It has happened again. One of your best employees slipped sheepishly into your office to let you know that they have decided to take a position somewhere else. Why do you keep losing them? Why do your employees keep leaving?
High turnover adds unnecessary expense. You have to launch costly recruitment and training programs to replace the departing employee.
Meanwhile, you lose momentum. It’s difficult to make long-term plans or develop elaborate projects when your team members keep changing.
For these reasons, it’s important to keep the best employees you have.
Here are a few possible reasons why you keep losing your can’t-lose workers:
You Don’t Pay Enough
It doesn’t get more basic than this. As much as you talk about teamwork and culture, people ultimately go to work to earn a paycheck. If they can make more somewhere else, they will be tempted to move on to a better opportunity.
Of course, you can’t bust your budget, trying to keep every employee. But make sure you are paying market rate for your key positions.
Lack of Recognition
Money may represent the basic tool for rewarding employees. However, other types of recognition come into play as well. Even with a competitive salary, if you don’t give enough of the other kinds of rewards, you might lose your top employees.
People like to feel important. They want to feel appreciated. Make sure you dole out the softer forms of recognition.
Start by thanking your employees for a job well done. Encourage your team members by complimenting them when they put in a good performance. In addition, provide some public praise. When an employee makes an outstanding contribution, take a moment to point out their success in front of their coworkers.
Employees Get Stuck on a Treadmill
Many of your workers are looking to push their careers forward. They want to add skills and take on more elaborate challenges. If you don’t provide these opportunities, they might start looking elsewhere.
Make sure you don’t have dead-end positions. Look out for talent and provide chances for your best workers to grow and develop.
Overwork
Your best employees will volunteer for overtime and put in whatever extra effort you need. However, ask too much of them, and they can burn out.
Keep your expectations within reason. If you demand aggressive work hours, you might boost production in the short term, but your key employees could start looking for a position that doesn’t take such a toll.
There Are Trouble Signs for Your Business
Employees want to feel protected. They want to know their position is safe for the long haul. If there are signs that your company has hit a bumpy road, they might start eyeing the exit.
To avoid this, maintain constant communication with your key employees. Help them understand the long-term plan and assure them that their jobs are safe.
Cultural Issues
Many organizations thrive despite below-market pay and a hefty workload. Doctors still staff emergency rooms and lawyers donate their time to organizations dedicated to getting innocent people off of death row. Why? They believe they are doing good in the world.
Of course, you might not be able to make the same world-saving pitch to your employees. But the underlying point holds true: culture matters.
Workers want to stay in a positive and nurturing environment. Make them feel glad to come to work. Look for inspiration and develop a real team spirit. You’ll be able to keep them longer while making everyone’s day-to-day more enjoyable.
Before worrying about enhancing your retention policies, you first need to hire the type of team members you’ll want to hold onto for the long haul. Working with a reliable staffing partner, like Recruiting In Motion, brings you the kind of talent that will inspire you to go the extra mile to retain..
Contact Recruiting In Motion to find out more.
