16 steps to retention

Source: Technology Digital

Date :28/08/2007 15:32:40

Low-cost, high yield retention

In today’s highly competitive business world, your employees have a lot of job options. Leadership expert Joanne Sujansky shares her top 16 steps on how to keep them from seeking greener pastures — without breaking the bank.

Employees matter. No, they really matter.

And as the forces of globalism and the proliferation of technology continue to level the staffing playing field, it’s safe to say that the men and women who work for you are everything.

Think about it. Your competitors have access to the exact same resources as you. That means infinite choices exist not only for your customers, but for your employees as well.

Keep your employee engaged and she’ll keep your customers happy. Neglect her needs and she won’t be so concerned about keeping her end of the bargain. In the end, not only will she go elsewhere, your customers may follow suit.

Make no mistake: when employees start searching for greener pastures, it’s a bona fide disaster. After all, your employees are the face of your organization. They build strong relationships with customers and vendors, they know the ins and outs of your operation, they train new hires and indoctrinate them into the company culture.

On top of that, when you lose great employees, it hurts customer retention and the morale of the rest of your team.

And every time a great employee leaves, you have to shell out the cost of rehiring and retraining his replacement — a cost that studies have shown could range from 70 to 200 percent of that person’s annual salary. You also lose that employee’s institutional memory, another great asset for your company.

Clearly, preventing ‘greener pasture’ syndrome must be a top priority for today’s leaders. And while it may sound self-evident, the best approach is to make your pasture the greenest.

‘Lip service’ won’t do the trick. You might be proclaiming that you are the leading company in your industry or marketplace in huge letters on your mission statement. But if you’re not backing up that sentiment in the day-to-day realities of the workplace, employees will quickly realize the truth.

And it isn’t always cash that makes green pastures green. When salaries are commensurate with the marketplace, other factors take priority. Good people stay where they are challenged, where they have the opportunity to develop and contribute, and where their employers take care of those meaningful little things that make their lives easier.

Here are 16 easy-to-plant (and inexpensive!) ‘seeds’ that will help your pasture be the greenest for your future and current employees:

1 Don’t misrepresent your culture

Engaging your employees starts at the first time you interview them. But before quizzing a prospective hire, ask yourself some important questions first, such as: What do you say to your new hires about the company? Is it really an accurate representation of how your organization works? Do you tell them about exciting opportunities, only to hold them back from new assignments until they ‘pay their dues’?

If you conceal the truth about your company’s culture, when new employees find out how things are really done, not only will they resent you, they’ll likely find somewhere else to work.

2 Keep employees challenged

Bored employees are neither happy nor productive. To keep your employees engaged and satisfied, present them with challenging assignments and provide them with opportunities to grow and develop.

Not surprisingly, employees appreciate it when their employers take an interest in their future inside and outside the company. A great way to do that is by providing opportunities for employees to improve on their skills or learn a new skill they can use in their everyday jobs. Either practice provides you with an opportunity to create a well-rounded, productive employee.

3 Embrace cultural diversity

It takes a lot of different influences — diversity in race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual preference, lifestyle, geographic origin, education, personality, values, experience, socio-economic background, etc. — to make your pasture the greenest.

A diverse workforce creates an energy that can rarely exist in an environment of uniformity. Companies that bring together a diverse group of people to get the job done become richer, more stimulating and — frankly — more fun.

Leaders need to encourage the involvement of all team members, who — in turn — need to feel comfortable about offering suggestions and challenging ideas or practices.

By hiring employees from all walks of life, you’ll create an environment where differing ideas flow freely. Learn how to use these ideas to better your company, and you’ll create an environment where top talent wants to stay.

4 Be a good corporate citizen

Time was, when the corporate heads of many organizations had one concern: ‘How much money can we make, and how fast can we make it?’

Well, money still matters, of course. But employers have to care about more than just profits if they want to keep their employees happy, on board, and producing results.

Issues related to the environment, health and safety have never been more in the spotlight. As a result, employees want to work for companies who take these factors into consideration.

5 Give praise where praise is due

If someone does a great job, let him know. It’s that simple. And then let his co-workers know. And then let his customers know! Recognising a job well done isn’t an expensive proposition, but it will mean the world to your employee.

A good way to achieve employee recognition on a regular basis is to create an employee recognition program. You might give managers the authority to reward their employees on the spot — say, with a gift certificate or a small cash bonus right then and there.

6 Get creative with benefits

You don’t have to provide your employees with onsite medical care and state-of-the-art fitness centres. In fact, you probably can’t. But do realize your employees are looking at benefits other than those that meet the norm — such as health insurance — when considering the elusive ‘happiness’ factor.

These ‘normal’ benefits are really the price of admission, because employees can get them almost anywhere. It’s up to you to think outside the box and figure out the benefits that will … well, benefit them the most.

Options include providing access to dry-cleaning services, treating all of your employees to lunch once a week, or providing them with on-site educational programs delivered by local experts or company vendors in a wide variety of fields.

7 Be aware of the changing employee needs

Keep in mind that as your employees progress in life their needs change. After having a child, an employee may want to travel less than before the child was born. As your baby boomer employees get older, so do their parents.

Be understanding when they need to take time off to take care of the health needs of mum or dad. And never give them a hard time when they need to take care of their own health issues.

By understanding the changing needs, you show sensitivity to what’s going on their lives. You demonstrate that you see them as people, not just cogs in the machine.

Not only will you build loyalty with your employees, but you will help them bring stability to their personal lives — which means when they are at work they can place all of their focus on getting the job done.

8 Let great employees thrive under great leaders

Your employees won’t leave you for that greener pasture unless you drive them to it. The buck starts and stops with their leaders. In fact it’s commonly said that employees don’t quit their job, they quit their manager.

Employees of great leaders will go to the ends of the earth to do a good job for them. The flip side is that employees with poor leadership will simply go.

The take-away lesson? Pay attention to your front line managers. Keep a close eye on their relationships with employees and get rid of bad managers when necessary. If your employees see that you care about who you enlist as a leader, they’ll feel more secure and will work even harder.

9 Conduct ‘stay’ interviews regularly

Great employees like to hear about what they can do to make the company even better. Regular ‘stay’ interviews provide a great opportunity for leaders to compliment their high performers on their great work, and also to inspire them to do more to take the company to the next level.

Use these interviews to gauge how well you are meeting your employees’ needs. Be open and honest with your employees, and always seek out their suggestions on what you and the company can do to improve.

10 Give employees the resources they need

Is your work environment restrictive and stifling or is it freeing and innovative? By allowing your employees to develop and implement their own ideas within your organization, you’ll be able to help keep them passionate about their work.

To show its appreciation for innovation, Google Inc allows its engineers to spend 20 percent of their time on independent projects. You should also make sure your employees have what they need on a basic level. Do they have the equipment they need? The right computer programs to work efficiently? Nothing frustrates an employee more than not having everything he needs in order to get the job done.

11 Help employees achieve work-life balance

It is easy today to set employees up so that they can work from home. But too many companies do this and then expect employees to be ‘on call’ 24/7. If you give this impression — even subtly or unconsciously — you’ll disrupt their work-life balance.

Many employees in today’s workforce saw their parents give their lives to companies while missing football games, recitals, and family dinners, only to be laid off at 55 without much hope for finding other employment. Today’s working generation seems to share the sentiment of We’re not going to let that happen to us! They actively seek out companies who make providing a true work-life balance a priority.

12 Insist that employees take holidays

Some employees are hard to convince to take their due vacation time. As an employer, you may be thinking, ‘If they would rather keep working than take a vacation, who am I to stop them? The more they’re working the better it is for us!’

Several studies show that employees who take vacations are less stressed, lead a healthier lifestyle, and are even at lower risk of having heart disease. All of that means lower healthcare costs for you. Furthermore, employees who get away from the office are less likely to suffer burnout, a problem that harms productivity levels. If it isn’t possible for employees to take a full week off, encourage them to take shorter more frequent vacations.

13 Create a culture of trust

Employees are happier and work harder when they feel like they can trust their leaders. They decide which leaders they can trust based on how their fellow employees, company vendors, and customers are treated.

Ask yourself, as a leader, do you treat all with whom you come into contact with respect? Do you behave ethically and hold others accountable for their actions? When you have to take tough action — such as sacking someone — do you follow proper steps and treat the person with dignity in the process?

If an employee sees you treating someone else poorly — whether it’s a vendor or a fellow employee — his level of trust diminishes and he starts to care less about doing a good job for you.

14 Rid your pasture of weeds

The weeds in your figurative pasture are those poor performers and negative employees who stifle the good attitudes and high performance of their fellow employees.

If you’re not pulling out your weeds, then it’s likely their counterparts won’t stick around and keep working with them. They’ll choke out your best performers.

Any environment where employees are not held accountable for their actions, whether they’re positive or negative, can create a poor working environment. The greenest pastures are never filled with weeds so keep that in mind when you are growing and developing yours.

15 Grow and nurture new talent

Internships and mentoring programs allow promising prospects and employees to learn what your company culture is all about, while also developing their own professional skills. They offer a win-win situation for your company because they allow you to get a good look at new talent without paying out a huge salary or, making a long-term commitment.

16 Take a seasonal approach to showing you care

There are many ways to do this. Be creative.

In summer, consider giving half-days off on Friday, or give a half-day off before an employee’s vacation to help her minimize the stress of leaving town. Even something as simple as providing fresh fruit or flowers for the office can make an impact.

At the holidays, bring in gift wrappers or give employees a day off to take care of their seasonal shopping. These ideas aren’t expensive, and they go a long way toward showing employees that you care.

Striving to keep employees happy and engaged is not just a nice thing to do. It’s the right thing to do if you want to create a successful business. Furthermore, it’s not just a matter of trying to retain people for retention’s sake to avoid the high cost of recruitment, for instance.

Engaged employees are creative, productive, motivated and brimming with good ideas. Not only will they stay, they’ll be fully committed to their jobs and to the company’s success.

Joanne G. Sujansky, PhD, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), is the founder of KEYGroup, and is an award-winning entrepreneur. She has written several books and articles on leadership, change and retention. She is past national president of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). For more information or to contact her, visit www.keygroupconsulting.com or www.joannesujansky.com.