A recent IPSOS poll reported by USA Today says that many well-to-do Americans are still very uncertain about the economy, with 63% believing the US to still be in recession, and 55% not expecting any improvement to our economic prospects 2013 or later. Whether you subscribe to this economic negativity or not, it is certain that we are all certainly having to do more with less or, as a good friend of mine is fond of saying, ‘Get more bang for your buck’. One way to do this is through staff. Every business has a percentage of their employees that they consider to be the real ‘cream of the crop’, the ones that seem to achieve more with less no matter what the circumstance. Its employees like this that are the lifeblood of your business, and retaining these stars is a business strategy that will impact directly on your bottom line.
When staff retention rates go down, it costs a business a lot, not just in direct recruitment costs, but in training and opportunity costs, too. However, when the company’s stars make an exit is when the company really loses out. When those really great employees walk, the company is put in a position where it must attract new employees of the same caliber, train them, orient them, and then cope with a lack of productivity in those positions until the new staff are bedded into the way the company works. Not only will the company lose productivity from the positions which have had staff turnover, but there will be additional downtime from those who need to spend time training them as well.
I call this a secret of successful businesses, but it’s hardly news, and it certainly isn’t ‘rocket science’. However, recession or no recession, good employees still leave and move on for ‘greener grass’, and many business leaders take their eye off the staff retention ball because their focus is on coping strategies for the tough economic climate. In short, your focus may be elsewhere, but you still need to give your star players a little TLC.
You may disagree, and there are plenty of business leaders out there who either think that this is as something for their HR department, that giving their employees TLC isn’t a priority in these straightened times, or simply that they are “business leaders, not kindergarten teachers or nursemaids”. If any of these corresponds to your own view, I’d like to challenge you to reconsider your position.
Most people who quit their jobs don’t quite the role or the company, they quit their bosses. On this basis, it is the direct line supervisors in your company that have a direct impact on your company’s staff retention, and therefore its bottom line. How do the managers in your company enhance or detract from your star players’ love, or hate, of their jobs?
Here are just a few simple ideas that may help with retention:
1) Smile! It may sound silly, but a smile is the universal symbol of an approachable person! Smiles diffuse stress, and help your employees comfortable around you. Regardless of how busy you are, don’t act rushed or distracted when communicating with your staff – give them your full attention, as you would expect from them.
2) Have an open door policy. Make yourself available to your staff when they need you, not just at scheduled times such as staff meetings. Go and see them, too, and not just for negative reasons; go and see people when they’ve done a great job, and tell them so both privately and publicly. Don’t try to manage people via email – you need to have a relationship with your staff and, to do that, they need to see you!
3) Respond promptly. If one of your employees raises a concern or issue, make time for the discussion swiftly, and take their concerns seriously.
4) Ask staff for their opinions Don’t assume that you know what your staff thinks – ask them for their opinions and for feedback on specific points. People feel valued and respected when you care about their opinion enough to ask for it. Once you’ve got their opinions, take them into consideration in your decision-making processes. You can’t always do what people want but if you ask for people’s opinions and then never use them, it’s both insulting and demotivating.
5) Keep Communicating! People feel involved when you tell them what is going on, as well as feeling respected and valued. If there are changes in the workplace, then communicating them helps people prepare for them and feel less intimidated. Remember that you have two ears and only one mouth for a reason – Listen twice as much as you talk so that you can understand what is most important to your team.
6) Help Your Staff. Treat your employees as stakeholders in a partnership, not providers of a product or service. When managers help your staff and they will help you.
7) Develop People. Offer ongoing learning and growth experiences. Invest in your staff as much as your time and financial resources will allow. Give opportunities to stretch and grow in a positive and encouraging environment.
8) Take Good Care of People. As a leader, you have a duty of care to your people. Remind them to take breaks, eat properly, and enjoy a good work/life balance. When you care about your team, they will care about you.
Whatever business you’re in, it is built on relationships, and the relationship you enjoy or endure with your employees could be critical to the success of your business. Giving a little TLC doesn’t have to take a lot of time, or cost a lot of money, it just needs a little thought and wisdom. Investing in interpersonal relationships as mutually respectful partnerships can give a truly rewarding return on investment in terms of staff retention and direct benefits to your bottom line. Nurture your stars, and they will shine for you! AND, they will stick around.
