Employee Retention Tools That Actually Work For A Thriving Team

Posted on November 4, 2019 by Bailey Crumpton. Tagged: Resources for Entrepreneurs, For Clients

You’ve worked hard to grow your business from a little hatchling to a soaring eagle. Back when it was just a tiny startup, you looked across the table at Jane, your software/marketing/human resources/sales department. You knew how she felt about her job because your team was small and mighty. You didn’t need to implement employee retention tools. Everyone was close and expressed how they felt — ideally. 

We all know employee retention is crucial because happy, challenged, supported employees don’t just stick around; they give their best. 

But now you can’t keep up. There are too many people and not enough time. We can help. We know how to build highly effective teams and help organizations keep the best employees. 

In this post, we put together a few of our favorite employee retention tools to help you build a successful, thriving team.

Understanding What Keeps Employees Happy

Happy, engaged employees are more likely to stick aroundTurnover is expensive (sometimes triple the salary of that employee), and it also looks bad for business. But how do you keep employees happy so they’ll stay?

  • Support: They feel supported and empowered to do their jobs
  • Communication: Employees have a voice — listen
  • Growth: They need opportunities for learning and development
  • Friendships: According to Officevibe, 70% of employees say office friendships are the most crucial element of a happy workplace

Employee Retention Tools that Help You Maintain a Highly Effective Team

Blink: Not Just Employee Retention App

Main Features:

  • Whole business intranet
  • Mobile app
  • Simple communication tools
  • Productivity and communication tools in one feed

Blink is a lot more than a simple employee retention app. Its solution includes a suite of intranet services to connect everyone and everything to the same system. The software primarily focuses on simplifying employee communication to keep them engaged. Blink also offers ways to let teams know about growth opportunities and creates opportunities to connect on projects.

The tool is excellent for leaders because they can see how employees are engaging with one another, which can lead to data for bonuses, promotions, or call-outs.

CompanyMood: Simplicity In Reporting

Main Features:

  • Simplicity-- no added work for employees
  • Anonymous feedback 
  • Anonymous communication for followup
  • Easy, powerful tracking tools

CompanyMood is an employee retention tool with a focus on simplicity. Nobody will use complicated tools that make talking with the boss more difficult? Even if they do, you want your employees doing their work and not filling out complex, time-wasting surveys.

CompanyMood provides feedback with just a couple of clicks. It leverages a mood icon, clickable reasons for that mood, and one feedback text box. Anonymous communication promotes honest feedback before someone just up and quits. 

If you want more in-depth surveys and tools, CompanyMood has those, too. Dive deep into employee responses to make data-driven changes. 

TINYpulse: Real-Time Feedback

Main Features:

  • Real-time feedback for surveys
  • Peer to peer commenting, not just with bosses
  • One simple question at a time
  • Method to publicly praise coworkers

TINYpulse is a survey and feedback system that focuses on simple, daily engagements that lead to significant feedback (referred to as pulses in the app). The engagement framework sends out regular pulses from a queue of questions, so teams don’t get the same generic questions over and over again. Because let’s face it — that’s boring.

Pulse results accumulate in a live feed, allowing leaders to watch employee answers develop over time. 

TINYpulse has one significant advantage over its competition — it offers unique ways to communicate between team members. Peers can suggest solutions to problems with a verifiable method to publicly praise people for a job well done.

Put the Cart Before the Horse

Before you dive into a new tool, make sure you develop an employee retention plan. You don’t want to slip and fall into the wrong solution. An employee retention plan will define the kind of employee retention tool you’ll need to succeed.

An active business is always searching for ways to keep their employees happy and engaged. More than money or benefits, this is the way to keep your rockstars and develop new talent into your best performers. These tools can help you build the culture you need and keep the lines of communication open, and your employees with thank you for it with good work and excellent retention.


Here at BWBacon Group, we know and live what you are experiencing as an employer or job seeker in Denver, Boulder, Dallas, San Francisco, New York City or any of the other cities we work in. We believe great recruiting starts and ends with understanding people.

If you have any questions about living, working or playing any of the areas we serve, please contact us. We are happy to help. Seize the day, every day, that’s what we say!