Employees come, employees go. This is a fact. Gone are the days of someone entering a company from the ground up and staying until the last door closes. In this transient workforce, how do you keep employees for a long time? High turnover rates are real, but so are solutions for employee retention. It’s important to understand why an employee leaves a company. Sure, external factors such as a move or extenuating circumstances like illness are beyond the control of an employer, but the more desirable a work environment is, the less likely an employee will leave their job or be poached by a competitor. Here are some ways to improve employee retention and stem that turnover rate.
It’s Work, Not Punishment
Words like “work” and “job” often have extremely negative connotations attached to them, usually appearing on a meme with a tired dog on it. Your company must run and it must run well, but that doesn’t mean your staff must be run to the ground. Create an environment that’s friendly, where your staff wants to do a good job, but also feels supported and happy while they’re there. Sure there will be stressful moments, but making a team feel like they are in this together is more valuable than having individuals feel as if they’re alone on their own island.
Be A Great Boss
Running anything, be it a department or an entire company, is a tough job. However, studies have proven that employee turnovers are often attributed to their opinions of their bosses. You can love a job, but not the person dictating the orders. Being a great boss—where your staff not only respects you but likes you—helps your staff do their work but also stay for your guidance. If your staff is doing a good job, say so. Compliments go far, as does constructive criticism. Being a nice boss doesn’t make you a pushover; it makes you a leader who wants to maintain their team for as long as possible.
Benefits Beyond Healthcare
Most large companies are required to provide healthcare for its full-time staff through the rules of the Affordable Care Act. Small businesses should definitely consider healthcare for their staff if they haven’t already. There’s more to it, however. Incentives are benefits too. Offering some perks like a weekly masseuse on staff, a fun snack bar, seminars on de-stressing are all great ways for an employee to take a break in their day and feel celebrated. Even adding a pool table or a Ping-Pong table to a common area can make a difference.
Don’t Look For Short-Term Workers
If your goal is to truly keep your employees for the long haul, don’t seek out new hires that have the main goal of upward mobility in mind. You want ambition, of course. However, there is such a thing as too ambitious when it comes to employee retention, especially if there are limited positions within a company. Vet potential new hires for their intentions during the hiring process and look for those who want to grow within a company, not outside of it.
Prevent Burnouts
Oftentimes we find employees who can breeze through work and they’re “rewarded” with even more work. Or an employee will purposely taper their workflow so they’re never given more than they can handle. Find a balance with your staff when it comes to managing workflow. This will save your star employees from burning out and prevent slackers on the job.
Have A Schedule, But Make It Flexible
The days of 9-5 are long gone, no matter how hard we try to manage that. An email after 6pm to an employee is still considered work, and as a boss you probably want your employee replying in a timely fashion. If your employee should be fine with communicating off the clock, as an employer, the same courtesy should be extended toward leaving early some days or telecommuting during others. This makes those afterhours emails more manageable for employees, knowing their bosses are flexible when they need them to be.
Ensure A Work/Life Balance For Your Staff
Your staff should know that their work isn’t their whole life. There is time with other friends and family that must happen, as well as time for other passions they may pursue on the side. Let your employee know exactly what they need to do on the job, but don’t make them feel as if their whole self must live in your office. At some point a loved one will stage an intervention, and you’ll lose that talent indefinitely.
Urge Continued Education
Whether it’s having on-site workshops or offering tuition reimbursement, it’s important to let your employees know that you want them to learn and grow. Classes are one great way to do this, as it can also help your staff improve their work performance. Continued training is also a necessity, as responsibilities evolve and so may the scope of work of your company as a whole.
Make Everyone Feel Welcome
Many companies have staff that isn’t in office full-time. There are part-time staffers, contract workers, telecommuters, and those overseas. The key is to be inclusive. Invite your whole staff to company outings; fly people in if you have to. Hold Skype meetings on video, and celebrate birthdays for everyone—even those not in office. This will help everyone feel like they’re a part of the team and want to stay a part of it.
Offer Great Salaries
Most companies have a threshold to which they can cross into higher salary territory. This isn’t a suggestion to deplete your company funds, but if there’s more money to offer your staff, do it. Incentives can only go so far when the bills must be paid, so being mindful of competitive salaries and raises will keep an employee financially happy. The rest is up to you and them.