All businesses suffer from employees leaving which is expensive and disruptive. These 10 tips explore what causes people to leave and the affirmative action we can take.
Supportive Management Style
Does the management team support the business or are they autocratic with employees having no free will. People enjoy accountability and the freedom that comes with trust, micromanages convey a message of distrust that impacts their employees. As an individual or board undertake a personality profile analysis or ask for feedback from those around you to gauge your current style.
Build an Inclusive Culture
Culture should provide a welcoming, supporting environment. Creating an enjoyable and safe working environment will increase motivation as people look forward to coming into work. Rather than being seen as a chore the right culture breeds innovation and see staff going the extra mile for your business.
Offer Career Development
People like to map their career progression which can help forward planning. Those who don’t get supported and offered opportunities will leave for companies that do, those that are given development plans become high fliers and incredibly valuable to the business. Working with management and department heads a development roadmap should be created for those that want it; bear in mind not everyone is career driven and some people will be happy in their current role.
Create a Feeling of Value
Do you management team provide feedback and support to their teams. People like to be valued and appreciated; this does not need to be financial reward but can take many other forms. The important part is to remember to recognise, reward and celebrate achievement across the business.
Do not Overwork People
In today’s world people do not want to take work home with them. As financial times get harder there is a temptation to re-assign work without recruiting additional resources. As with a machine we can’t handle too much work and will crack. An employee who resents not being able to spend time at home with the family will not stay with you for long.
Reduce Stress
If you expect too much of people without providing support and resources they will burn out. If we are assigned a task without the skills or resources to carry it out then we tend to panic. Human nature is often not to ask for help for fear of being seen as weak, instead we try and work it out. We need to ensure that our teams and managers have the training and resources available to enable them to carry out their roles effectively.
Provide Learning and Development Opportunities
Training and development helps employees develop skills and creates achievement. As technology moves forwards so do desirable skillsets, if a team is a great fit in the business it makes sense to upskill them rather than recruiting more heads. Not only will the team bring new skills to the business they will feel more engaged because the company is actively investing in them.
Offer Competitive Packages
Salary range within industry roles if no secret, undertake a salary review if you are unsure. Remember there is more to package than just salary, people look for benefits such as paternity leave, flexible working and pensions. If you cash situation doesn’t allow you to pay market rate then you can compensate by being flexible in other areas to make the whole package highly desirable.
Keep the Business Moving
People get bored doing the same task, if your business is not moving forwards neither are they. Many successful companies have failed because they have not continued to develop their product/service offering instead relying on their name. Technology moves so quickly that we need to stay ahead and continually evolve, innovation within businesses is key to staying ahead of the competition.
Create Financial Stability
Ensure that you keep staff abreast of developments that they may hear about in the press before they go public. Inevitably companies go through bad patches but honest communication with staff can make a real difference to what happens next. In these uncertain times people are looking for job security and will research more deeply trading positions before taking on new roles.
Further Information
Helping businesses retain staff and address the root cause of problems is just one area that we provide support with; we work with you to identify opportunities in the business and help design and implement your strategic plan for growth.
