When most people think about the war for talent, they think about fighting it out with competitors for top candidates. However, the war could be closer than you think. Employee retention is the keystone of the recruitment puzzle. It’s simple—if you can retain your best people, you don’t have to replace them and you can promote from within. If your company struggles with long-term retention, follow these strategies to keep your top employees happy, engaged and employed with you.
-
-
Pay Well
-
Talented people know what they are worth. If you aren’t paying them commensurately, they will move on. You don’t have to overpay, but you should be paying market rate for positions. Also, it is important to offer performance-based raises so people can see that you value their contributions.
-
-
Promote for the Right Reasons
-
Companies that only promote based on seniority or bosses who tend to promote their friends will end up losing talented contributors. Only promote people with demonstrated leadership ability, who have made valuable contributions and who are passionate about the work that they do.
Employees know when the wrong people are being promoted and it is a morale-killer. Your team doesn’t want to see good people get passed up for promotions and they don’t want to work for incompetent managers. To boost retention, focus on true bench-building and leadership development.
-
-
Stop Micromanaging
-
Micromanagement is an easy trap fall into. If you’ve hired the right people, they should be able to do their jobs well with a little bit of guidance and a lot of room to run. Moreover, your best people should be given more responsibilities over time as they grow and develop their skills. When you give talented people the space they need to do their jobs well, productivity, outcomes and morale will improve, as will retention.
-
-
Encourage Innovation
-
Give your people the time, resources and freedom to come up with fresh ideas and new solutions to old problems. Getting mired down in doing things the same way stifles creative innovation. Let people have the opportunity to test ideas—and yes, fail. Failing forward is a great learning experience, and providing your team the freedom to own and run with their ideas will make them feel more engaged and satisfied with their jobs.
-
-
Get Rid of Toxic Employees and Managers
-
If you keep losing top contributors, there could be a culture problem. Negative people, those with a poor work ethic, under-producers, gossips and back-stabbers are a detriment to your workplace. Don’t let a few bad apples destroy your team or organization. Do the hard work of removing those who slow everyone else down.
Ready to Improve Retention? Reach Out to The Reserves Network!
If you are looking to improve your hiring processes to improve long-term retention, contact the staffing experts at The Reserves Network today.