addressed if someone had just asked. Maybe they’re frustrated with a process that doesn’t work well or they’re not getting along with someone on the team. If you’re only talking to people when there’s a problem with their work, you’re missing a big part of what keeps people around.

4. Invest in Training and Development

Sending people to industry events, paying for certifications, or bringing in training on new software or systems, showing that you’re willing to invest in their development matters to people. This also ties back to progression paths, if someone knows they need to learn a particular system or get a specific certification to move up, help them do it.

Companies that develop their people internally end up with stronger teams and better retention because people feel like the company genuinely cares about their growth.

5. Recognise Good Work When You See It

This one costs nothing and it’s probably the most overlooked. If someone does a good job on a task, hearing it is nice and it’s good to feel acknowledged. People want to know their hard work is noticed. Not everyone needs a medal for every task done but if the only people getting regular credit and feedback are the boss’s mates or relatives then it can create negative feelings among everyone else.

What Not to Do

Don’t overwork your staff to save money on hiring. When people burn out and leave, you’ve made the problem worse and more expensive. Being a manager doesn’t give you the right to be rude to people. Don’t cut corners when it comes to people, whether that’s skipping salary reviews, not replacing someone who left, or ignoring training requests. All of these will cost you more in the long run.

The Cost of Doing Nothing

Retention is about creating an environment where good people want to stay. When you lose someone, especially someone experienced and important to the company, the impact on your business can be significant. Projects slow down, other team members get overloaded, and morale takes a hit. If you lose multiple people in a short period, it can spiral quickly because the remaining team ends up carrying too much weight and they start looking for the exit too.

The companies that retain people well aren’t doing anything special. They’re just being intentional about it. They’re paying people fairly, showing them a future, checking in regularly, investing in their development, and making sure good work gets recognised.

If you’re struggling with retention or you’ve lost people recently and don’t want it to happen again, it’s worth taking a look at what you’re currently doing and what you could be doing differently. Small changes in how you approach retention can have a big impact on keeping the people you want to keep.

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