Retaining your best employees is crucial to the long-term success of your company. Keeping your best employees on the team means your customers will be more satisfied, your business will earn more profits, your team as a whole will be more engaged and more of your employees will intimately understand the inner workings of your organization. Losing a good employee can cost your company thousands. Employee retention goes beyond just offering more money or better benefits to employees who threaten to quit.
You need to start building your employee retention strategy from the moment you hire an employee. When an employee does leave your company, have your PEO conduct an exit interview so you’ll know exactly why the employee is leaving and, more importantly, what you could have done to hang on to him or her.
Hire the Best Candidates
Your employee retention strategy starts during the hiring process. Hire the best candidates you can find — these candidates will be most likely to engage with the job and the company and will therefore be the easiest to hang on to. Do your best to make a strong first impression when you do hire an employee.
Have Clear Expectations
Satisfied employees know what’s going to be expected from them each day when they show up to work. Make sure your expectations are clear and don’t keep changing them. Changing your expectations stresses out your employees, puts them on edge and makes them feel insecure, nervous and unsuccessful. Your employees need to feel secure and successful. They need a reasonable level of freedom from stress. While you can occasionally modify job descriptions and expectations, it’s important that your employees have a basic framework for your expectations.
Showcase Employee Talents
Each of your employees will have talents and skills they’ll want recognition for in the workplace. Most of them will want to contribute beyond the basic requirements of their job descriptions. Take the time to learn about your employees’ talents and skills and give them the space to use them in ways that contribute to the company, whether or not those contributions fit strictly into their current job descriptions.
Pay attention if any of your employees are offering to help with any company projects — it’s probably because they have skills and experience that could prove valuable. Employees who aren’t allowed to flex their creative muscles and showcase their talents, especially when they ask to do so, are more likely to look for another job.
Let Your Employees Express Themselves
Your employees should have the freedom to express themselves and give feedback. Don’t just say that you have an open-door policy and leave it at that — most employees won’t feel comfortable offering feedback or expressing concerns unless management makes the effort to engage with them and solicit their opinions. Of course, your employees should be allowed to express concerns and opinions appropriately without fear of reprisal; if they don’t feel free to express themselves, or if they get in hot water for doing so, they’ll find another work environment.
Retain Quality Supervisors
Often when someone quits his or her job, it’s not the position or the company that’s the problem — it’s the supervisor. It’s not always just a matter of the supervisor being an unpleasant or unlikable person. Managers who lack the soft skills necessary for leadership will have a hard time getting employees to engage. The same is true about managers who aren’t clear about expectations, earning potential or feedback. Supervisors need to give employees clear pathways to success.
Prioritize Work-Life Balance
Your employees aren’t machines; they’re human beings. Even passionate and engaged employees probably care more deeply about their personal lives and families than their jobs. Make sure your employees have plenty of time in their work schedules for their personal commitments. Flexible scheduling can be a great option, but your employees also need time off regularly.
Not overworking your employees is crucial, but you should also take care not to let them overwork themselves. Make sure vacations are regularly taken and that employees don’t work too many late nights. They’ll thank you for it.
Help Your Employees Grow
Your employees need opportunities to grow and evolve as members of the work force, and that extends beyond training designed to make them better at the jobs they currently hold. Give them the chance to learn new things and develop new skills. Give back to your employees and help them fulfill their potential, and you’ll earn their loyalty and trust.
If your business is to succeed in the long term, you need to retain your best employees for as long as possible. Give your employees an environment in which they can flourish, and make their needs a priority, and you’ll find that they’ll stay with your company longer and work harder for your success. Contact National PEO today to start your search for that success.