You’ve probably heard the old adage that people don’t leave good jobs, they leave bad bosses. It’s partially true. A good job with good benefits and a great salary is often hard to leave, so if your company has a high employee turnover, you have to ask yourself why. Some company bosses don’t realise that there’s a very big difference between management and power, and if you have too much of one and not enough of the other, people will leave your business regardless of what you pay them.
Staff retention is one of the biggest challenges that human resource departments face. The economy is improving, the boomers are retiring and staff retention rates are only going to get worse. It’s up to you as a business to offer something that others cannot. You can read into as many articles as possible on exponentialprograms.com to get some insight on what you can do to keep your employees, or you can learn about the people you hire and tailor your staff retention yourself. There are plenty of ways to slow down people using your company as a temporary base before finding the next best thing, and we’ve put together seven ways you can do this:
- Hire Right. It sounds like an easy fix, doesn’t it? The best way you can ensure that your employees don’t leave your company is to hire the right ones in the first place. Most companies have a very rigorous interview schedule set up for this reason, so that when they hire, they do it right the first time. When you start searching for an employee for a specific role, make sure you are laying out the exact specifications you need before people start to apply.
- Fire Wrong. It’s not easy to hire in a team of staff. Sometimes you go through an intricate interview process and the person you hire is still the wrong fit. The way around that is to offer a paid trial week in the company. You can often get a good first impression from an interview, but if not a trial works. Cut the stragglers loose and tighten the team when you need to.
Pay Fair. Employees need to feel valued in their work and if you are paying below their market rate, then it’s time to look at what you are offering. People will not stay where they feel underpaid and undervalued. Look where your company sits among the competition and then offer better benefits where you can. Even if the salary isn’t in your price range, you need to look at benefits in general, including things like flexible working and duvet days!
- Be Social. No one likes to work for a company that has zero interest in sociable time. Encouraging gratitude, generosity and a relaxed environment is part of the reason people enjoy their jobs. They don’t want a lack of incentive!
- Offer Recognition. People, whether outside the office or in it, need recognition. We humans like to know we are doing well in our relationships, workplace and education so offering to show your employees how valued they are is important. When you make it social, you get their loyalty and gratitude in return.
- Offer Growth. Where people are heading to work for over forty hours a week, they need to feel like they have a future in the company they’re staying in. Ensure that you offer developmental opportunities and growth so that there is a chance for investment.
- Listen Closely. One of the biggest complaints from employees is that their employer doesn’t pay attention to what they are saying they need. Listen closely to what your staff want if you hope to change their opinion. An employer who doesn’t want to change often has no business hiring in the first place. You have to place your employees above your need to be powerful – remember that.
As an employer, staff retention will save you money. You need to be able to build a company that employees want to work for, and it takes time and planning to be able to do that. Your employees are the ones that are going to make you the profit you need to continue, and therefore you need to treat them right. There’s no use treating them mean or putting on pressure without a good way to keep them happy and motivated enough to keep coming to work. Their job is their livelihood, so make it a good one.
