There are two things people want more than sex and money… recognition and praise.
~Mary Kay Ash
Hiring great people is a critical part of ensuring your organization’s success. However, if you’re unable to retain those amazing employees, they’ll do your company little good. In fact, losing good staff not only costs your organization time and money, when trying to fill those open positions, but high employee turnover will also damage your team’s morale! Following are five tips to help you improve your staff retention.
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Be Competitive – This should go without saying, paying your employees competitively is critical to improving staff retention. Sometimes long-time employees’ compensation falls out of line with the going market rate, especially if your company has withheld raises in recent years, due to the challenging economy. When this happens, don’t be surprised if your best people are recruited out from under your nose.
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Little Things Mean A Lot – In addition to competitive compensation, don’t forget about the importance of other small perks. Providing doughnuts on Mondays, free gym memberships or the ability to partially telecommute cost very little, in the grand scheme of things, but can mean a lot when you’re talking about improving staff retention.
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Promote from Within – Many of your best employees have career goals they want to achieve. Help them achieve these goals and keep them loyal to your company, When your employees feel they’re in a dead-end position, that’s when they’ll start looking for employment elsewhere.
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Have Fun – All work and no play makes work really, really boring! Take time to occasionally have fun, team-building activities to not only provide a chance to build team rapport, but also to give employees something fun to look forward to, helping you not only improve your team’s ability to work together but also improving staff retention.
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Don’t be Stingy on the Praise – Giving out “Atta boys!” cost you absolutely nothing, but can mean a lot to your employees. Be sure to tell your employees when they’re doing a good job or have gone above and beyond, to let them know you appreciate them. Feeling appreciated builds organizational loyalty, which improves staff retention. Also, publicly recognize great employees to not only motivate them to continue to perform, but also encourage others to do the same.
About Colleen Seward Ryan, Leadership Expert
CREDENTIALS: Colleen Seward Ryan is an international workplace and employee management expert, award-winning corporate trainer, and conference keynote speaker. A media veteran, she has appeared on numerous radio shows around the country and has written more than 40 popular articles on diverse workplace issues. Colleen has delivered more than 1,100 entertaining programs in 48 states and five countries. She is the author of 10 published audio programs and two books including SECRETS YOUR BOSS ISN’T TELLING YOU.
Colleen Seward Ryan is available for keynotes, breakout sessions, and seminars by calling (623)340-7690.
