What do young employees really want? There may be no easy answer to this age old mystery, but if you don’t come up with a way to build loyalty and retain your millennial teams– fast—your company may be headed for trouble. As you may have noticed, entry level employees may not earn very high salaries, but they do require extensive training and investment. When you factor the cost of training into the overall cost of a new hire, the total can meet or even exceed the annual the annual salary for the employee’s position. If she leaves within a year, this can seriously undermine your payroll budget. Prevent this from happening by taking a few simple steps.

1. Work on your brand.

The most cost effective ways to elevate your workplace brand all begin online. Engage the help of a digital marketing firm to improve your website content, attract more traffic, create buzz, and draw more positive millennial attention in your direction.

2. When you attract talented applicants, don’t let them get away.

When you have a talented, dedicated fish on the line, by all means, bring that fish into the boat before it gets away. Deliver your formal offer quickly—don’t let bureaucratic hassles stand in your way. And treat all of your candidates with respect from the very first interaction.

3. If you want to know what your employees need, ask them.

Distribute regular (annual or semi-annual) surveys asking your employees what might make them happier and what might make their jobs easier and more fulfilling. Carefully analyze the results, and take any action your can afford that might improve working conditions and productivity.

4. Keep communication channels open.

Relationships matter to most millenials, especially relationships with their direct supervisors. If your employees can have an open conversation with their bosses about how they work and what they want, they’ll be more likely to stay when the bad days start to outweigh the good ones.

5. Regular raises and room for advancement have a strong impact.

Show personal investment in your employees’ growth. Make sure they get the attention, exposure and experience they need to climb the career ladder, and make sure their annual pay increases reflect the value of their contributions.

For more on how to attract and keep talented staff members, reach out to the staffing professionals at Expert.