The internet makes it easier than ever for your employees to be searching for their next job before they've even settled into the current one. As many as 35 per cent of your staff might be thinking about leaving, a disturbing number when you consider the high costs involved in replacing an employee, not to mention the immeasurable loss of knowledge and business contacts.

To avoid this, here are some tips to keep in mind to improve employee satisfaction and reduce the chances of your best staff jumping ship.

Improve the perks

These days, employees look at much more than a salary when searching for new employers. One easy way your business can make a big impact on employee satisfaction is by improving some of the perks offered. Something as simple as free snacks in the break room can keep employees productive. Not only will they work harder with access to food and drink throughout the day, they may work longer hours too.

For a bigger impact on your staff, consider other perks such as an increased amount of sick leave or improved parental leave. This can make all the difference for employees seeking an employer who demonstrates a commitment to a positive work-life balance. These are certainly more expensive, but can seriously differentiate your business from the rest.

Better reward those who deserve it

Rewarding high-performing employees is an effective way to improve retention and prevent staff from seeking alternatives to their current employment. However, few employers enable managers and staff to effectively reward their teams for exceptional performance. According to one study, only 14 per cent of managers reported having the necessary tools to reward their best staff to remind them of their value in the company. Even a small token of gratitude, such as a gift card or personal acknowledgement during performance reviews, can make a huge impact on an employee's confidence in their employer.

Identify and mitigate pain points

High employee turnover can drive away your customers. A company that can keep its staff is seen as stable, and your customers regard this as a sign you will be able to better serve them. But to keep your employees, you must eliminate their pain points – whether this means outdated computers, a problematic manager or an unfair company policy. Even the lack of resources to consolidate their efforts can be frustrating. For instance, imagine your marketing manager brings back 10 potential customers’ business cards from a conference and wishes to pass them to the sales manager to see if he can convert them into sales while the leads are still hot. However, due to lack of an existing contact management solution, he is unable to get them to his colleague in the necessary time frame.

The marketing manager will be frustrated with the wasted effort. In such a situation, a good contact management solution such as Sansan would allow both the marketing and sales managers to access the company’s database of contacts from anywhere, saving them both time and rewarding their efforts.

Communicate with your employees

In situations where mitigation of pain points is not immediately possible, at the very least, communication is required to make an employee feel he or she is valued. Let them know why a problem can’t be fixed right away, and provide a realistic timeline for when it will be resolved. These pain points cost you not just employee dissatisfaction, but also the efficiency and value that they bring to your business, so you would do well to eliminate them.

It's important to consider the costs of losing staff. Not only will you have to spend countless hours rehiring for the position, you'll never be able to put a dollar value on the contacts lost from star marketing or sales staff. Keep these factors in mind when weighing up the cost of a new office perk or identifying a way to keep your employees happy. After all, there is no value in being penny wise and pound foolish.