Guest Blogger – Paula Barrett, Sr. HR Business Partner
A company’s strength comes from their employees. They service the customers, they build the products, and they create the business. Retaining happy employees is not only good for employee morale, but also good for business and the company’s success.
Recruiting, hiring and training new employees is costly and time consuming for companies. Typically it takes a good six months to get a new employee up and running. After investing all that time and money into a new hire, it makes sense to do what you can to retain them. In the same vain, established high performing employees are the crux of your business. They’ve got history and knowledge that is instrumental to success. Loss of employees directly affects the bottom, so it’s prudent to do what you can to retain key talent.
Here are some tips that will help create an environment that employees want to work in:
Be visible and accessible to your employees:
-
Make sure your employees know how to reach out to management and feel comfortable talking about issues.
-
Walk the talk. Don’t just say you have an “open door policy,” it’s too cliché. You need to create opportunities for all employees to access and express ideas and concerns to management.
Talk to your employees:
-
Ask employees their opinion on how to improve the company. Once you ask for opinions, be ready to deliver on their suggestions or provide feedback as to why you can’t. There’s nothing more frustrating to an employee than being asked for their opinion and then having it completely disregarded.
Recognize a job well done:
-
Employees like to feel appreciated even if it’s just through small gestures. A simple “thank you” from management can go a long way to making an employee feel valued. If you’re able to do more, such as gift cards or a rewards and recognition program, even better.
Give constructive feedback:
-
Provide employees with feedback on how they can improve their performance and advance in the company. Feedback can be a formal annual review or information feedback, but be sure to give it.
Communication is key to creating an engaging and respectful environment for all employees. Respected employees feel valued and valued employees stay.
