Investment Practices for Improved Retention

In an increasingly competitive business world, top talent is in high demand. If you aren’t making your top workers happy, another company may come along to steal them away. Here are ten tips that will help you make sure your employees are around for many years

Hire the Right Employees

As you’re screening candidates, pay close attention to signs that you may have a job-hopper. While there’s nothing wrong with someone switching jobs if it provides career advancement, look for someone who is interested in growing with your company rather than getting experience to take somewhere else.

Create the Right Culture

Finding employees who will feel a strong bond with your company starts with creating an environment that attracts those employees. Your company culture should match the type of employee you want to employ, whether you opt for a by-the-book, strict workplace or a more casual, laid-back atmosphere.

Offer Training

Businesses expect their professionals to arrive fully trained and certified. Yet too many aren’t willing to invest in helping them maintain those credentials. Whether you send employees to a learning center or you provide membership to one of the many e-learning sites available, when you take your employees’ education seriously, they see it as an investment in their career.

Provide Guidance

Your employees should be fully aware of their job duties and how they’re doing in performing them. You can accomplish this by first having a job plan in place and providing regular feedback on an employee’s performance. If an employee feels confused about his role in your organization, he’s more likely to feel disgruntled and begin searching for something else.

Pay Well

As difficult as it is to pay competitive salaries when funds are low and budgets are tight, calculate the cost to replace employees. It can cost as much as 30 percent to 50 percent of an entry-level employee’s annual salary just to replace him. Employees often find they can enjoy a 10 to 20 percent salary increase by simply moving from one company to the next, which makes jumping ship attractive.

Don’t Punish Competence

Managers often spend much of their time on employees who are struggling, leaving the talented ones completely neglected. Over time, this can lead to resentment as star employees start to feel unnoticed and unsupported. Managers must make an effort to let top performers know their hard work isn’t going unnoticed.

Be More Flexible

Workers have expressed a preference for flexible working conditions. If you expect your best employee to answer his phone when a client calls at seven o’clock on a Friday night, you should also understand when that employee comes in late one morning or needs to take off early.

Offer Benefits

Small businesses often struggle to compete with larger corporations in providing benefits. While you don’t have to beat big business in the healthcare options you offer, you can offer things they won’t get elsewhere, such as the ability to work from home, more flexible vacation offerings, and performance bonuses.

Provide Unique Perks

Another way businesses can compete without breaking the budget is through offering perks they can’t get elsewhere. Silicon Valley has become notorious for its free meals and nap pods, but you can increase retention by coming up with creative perks. Use your connections to get free VIP tickets to special events or special discounts at local retailers.

Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

As much work as you try makes your company attractive to talented people, the truth is employees might be leaving because of their bosses. In fact, research has shown people tend to quit their bosses, not companies. If you can cultivate an environment where employees feel rewarded and gratified, you’ll already be ahead of a great deal of other bosses out there.