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Seven Ways to retain the best of the best
An effective team is the heart and soul of any successful business. Keeping the best staff and cultivating their talent for long-term growth with your company is a vital component to sustainability and forward motion.
How do you keep your employees content in a tough economy?
(1) Establish an open line of communication
Frequently ask your employees their opinions on the business and work environment. Most importantly, inquire about their professional goals and work/life balance objectives. Employee-retention expert Leigh Branham states that performance coaching and feedback are essential for employees because they answer four questions:
- Where are we going as a company?
- How are we going to get there?
- How do you expect me to contribute?
- How am I doing?
(2) Give praise
Acknowledging the excellence or exceptional effort of your employees doesn’t have to expensive, but it should be recurrent and personalized. Give kudos to an exemplary employee during a company-wide meeting or send an e-mail (or better yet a handwritten note) of gratification.
(3) Let them work in their PJs
Reward employees with the option to telecommute once in a while. Offer a flexible schedule based on an expectation of performance that will alleviate commuting cost or even just the related stress. Rewarding top performers with a level of trust can be a powerful motivator.
(4) Evade burnout
Top performing employees are generally those who stay late, putting in the extra effort to make sure that a major presentation will go just right. Your best players are also most likely to carry the biggest loads and are least likely to complain during crunch times. Insist on giving them time off, and try to staff the busiest times adequately.
(5) Encourage collaboration
Competition among employees can be healthy and stimulating, but it can also be detrimental to the happiness of your most valuable employees. Provide a working environment where your staff can work as a team toward success instead of against one another.
(6) Lighten up
Have a little fun. The workplace doesn’t have to be stressful or silent to achieve profound results. Have a barbeque in the parking lot, send your employees to the movies in the middle of the workday or provide lunch in the conference room where your employees can interact.
(7) Stimulate your staff
Top talent wants to work for top companies which are forward thinking and dynamic. Improving your company profile, recognition, reputation, brand and product offerings shows a commitment to being on the cutting-edge and keeps teams interested and enthused. If you work to elevate your business to the highest standards you will attract and retain quality employees.
Bottom Line
A company that makes the effort to sustain its top performers will experience greater revenue, elevated market share, team spirit and general business success. Today’s pool of employees is gifted. Keeping that talent under your roof is a worthwhile goal.
