Staff Retention is important for any business. Losing great employees can be a dangerous thing. Not only does it mean that you have to manage the cost of finding, training, and onboarding a replacement employee, but you also have to prepare for the fact that your new employee might not work out. On top of all that, there’s the hardship of placing additional strain on the rest of your staff until you can fill your new position.
While a specialist recruitment company can help to streamline the process of selecting candidates, it’s worth noting that once you’ve found a key employee, your focus should be on keeping them with your business for as long as possible.
Usually, learning how to keep hold of your best employees starts with understanding why people leave your company in the first place. Here, we’ll take a look at why good employees quit, and what you can do to improve your staff retention.
Reason 1: They’re Overworked
A lot of companies focus on treating their customers like royalty, but they forget the importance of looking after their employees too. However, if you serve the people who work for you with respect, then they’ll give you incredible results in return.
If you know that you have great people on your team, don’t burn them out. Although it might be tempting to turn to these employees for every little thing you need, it’s crucial to avoid over-utilising your top performers; it’s unfair.
Just because a person is great, it shouldn’t mean that they’re punished with more work and more stress.
Remember to treat your employees equally, and give them a break when they need one. If you don’t, your employees are likely to feel mistreated, and undervalued. According to a Stanford study, once a work week goes over 50 hours, productivity-per-hour decreases dramatically.
Reason 2: There’s no Flexibility
Managing a balance between work life and family life is something that a lot of us struggle with in today’s environment. However, ensuring a healthy work/life balance is so important to people, that around 14% of employees said that this issue could be a deal-breaker for them and it’s likely they would consider a move.
If you want to make your workplace more appealing to the top talent in your industry, then you need to be willing to offer more than just competitive compensation. Workers have begun to express a preference for flexible working conditions. That means if you expect your employees to still be answering calls at 8pm at night, you might end up losing them. Remember, when employees feel satisfied with life outside of work, they’re far more likely to perform at a higher level at work.
Reason 3: They Have no Room for Growth
Studies in Harvard Business Review have found that one of the top reasons employees begin searching for new jobs while they’re still in their current position, is that they don’t have enough development opportunities available to help them take the next stage in their career. In simple terms, people want a chance to grow at work, and if you want to avoid losing people, you need to offer that growth.
Show your team that you’re willing to give them chances to develop, by investing in training opportunities and classes for people who want to expand their skills.
Reason 4: They Can’t Find their Purpose
In any work environment, good leaders need to align people towards a specific goal if they want great results. Great employers need to inspire their workforce to achieve amazing things, and that’s the key to achieving a transformational experience for all staff members. Research indicates that there’s a common relationship between the profitability of a company, and how much an employee believes in the business mission.
Remember, you don’t necessarily need to be devoted to saving lives to give your employees a sense of purpose. All you need is to let your staff know what they’re working towards and give them a goal to feel passionate about.
Reason 5: The Corporate Culture Doesn’t Fit
Finally, while corporate culture might not be the most important element on most employee lists, the way your business feels can make a significant difference to employee retention. If your organisation shows that it appreciates its employees and treats them with respect, offering the right benefits and perks, then you’re far more likely to keep your staff.
Remember, finding employees that create a strong bond with your company begins by creating an environment that attracts the right employees. Use specialist recruitment services to help you find the ideal applicants, and adjust your company culture to fit with the kind of employee you want to employ.
Improving Staff Retention
The important thing to remember about staff retention is that it’s not all about offering the right wage packets. If you want to keep your employees happy, you need to offer the right culture, purpose, growth, and flexibility. If you can design the right environment for success, then you’ll naturally attract the best talent.
For further reading on employee retention strategies please see this excellent article by Time Doctor.
Employee Retention Strategies: 39 Companies’ Key Methods for Retaining Talent
Best regards,
Rhys Williams
Connect with me on LinkedIn here.
Sigma Recruitment
We are ‘South Wales Recruitment Specialists’ based in Cardiff, Wales.
We offer a full range of permanent recruitment solutions to many of South Wales’ and the South Wests’ leading manufacturing, technical, automotive and life science organisations. This includes companies in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Ebbw Vale, Port Talbot, Bridgend and the surrounding areas in South Wales.
Sigma Recruitment has one of the largest and most comprehensive recruitment candidate databases in the area. To get in touch with our team call us now on 02920 450 100. Alternatively, contact us here.
