Want to retain valuable employees? These 6 tips will help
Having a good employee walk out can be painful especially if he or she was significant to the success of the company or had benefited from training supported by the organisation.
There are several reasons why good employees leave an organisation. One is dissatisfaction, for instance where the employee feels that they do a lot for the organisation yet get little pay, another is a toxic workplace culture, and yet another lack of room for growth.
Having a good employee walk out can be painful especially if he or she was significant to the success of the company or had benefited from training supported by the organisation. There is also the fact that recruitment drives to find replacements do not come cheap. If you’re an employer and would like to retain good employees, read on.
Make periodical reviews
That employee that left may have stagnated in that position for a long time with no promotion or salary review. How do you expect to keep your employees happy at work yet rarely review their pay? No doubt, they are subsisting on loans, a cycle that is enslaving, and which makes for an unhappy worker.
Do away with red tape
The hierarchical order in organisations can be a put off. If your employees cannot approach you directly due to your rank, then you have a big problem. The fact is that you may not get the actual picture of the reality on the ground since you don’t get to directly interact with your workers. Take time to get to know them. You may be surprised they take you for a bad boss that does not care about their welfare because of the kind of relationship they have with their supervisor or manager.
Hold frequent meetings with all employees
Most companies often make the mistake of inviting only department heads and supervisors to meetings, who in turn brief the rest of the employees regarding the decisions made. Once in a while, this is fine, but if all employees are never invited to meetings where their opinions are sought, they will feel unvalued, as if their contribution to the company does not matter. The fact is that many of them might have outstanding ideas that could greatly contribute to the growth of the company, but since they are never given the opportunity to speak their mind, these ideas will leave the company with them.
Challenge them
Chances are your employees have become accustomed to doing tasks in a methodical way and lethargy long kicked in, translating to low productivity. You, as the boss, could also be rigid regarding how you do things, you also don’t invest in employee training, yet you expect them to give your organisation the best. Helping them advance their knowledge is an advantage to the organisation, and will boost their morale at work.
Introduce reward schemes
Some organisations have an employee of the month reward scheme in place. In some organisations, a picture of such an employee is hang on the wall for all to see. This may be accompanied by a gift, money or a voucher. Should you adopt this, be careful and ensure that this scheme is not abused. It should not be a tool for favouritism where other employees feel the recipient may have been awarded unfairly. And if teamwork was involved, award all team members.
Orient new employees
Each organisation has its own culture which a new hire may find strange or overwhelming. Some organisations have gone a step further by publishing booklets new hires can go through in their orientation journey as they settle down. How would you feel having a hire who feels out of the place? Take time to take them through the processes of the workplace to familiarise themselves with their new place of work.
