The old retention playbook — raise salary, promise promotion — still matters, but it’s incomplete. Today’s employees are evaluating employers on whether they support whole-person well-being: predictable time to rest, tools to manage stress, accessible ways to stay active and eat well, and benefits that actually fit their lives (remote, caregiving, chronic conditions, etc.).
For HR leaders, the smartest retention strategy is to make well-being core to the employee experience — not an add-on perk — and to do it in ways that measurably reduce burnout, strengthen belonging, and make long-term careers feel possible. This is especially urgent when nearly 2 in 5 U.S. hiring managers (39%) expect turnover at their company to rise this year, up from 33% who said the same about 2024.
Related: Choosing the Right Corporate Well-Being Partner for Your Company
9 Practical Strategies HR Leaders Can Use to Reduce Turnover
Below are concrete strategies HR leaders can use, with examples, quick wins, and practical next steps you can implement this quarter.
1. Make well-being part of your Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
When well-being is woven into your EVP, candidates and current employees see support as part of “how we work” rather than a one-off benefit. It signals that well-being isn’t just a perk offered on the side, but a core part of your culture and values.
From the moment someone reads a job description to their first day of onboarding, they understand that their health, balance, and long-term success are a priority. This level of alignment not only attracts top talent who are seeking supportive workplaces, but also reinforces to existing employees that they can build a sustainable career with your organization.
What this looks like:
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Job postings that call out flexible time, mental health supports, and sponsored wellness resources.
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Onboarding that includes a well-being orientation: how to access support, what “protected time” looks like, and how leaders model it.
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Leadership communications that reference well-being metrics (e.g., “We’re aiming for 1 wellness day per quarter per person”) alongside business goals.
For example:
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Update new-hire packet: add a one-page “Well-Being at [Company]” with quick links to resources.
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Ask leaders in interviews: “How would you support someone on your team needing time to recover?”
Next steps:
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Audit public-facing job descriptions and onboarding materials for well-being language.
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Draft a short EVP blurb to add to careers pages and offer letters.
2. Prevent burnout with design, not after-the-fact fixes
Burnout drives quiet quitting and resignations, often long before the problem is visible on the surface. Employees who feel overextended or unsupported may disengage, reduce their effort, or eventually walk away altogether. Preventing burnout not only helps retain talent, but also protects team morale, reduces absenteeism, and preserves productivity across the organization.
By designing work in ways that prioritize balance and recovery, HR leaders can address issues proactively rather than trying to fix them after employees have already checked out.
What it looks like:
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Design limits on client loads, weekly meeting caps, and enforced “no meeting” blocks.
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Access to micro-resets: 10-minute guided breathing, midday mobility classes, or short stretch breaks.
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Scheduling rules for shift-based roles to ensure sufficient recovery between intensive shifts.
For example:
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Include a “No internal meetings between 12–1pm" policy to encourage a true lunch break.
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Offer on-demand 10–20 minute movement and mindfulness sessions through your well-being platform that employees can take between calls.
Next steps:
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Work with a small team to pilot a “Focus Friday” for 8 weeks and measure subjective energy levels.
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Train managers to spot early burnout signals and to rebalance workloads.
Related: The Silent Influence: Mental Health & Workplace Productivity
3. Build connection and belonging through shared well-being experiences
People stay when they feel connected — to their peers, their managers, and the larger mission of the company. A sense of belonging is one of the strongest predictors of retention, and shared wellness activities provide an easy, low-stakes way to strengthen those bonds.
Whether it’s a team participating in a step challenge, colleagues taking a midday mindfulness break together, or employees celebrating personal health milestones, these shared moments help create “social glue.” Over time, they build camaraderie and trust, making employees more likely to stay and thrive within the organization.
What it looks like:
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Team well-being challenges that emphasize inclusion (multiple ways to participate) rather than competition.
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Peer-led micro-groups (walking buddies, healthy cooking club, parent support group).
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Company rituals that balance work and life: e.g., monthly “wellness hour” where teams do a group class or speaker.
For example:
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A “30-minute movement” group that meets twice weekly — rotating times to include day and evening shift workers.
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Cross-team buddy program: pair new hires with a peer for a 6-week wellness check-in.
Next steps:
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Launch one month of voluntary team activities and collect qualitative feedback on belonging.
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Create a Slack/Teams channel for well-being ideas, moderated by employees or well-being champions.
4. Make programs truly accessible and inclusive
A program that only works for a narrow subset of employees — like those who are always in the office, prefer early-morning workouts, or already identify as high performers — won’t meaningfully improve retention across the organization. To have real impact, well-being initiatives need to be inclusive and flexible enough to meet people where they are.
That means offering a variety of formats (on-demand, live, digital, in-person), accommodating different schedules and abilities, and making resources accessible to both remote and on-site staff. When everyone feels they can participate, regardless of role, location, or lifestyle, the program becomes a unifying part of the culture rather than an exclusive perk.
Related: Supporting Women's Wellness at Work
What it looks like:
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On-demand content (movement, nutrition, sleep, mindfulness) available 24/7.
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Multi-modal formats: live classes, short clips, downloadable guides, coaching, and language options.
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Reasonable accommodations built into well-being programming (modifications for mobility issues, option to participate anonymously).
For example:
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Provide low-impact and high-intensity class options; captions and translated materials.
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Offer credits or subsidies for in-person gym memberships or fitness classes to make participation more accessible.
Next steps:
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Run a quick accessibility survey asking what prevents people from using current wellness benefits.
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Offer a platform that provides an expanded library of on-demand content and includes clear tags (e.g., low-impact, seated, short) to help employees easily find what works for them.
5. Tie well-being to career growth and retention conversations
People imagine a future with their employer where they can grow professionally while also staying healthy and balanced. If career advancement is framed as something that comes at the cost of personal well-being — longer hours, heavier workloads, or constant stress — employees will eventually choose to look elsewhere.
On the other hand, when organizations link growth opportunities with the right supports, like mentorship, flexible schedules, and tools to manage stress, employees are more likely to see a long-term career path with the company. Showing that professional success and personal health can go hand in hand is one of the most powerful ways to keep top talent engaged and committed.
What it looks like:
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Performance and development plans that include well-being goals (e.g., sustainable workload plans, leadership coaching on balance).
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Mentorship that addresses career ladder plus life stage planning (parenthood, caregiving, chronic condition management).
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Promotions that include transition planning to protect incumbent’s well-being during ramp-up.
For example:
- During promotion or role transitions, create a 90-day plan that pairs workload adjustments with access to well-being programs, such as on-demand movement, mindfulness sessions, or nutrition support, to help employees manage stress and maintain balance.
- Incorporate a “sustainable success” competency into leadership reviews that measures how leaders encourage team participation in well-being programs and model healthy work habits, ensuring growth doesn’t come at the expense of health.
Next steps:
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Update manager training and performance templates to include a short well-being section.
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Pilot including a wellness check in promotion/handover processes for 3 teams.
6. Offer targeted, timely supports for high-risk groups
Retention gains often come from supporting groups with a higher risk of leaving, such as new parents, frontline employees, caregivers, or those in high-stress roles. These employees often face unique pressures — from balancing family responsibilities to managing unpredictable schedules or dealing with emotionally demanding work. Without targeted support, they can quickly become disengaged or overwhelmed.
Tailored well-being initiatives, like caregiver support groups, flexible leave options, phased return-to-work plans, or specialized wellness resources, show these employees that their challenges are recognized and valued. By addressing their specific needs, HR leaders can significantly reduce turnover in these vulnerable groups while strengthening overall loyalty across the workforce.
What it looks like:
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Specific cohorts with tailored programming: parenting series, caregiver support circles, recovery/rehab fitness tracks.
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Flexible leave and phased return policies, with clinically informed wellness content for transition back to work.
For example:
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A four-week new parent wellness series (sleep strategies, time management, pelvic health).
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A “return-to-work” plan for employees after extended medical leave that includes access to rehab or light exercise content.
Next steps:
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Identify two high-risk cohorts and design targeted interventions through your well-being program for each group this quarter, such as specialized fitness challenges, mindfulness workshops, or nutrition support.
Related: The Future of Work Includes Well‑Being: What Employers Need to Know
7. Measure impact — ethically and practically
HR needs evidence to make the case for investment and to iterate effectively. Without clear data, well-being programs can be dismissed as “nice-to-haves” rather than essential retention tools. By tracking metrics like participation rates, employee engagement scores, absenteeism, and voluntary turnover, HR leaders can connect well-being initiatives directly to business outcomes. Regularly reviewing both quantitative data and employee feedback also helps identify what’s working and where adjustments are needed.
When HR can show that well-being efforts lead to measurable improvements in retention and morale, it becomes much easier to secure leadership buy-in and scale successful programs across the organization.
What to measure:
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Engagement metrics: participation rates, active days, program completion.
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Voluntary turnover rates for program users vs. non-users, short-term absenteeism, internal mobility.
Next steps:
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Define a small set (3–5) of retention-linked KPIs before launching any major program.
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Run a quarterly review that links wellness engagement with retention trends by cohort.
8. Equip managers to be the first line of well-being support
Managers are the daily interface for employees, and their behavior has a direct impact on whether people choose to stay or leave. A supportive manager who checks in regularly, respects boundaries, and models healthy work habits can be one of the strongest retention tools an organization has. On the flip side, managers who overlook stress signals, reward overwork, or fail to provide recognition can quickly drive disengagement and attrition.
Equipping managers with the right training, playbooks, and resources — like how to spot early signs of burnout, conduct effective stay interviews, or encourage well-being practices — empowers them to become champions of retention rather than unintentional turnover risks.
Related: A Manager's Guide to Building a Mentally Fit Workforce
What it looks like:
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Manager playbooks with quick scripts for check-ins, tips for reasonable workloads, and when to escalate for clinical needs.
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Short manager training micro-modules: how to run a stay interview, spot burnout signs, set boundaries for their teams.
For example:
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A 30-minute manager primer: “How to run a biweekly 1:1 that balances performance and well-being.”
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Monthly manager office hours with HR to share well-being challenges and solutions.
Next steps:
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Produce a one-page manager well-being toolkit and distribute with a 20-minute team meeting to review.
9. Reduce friction: make it easy to use benefits
Low adoption of well-being programs often isn’t a sign of lack of interest — it’s a matter of friction. Employees may genuinely want to participate, but barriers like complicated sign-ups, rigid schedules, or programs that don’t fit into the flow of the workday make engagement drop off. When participation requires extra effort outside of already busy lives, it quickly falls off the priority list.
The key is to remove as much friction as possible: make access seamless, offer flexible options (on-demand, virtual, in-person), and integrate programs into existing workflows. When employees can engage without jumping through hoops, adoption rises naturally — and participation starts translating into better health, stronger engagement, and ultimately, improved retention.
What it looks like:
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Personalized recommendations and curated content that guide employees to classes, mindfulness sessions, or nutrition resources that fit their schedule and interests.
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Clear, simple instructions and fast paths to access (e.g., one-click to book a workout).
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Benefits that meet employees where they are (mobile app, email reminders, offline resources).
For example:
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Audit the user journey: how many clicks from offer to first participation?
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Provide “wellness minutes” on calendars that auto-populate with recommended content.
Next steps:
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Fix the top three friction points and re-launch with a short internal campaign.
Retention That Sticks: Building Well-Being Into the Everyday
Retention today is less about one big benefit and more about a consistent experience that helps people be well while doing their best work. That means designing work and benefits together: clearer schedules, fewer surprises, manager readiness, and easy-to-use supports that meet people where they are.
If you’re evaluating vendors or platforms as part of this strategy, look for these practical things: evidence-based content, on-demand and live options, inclusive programming, strong privacy controls, and simple integrations with your HR tech stack. Platforms (including ones in the wellness space) can accelerate delivery, but the retention gains come from how you integrate those tools into everyday work, manager behavior, and your EVP.
See how FitOn Health can help your organization boost retention — schedule a demo today.
