Retaining employees saves a company money, and for bottom-line oriented businesses, that’s reason enough. But a company that hosts a lot of long-time employees can also be assumed to be one that treats its workers fairly, keeps them occupied, and respects their individuality. Job seekers who find that company is known for great retention knows that the company in question puts real effort into keeping employees around by keeping them happy. Here are 8 ways to convince top talent that you’re worth the investment of a serious commitment.
1) Offer them personal momentum–It’s paramount to remember that, as much as you want your employees to be a part of your company’s story, your company will always be a part of their story, at least from their perspective. No matter how much they may tow the company line, at the end of the day human nature dictates that they will ultimately put themselves first. So make sure you can offer them a sense of forward momentum within your company and for their lives: give them constant chances to learn new skills or hone old ones, and let them explore more of your total business. Don’t let them grow stagnant.
2) Respectful management–Managing employees isn’t easy, and nobody likes to be told what to do. But most people understand that their employers expect to get daily value from them. That power dynamic of manager and employee is fraught with human tensions, and if it goes south there’s almost nothing else about a job that can relieve that issue. A bad manager who lacks humanity and people skills, no matter how efficiently they run the game, will always lead to employee disengagement and eventual turnover. And it’s easier to switch out a bad boss than a whole team of unhappy employees.
3) Build emotional morale– Compensation is the name of the game at the end of the day, of course, but when we’re talking about employee happiness – the kind that fosters retention – it’s important to see to their emotional needs as people when you can. Celebrate their work anniversaries, regale the rest of the team with their recent successes, take them out to lunch to talk and laugh. Make sure they feel seen and appreciated. In the right moment, and for the right employee, a pat on the back can do wonders in terms of making them feel at home and cared for.
Data Snapshot: Are You Offered Enough Opportunities for Advancement?
4) Give them the space to live their lives–Any modern discussion of attracting and retaining top talent has to include a consideration of work-life balance, which has become a hugely important factor for employees (if it wasn’t already.) This harkens back to the idea of offering employees personal momentum for their own lives unconnected to their role at work. If you afford to offer your employees flexible hours or a remote work option, that allows them to conform their lives to the shape of their role in your company. This is a way of treating employees as adults and while it may seem counter-intuitive to offer less direct supervision, it will build morale.
5) Hire for character–Instead of focusing just on their resume and work history, make hiring decisions with a clear eye on whether the candidate has the strength of character required to join a team and put the correct amount of personal effort and emotion into doing so. Even the best of people sometimes demand a change of scenery for fickle personal reasons, so make sure you’re hiring good, serious (but not humorless) people who are looking to find a place to put down some roots, and who have a desire to be a valuable and long-term part of the organization.
6) Get behind your values–If you want your new hire to stay with your company and develop those all-important roots, it’s important to stand for something besides the accrual of money, especially when it comes to holding onto young, idealistic talent. Just as you wouldn’t want to settle into a neighborhood full of people with no concern for their neighbors, you don’t want to take a job with a company that has no concern for their place in society. This is most important when it comes to retention, because you’re asking an employee to make a long-term commitment. If your company has made its own long-term social commitments and can stand behind them, that’s one way to prove your own mettle.
7) Encourage your employees to be themselves at work–It used to be the case that conformity was the name of the game at the workplace, and the idea that one would cultivate a “work self” to contrast with their “real self” was part of the message. It seems highly unenlightened now to think that masking individuality would lead to a productive work force, and indeed modern workplaces are discovering of letting their employees be themselves at work. If they are allowed to let their personal freak flags to fly (within reason), they’re far more likely to feel like a permanent part of something. One can only keep up a second “work persona” for so long before becoming embittered.
8) Keep hardware and software up-to-date– This one is a no-brainer on a practical level. Human beings, by their nature, don’t like to date themselves. A human being working on an outdated laptop begins to feel outdated his or herself. People will seek to keep themselves feeling part of the mainstream by wanting to stick near the cutting edge of technology and new work solutions, so having old and outdated tools in the office is sure to send them sniffing for greener pastures where the computers still have that “new computer” smell. If you want them to settle in for the long haul with you, you need to make sure they have access to all the modern conveniences.
