The expense of finding a new employee to fill an available role is high. In many cases it can cost over double the salary of that role, not to mention the additional costs incurred such as training costs, and reductions in productivity as you fill the post and get the new person up to speed. Of course, that is why the issues of recruitment and retention are so valuable to businesses. Luckily you can read all about how to find, and keep the best people over the long term below.
Recruitment first
Before you can hold onto the most valuable employees, you need to find them. Fortunately, there are some tactics that can make it easier to track down employees that will be the best fit for both the position and your business over the long term.
The first of these is to read between the lines when it comes to applications. For example, people that have only held past positions for a short period may not be the right choice. Instead, it’s better to go for a candidate that has a long and stable work history with previous employers as this suggests they are more likely to come in with a committed attitude.
Additionally, some experts suggest that looking for candidates that commit to things outside of the office can prove a useful indicator of likely commitment too. After all, if they play a team sport or volunteer with a charity, it demonstrates that they have the characteristics of resolve and loyalty that should keep them with your business for as long as possible.
Finally, when it comes to recruitment, remember that you’re not only looking for someone with the rights skills, but also for a person that is the best match for your company culture as well. In fact, by doing a little extra work in the recruitment stage to identify these types of candidates, you can maximize your chances of finding people that will stay with your company for the long haul.
Dealing with interpersonal issues
Many times, employees do not leave a job because they dislike the work or the company itself. Instead, interpersonal issues can be the driving factor for change. Of course, sometimes people are just not going to be best buddies, especially in a work environment, but should that be the reason why you lose valued members of your team? Unfortunately, in the worst-case scenario, if you let such a situation get out of hand, you can very easily find that a single toxic person ends up dominating a team, meaning your business suffers.
Therefore, constructively dealing with interpersonal issues is hugely important when it comes to keeping the best employees for your business. One option is to take a proactive route and test potential employees for personality traits before giving them the job or assigning them to a specific team, so ensuring the best fit.
Additionally, actively training managers in conflict resolution can be useful too. Then when issues do arise, as they are bound to do, you will have someone already integrated within the team that can provide some perspective and some options on how to resolve such issues before they spiral out of control.
Opportunities for growth and learning
Once you have tracked down the best people, you must do all you can to keep them. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to make sure that your employees feel that their contribution to your business matters, and that they are valued.
The first of these is offering an opportunity to progress within your company. After all, even the most dedicated of individuals will have to move on to another business, if there is no room forward progression.
It’s not just promotion alone that works to keep the best employees working for you, though. Instead, the opportunity for advancement also needs to be combined with the chance to grow, learn new skills and engage in education.
To that end, training, whether formal or on the job is a vital aspect of keeping your best workers. Of course, there is a big difference between offering a place on the occasional training course, and building in new learning opportunities and training into each day or project. The latter option being the best for keeping employees engaged and committed over the long term.
Benefits
Back in the old days, the only benefits that employers offered were the opportunity to work, and get paid for the hours that employees did. However, companies that are looking to find and keep the best employees these days understand that a generous benefits package can go a long way to sweeten the deal.
Probably the most important benefit that will encourage worker retention is healthcare coverage. Were not just talking about doctor and hospital care here either, but dental and eye health programs as well.
Of course, when providing such benefits, it is also vital that you educate your employees on how to use them to their full advantage. For example, some vision benefit plans make it seem as if you have to choose a glasses provider that belongs to their network. However, this is not the case, and, by selecting an out of network store like the one you will find here, and using out of network benefits, your employees can get much higher quality lenses and frames for a very low price.
In addition to healthcare benefits, flexible working hours are also something that can make a massive difference when looking to keep employees over the long term. The reason for this is because by offering flexible options, your employees’ jobs can grow with them as their life outside of work changes and develops. This allows you, employees, to have a better work-life balance and be present for the things in their life outside of work that matter and have meaning for them. Something that means they will be more engaged and happier while in work, and very unlikely to move on to a position where they were not given the same freedoms.
Minimize stress and maximize eustress
For those not in the know, the term eustress means positive stress. That is stimulation that is challenging, but not overwhelming or pointless. Of course, employers don’t always have control over the amount of stress that we ask our employees to experience, especially as different people react to things in various ways.
However, there are ways to tip the scales from stress into eustress and make sure that your employees have a much more positive and engaging experience, one that means they are much more likely to love their work and stay with your company over the long term. Meaning is the key here because once we have an overall goal that is meaningful, even the most boring or difficult of tasks before more manageable.
With that being said, creating meaning that aligns with your employees’ values can be more challenging in some fields than in others. However, running sessions that can help employees to identify their own personal values, and how they can live by these in the setting of your company can be hugely worthwhile and help you to retain your best talent over the longer term.
Listen and ask
Many employees feel much more valued when listened to in the workplace. That is not to say that you need to act on every suggestion. However, offering employees the opportunity to be heard can be very helpful for many, especially as your employees will usually know what is going on at the front lines of your business better than anyone else.
In fact, to increase opportunities for management to listen to what employees have to say, actively asking questions and inviting feedback can be very useful. Of course, this does need to be managed correctly. After all, a free-for-all of shouting over a canteen table is usually not the best way to conduct such sessions.
Instead, consider having a suggestions box, or even automating questions and feedback over your email system. Additionally remember that if employees never hear anything back about their suggestions or never see anything done in line with them, this tactic will lose its impact. With that in mind, consulting with those whose ideas and suggestions are the best and even rewarding them can help to enhance the benefits here.
Final thoughts
As you can see from the post above, there is much you can do to track down and retain the best talent for your business. However, a certain amount of turnover is always to be expected. With that in mind, it’s essential to have robust systems in place for finding new and suitable candidates quickly.
Additionally, it’s also vital to invest in onboarding for candidates once you have offered them the job. After all, if you have put all that time, effort, and money into finding someone, the worst thing that can happen is that you lose them during their settling period, before all of your other retainment strategies have a chance to take hold.