Your employees are one of the most important assets in your business. Whether you are in sales, construction, marketing or any field, the employees are the nexus between your company and the marketplace. In this hyper-connected and competitive world, you can’t afford to lose any good employees you have on board. And the replacement cost of your high-potential workers is too high. That’s why you need to keep a tight ship and keep your employees from quitting.
Employee Retention
Here are 7 things you can easily incorporate to stop your best talent from walking out the door:
You can…
1. Provide Competitive Pay
In a survey of 2,000 people by Paychex, respondents said the main reason people leave their jobs is money (69 percent said that low salary did or would make them leave).
Even in the most satisfying work environment, if your employees can’t pay their bills every month, they are going to look for new career opportunities somewhere else. You need to be able to offer competitive pay to your employees. This will not only keep them from leaving but it will make your company more attractive when hiring new people.
Bear in mind, wages change all the time, you have to be up-to-date with any changes; otherwise your rivals may offer a little bit more money and steal your best employees.
2. Give Employees Regular Feedback
Another important factor in the decision to quit is a feeling that the employee is not valued. Your employees want (and need, as well) feedback that their employer cares about them as employees. People feel the need to be heard and want to know if they are doing a good job. You don’t need to overwhelm them with constant commentaries on their work, but every once in a while, you might want to tell someone they are doing a good job. This will make them feel appreciated and will create a good work environment.
If your employees never hear from you, they might feel like they do not belong in your company and will look someplace else where they might be appreciated. It might not seem like much, but good feedback goes a long way.
3. Set a Good Example and be Accountable
Nobody likes their boss, but everyone needs a leader. When you have people working for you, you need to take action and steer the team to their highest performance, like a leader. You don’t want to boss everybody around yelling orders, never doing any actual work. Even if it means rolling up your sleeves and going the extra mile, you need to set a good example. This is like an investment. If your employees see you working hard, that sets the tone. They will work harder. If it seems like you don’t care about the job, they will either slack off or look for a different place that cares about their business.
If you make a mistake, you need to be accountable. If you look for excuses, your employees will do the same when they make a mistake.
4. Be Consistent
This is incredibly important. Many supervisors think that all they have to do is hire people and pay them to work. The supervisor is available to the new hire for a week or two, and then withdraws completely. This is the worst strategy possible. A supervisor needs to be consistent with his work approach, even more than his employees. In the same way that you have to set a good example, you have to show you are consistent in your work and management style.
If you only show up half the time, don’t leave your office, or seem not to care, one day you are going to find some of your best talent will have left for a boss that shows he cares about their work.
5. Support Diversity
A diverse workplace is Integral to a strong, productive and creative workplace. If all your employees are the same, you will face problems that you won’t be able to overcome. You need different types of workers to create a dynamic workplace; otherwise, your company will feel monotonous and boring. You can also scare off a candidate if everyone currently employed is the same. And that one different person might be the best employee; you wouldn’t want to lose that person.
6. Offer Ongoing Learning Opportunities
A growing trend that helps retain employees and improve the quality of work is to offer development opportunities. Several educational institutions are offering their services to companies that want their employees to grow career-wise. If your company allows attending seminars or financially helps their employees to go to business school, this will give your employees an extra incentive to stay in their job and you will eventually reap the rewards with an improved workforce!
If you are not offering training to your employees, you are going to be behind competition in this fast-changing marketplace. Nowadays, not offering any learning opportunities inside or outside of the workplace is like having non-competitive pay. People expect to have them or will go to where employers offer it.
7. Don’t let Toxic Workers Poison Talented Employees
This is crucial. Even if you offer the best wages in the market, pay for your employees’ tuition, and have the best leader/boss around you can’t let toxic workers impact your company. They will make your best employees leave out of pure contempt. It might not seem like a problem at first, but eventually, people get tired of the same person’s harmful behavior. If you don’t fire noxious individuals because you are afraid of the economic cost, you eventually will face bigger problems as your top employees start to leave.
Conclusion
You need to keep your employees happy and productive. To do so, you need to offer good wages, career opportunities, and a diverse workplace. You need to be a good leader and avoid lethal people inside the work environment. If you apply these seven concepts, you will have few problems with a discontented workforce heading for the door.
If your high performers are quitting, let Flexicrew help find strong replacements quickly. Don’t wait! Contact one of our professional recruiters today!