According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employee Tenure Summary, the average new employee stays on their job for 4.6 years – that’s an increase from 4.2 years in 2010[i]. The trend is rising partially due to the high unemployment rate.

With that statistic in mind, how do you keep an employee on the job for five years? Forbes reports in their article, ″Job Hopping is the ‘New Normal’ for Millennials: Three Ways to Prevent a Human Resource Nightmare”, that employees who leave their jobs after one to two years are costly: losing an employee after a year means wasting precious time and resources on training & development[ii].The return on investment isn’t there, and you may be a victim of “job hopping.” If you want to keep a new employee on the job for five years or more, you’ve got to keep them happy. Here’s a few ways to do this:

First, employees should learn at least one new business skill yearly to make them more valuable to your company. Find out what they would like to do and try to help them attain that aspiration. Give them training or hands-on experience and let them learn something new.

Secondly, give them more responsibilities but don’t overwhelm them. A sense of responsibility may make them feel more valuable to your company.

Consider employees for lateral movement internally or promotions. Ask managers to take a look at their employees and move one or two internally each year. As employees learn new skills and responsibilities, they may feel excited, almost like they are starting a new job over again. This keeps them from becoming stagnant or feeling burned out.

Keep their training up-to-date. As new processes, systems or trends become available, show employees what’s new with appropriate training.

The bottom line is that today’s employees don’t feel as loyal to a company as their parents did. Businesses have drifted away from employees and are, therefore, not giving them the attention they need to feel committed to the company. By giving employees internal benefits to grow individually and with the company, you may find more employees staying rather than leaving.

[ii] http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannemeister/2012/08/14/job-hopping-is-the-new-normal-for-millennials-three-ways-to-prevent-a-human-resource-nightmare/