If your business has a high level of staff turnover, something is going wrong. High staff turnover is costing you money, as training new staff affects productivity and it takes time for them to get up to speed. There are some sensible strategies that any business owner can use to retain their employees.
Better Benefits Will Benefit Your Business
The best way to retain employees is to offer them incentives and reward their hard work. This helps generate job satisfaction as well as loyalty, both of which are crucial factors for staff retention. When a member of staff moves on, it costs your business money. Retraining new starters slows down production and can negatively affect output. Investing in the staff you have is a more cost effective approach.
There is help out there. Check out Zest Benefits for a simple way to incentivise your staff and give employees a platform they can use to monitor the benefits they get from working for you. This can include things like pension contributions as well as bonuses or special discounts for staff.
Retain Staff Through Their Development
Offering employees the chance to build on their existing skills and develop their professional abilities leads to staff retention, as well as job satisfaction in the workforce. Many employers have the mistaken belief that when an employee gains a new skill they are more likely to move on to another employer and take their skills with them.
If you implement a training programme that allows your employees to develop themselves at their own pace, you will cut down on your staff turnover massively. Work with them to create staff training and development schemes that they, and you, will truly benefit from.
Recognition Is Its Own Reward
The biggest mistake many employers make is not recognising their employee’s achievements, dedication, or productivity. Hard work is hard and it should be recognised. Every employer should have a system in place to highlight hardworking employees and reward them for their continued efforts.
This can be inspiring to other workers. When they see that an employee is receiving recognition and reward for their work, they will try to emulate their success to claim this recognition for themselves. Having a ‘staff member of the month’ award is a good start, but do not stop there. Reward and recognise productivity in all of your workers regularly to help retain your workforce.
Create A Company Culture
A workforce is a community. When people feel a part of something larger than themselves, or their team, they are much more likely to experience job satisfaction and stay committed to their job. It is people who make a business work, and by creating a community culture within your workforce they will work harder for each other, not just for you.
Improve communication with your employees, and make it informal. Let them lead the discussion and be receptive to their ideas and concerns. Encourage them to discuss their work and the business between themselves and do anything that you can to support them through their working hours.
Be Flexible To Create A Static Workforce
Every worker has a unique set of challenges that they need to navigate to retain employment. The demands of life can often get in the way of their work, and their ability to be productive on the job. If possible, introduce flexible working hours to help them fit their lives around their employment.
Some workers may prefer a later start to their day, but this will increase their productivity levels in the hours that they work. Others may wish to start earlier to be available to their families later in the day. As long as they perform to the best of their abilities and complete their required number of hours.
Every employer has a duty to their business to retain staff. The longer an employee works for you, the more skilled they become at their job. Training new starters costs time and money that many companies cannot afford, so invest in your workforce with some of these strategies.
