Keeping employees today has become a major concern for businesses everywhere. With flexibility, remote access, and competition, employees are finding better opportunities elsewhere. The problem for any company with a high turnover rate is the impact it has not only on their bottom line, as it is expensive to hire and train new employees, but on the morale of the employees that stick around. Eventually turnover has a snowball effect that makes productivity and efficiency extremely difficult, making it hard to stay afloat in today’s competitive world. Rather than risking a high turnover rate, utilize these tips to keep your employees happy.
Make Yourself Available
The rules, regulations, and expectations of your company need to be known, but when those rules are displayed strictly in a handbook rather than talked about by you, they mean nothing. You need to make yourself available to your employees. Let them know that you are a real person – not some illusion of a character behind closed doors. Talk to them often about the values of your company; discuss your mission; evaluate protocols that are currently in place; and simply be available. Don’t rely on the handbook, referring to it when an employee does something wrong, instead have an open environment where everyone is in the loop and feels like they have a part in the success of the company and where you are a real person with real feelings.
Make Employees Feel Valued
There are many ways you can make employees feel like they have an important part in the organization. This does not strictly mean that you must pat them on the back or give them big titles that make them feel important. It means making them feel like what they do makes a difference. This could be something that has a direct impact on your bottom line or even organizing/participating in good deeds that the company does, such as charity runs or food pantry outings.Anything that you can do to make your employees feel like they make a difference will help them to feel empowered, which is a driving factor in employee retention.
Use Motivational Speakers
Motivational speakers are a great way to influence your employees. Whether you have a speaker that pertains to your industry or you find one that handles certain issues that are occurring amongst your organization. There are speakers that specialize in almost any area – you just need to find them. You can find speakers that specialize in your industry as well as those that have a diverse upbringing that can simply motivate your employees. The speakers use their experiences, both good and bad, to teach your employees how they too can reach and achieve their dreams.
Be Flexible
Many organizations today have implemented flexible scheduling, whether that means working from home, working while on-the-go, or altering hours to meet the demands of having a family and working full-time. There are many ways that you can become more flexible for your employees, resisting the need to have someone in the office from 9-5 punching a clock. When employees feel forced to be there at certain times, they become less motivated. Being a bit more flexible, allowing telecommuting or the design of their own hours that is both productive for work while still allowing for quality family time is the best way to keep employees motivated as well as preventing them from looking elsewhere for employment.
Be Thankful
Nothing is as valued as appreciation in the workplace. When employees feel like just another number in the rat race, they are not going to perform as well for you. Get out there and show your employees that you value them. Thank them for a job well done. Talk to them about the importance and value found in the conference speakers that you provide for them and let them give you their input on how they think the workplace can be improved. When you come across as a happy, carefree, and involved boss rather than a demanding and ungrateful boss, you will have happier employees that want to stay on for many years to come.
It is not easy to create the perfect work environment that makes employees want to stay until retirement, but with careful planning it is possible. It is important to remember that every employee has different things that drive him, so what works for one might not work for another. The key is to vary what you offer at the workplace in order to retain a majority of your employees. Of course, you are going to lose some along the way, but if you can prevent major turnover by being flexible, grateful, involved, and providing ample opportunities for your employees, you will prevent the constant turnover that many companies see today.
Share this article in your social media circles to get the word out to other small businesses – helping them to find ways to retain their employees, therefore increasing their bottom line.
I’m going to forward this to the new Manager. Thanks for sharing.