There is virtually nothing more important in business than hiring. Getting the right team in place will make or break a company of any size.
Hiring is step one in building a great company but once the right people are in place, the subject of employee retention starts to assume equally critical importance.
There are of course any number of legitimate reasons why your best employees leave your firm but it’s up to you as a manager to focus on the ones that are under your control. Spend your time on the following four areas to ensure you’re hanging on to your best and brightest.
- Feeling Rewarded
It’s an obvious truth that everyone wants to feel valued for their contribution. For some people this will be exclusively in the form of cold, hard cash. Others may crave extra responsibility, work-related benefits or simply public acknowledgement of their work.
The key to retaining employees is making sure they feel adequately rewarded across the board for their work. Make sure the basics such as salary and work conditions are more than fair and then concentrate on addressing individual employees’ specific needs to seal the deal.
- Management Issues
High turnover, more often than not, is indicative of management issues rather than a reflection on the drive or capabilities of those jumping ship.
Management, at all levels, is responsible for setting the overall tone of a workplace and making sure people are engaged and passionate about their work. Make sure that managers are judged just as much on the long term effectiveness of teams they successfully build as they are on short term numbers on the bottom line.
- Climbing The Ladder
Employees naturally look to improve their position over time and everyone wants to believe that promotions are based on merit rather than tradition or personal favour.
It’s all too easy for even relatively small companies to fall victim to favouritism and stagnation when it comes to bringing people through. Make sure that your organisation consistently rewards performance in transparent ways and has clear paths for career progression in place.
Remember, every good manager’s ultimate job is to replace themselves. Drill this into those in charge at every level of your organisation.
- Overwork
There will always be crunch periods in any business where hours will have to be extended and all hands are needed on deck. Consistently onerous workloads are a serious long-term risk however.
Rather than being seen as a badge of honour, all-nighters and weekend work should be seen as signs of an inherent lack of organisation and poor systems. The best employees will naturally drift away from these types of environments over time.
A well-organised team leaves work on time, most of the time. Make that the case in your company and your retention rates will skyrocket.
The days of forty year, single company careers may well be nearly over but employee retention is still the hallmark of a well-organised outfit and a leading indicator of ongoing success. Make it a priority for you and your team!
