Attracting and retaining high-performers in the post-COVID world can be challenging. These tips can help.
The best talent is mobile and wants to work in a progressive environment that offers competitive wages and benefits. More importantly, they want to be part of an inclusive company culture with an exciting future. Because hiring high-performing employees is expensive, it’s essential that you take steps to keep them engaged at work and not out looking for greener pastures elsewhere. Losing an employee can be expensive and finding talent to replace them can be even harder. A Center for American Progress (CAP) study found that it costs between 16-20% of an employee’s annual salary to replace them.
Here are ten ideas that can help keep top talent at your company:
Offer a Healthy Work Environment
Provide opportunities for your employees to work remotely, allow flexible hours, or offer additional benefits that help employees reduce stress and focus on mental health. Most importantly, provide benefits that will impact their lives both at work and outside of the office. These are just a few ways that you can provide your team with a healthier work environment.
Ensure a Fair and Balanced Workload
This is a big selling point when it comes to retention. Don’t spread your employees too thin or put them in a position where they are forced to take on added responsibilities without the proper time, resources, and training. When you do this, you are inadvertently asking them to pass along their work to others, which can cause burnout and eventually lead them to seek other opportunities. Focusing on balance can help your organization improve employee performance.
In order to ensure a balanced workload, review each employee’s job description and expected deliverables on a quarterly basis. If your HR department does not have the time to do so, working with an HR expertise provider may be a good solution.
Provide Ongoing Training and Development Opportunities
To stay relevant to the marketplace, your employees need to be constantly learning new skills. As a manager, one of the most significant ways you can ensure that your team is growing and honing their current skills is to provide ongoing training and development opportunities. This will help your team feel supported and also give them an opportunity to broaden their individual skill set.
Build Strong Relationships and Mentor Your Employees
One of the biggest ways to retain your top talent is by building strong relationships with them and offering guidance and mentoring along the way. This can be done through one-on-one meetings, lunches, mentor/mentee programs, and collaboration opportunities. Taking the time to value each employee’s contribution increases the devotion they have for your organization and can impact the bottom-line.
Be Transparent
Transparency is two-fold. It is not just providing your employees with a transparent work environment, but also with your vision for the future of the company. People are less likely to leave if they know what the company’s priorities are as well as how their roles fit into the grand scheme of things.
Show Appreciation
In today’s fast-paced economy, showing appreciation can go a long way. A strategic employee rewards and recognition program doesn’t have to be expensive, and creates a lasting impact on your company culture. The more gratitude and appreciation you show, the more likely it is your employees will want to stay with you.
Be Flexible with Your Team’s Schedule
This is an easy way to retain your team. If they can work flexible hours or work from home, even part of the time, many people will jump at the chance to do so. Flexibility can also lead to heightened performance. In fact, Stanford University found that a flexible work schedule increases performance by 13%.
Treat Your Employees with Respect
It is a given that you should respect your employees. The more you show respect to your employees, the more likely they are to feel important and recognized. This is a vital part of retention as it will help them to feel inspired and appreciated, which will lead them to offer greater contributions, and deepen their sense of loyalty.
Hold Regular Meetings
Meeting regularly with your team will help you to stay connected, and more importantly, you will get regular feedback on how you can improve as a manager and leader. You’ll also have the opportunity to recognize individual performance and help hold your team accountable for their work.
Don’t Expect Your Employees to be Perfect
This may sound a little funny, but your organization needs to set realistic expectations. As a manager, you want your employees to be performing to their best ability. But super high expectations can have a negative impact on your employees, potentially causing anxiety and other negative feelings. Instead of expecting perfection, slow down and have fun with it. Give them the support that it takes to get there and grow professionally.
Retaining top-performing talent won’t happen overnight, but you’ll be surprised at the difference that each of these steps along the way will make. Your commitment to your team will in turn yield their commitment to you. Let them know that you appreciate their efforts and that they’re doing a great job, and take the initiative to help them grow so they can become more valuable to the company. With a little effort on both sides, everyone will stay happy and productive.
Interested in Reviewing Your Retention Strategy?
Working with a strategic partner to assist with HR tasks and employee retention can free up your time to focus on other areas of the business, such as profitability. Learn more about how outsourcing HR tasks can increase efficiency and productivity here.