One of the biggest challenges facing most businesses isn’t the problem of finding staff but the problem of keeping them. There will always be people who come and go, thinking the grass is greener on the other side.
But when businesses loose long time staff or top performers, then there may be underlying problems that need address. For even the smallest business, there are tips to help prevent a high staff turnover and here are some.
Getting the right staff
Getting the right staff is the first step to keeping staff and can be tricky. Getting to know the candidates a bit instead of just merely reading a CV or a series of pre-set questions can help you judge how well they fit into the business. Make sure they understand what their role will be and what the expectations placed on them will be upfront to avoid people quitting because they didn’t understand the job.
Wage and benefits scales need to be realistic to get good staff and to stop the lure of better money elsewhere. There will always be someone paying more that the odd staff member will leave for but if you pay good wages and have a good benefits package, they may not even look at the job in the first place.
Keeping the right staff
Once you have the right staff in place, you need to keep them motivated and productive but also happy. Showing your gratitude for their work and recognising their achievements is key to this, with many businesses employing a strategy called social recognition to do this.
At its core, this involves recognising the achievements and accomplishments of an individual to the group, as opposed to just on a one-on-one basis. This makes them feel good, encourages some friendly competition and can even be used as the basis of an incentive scheme with rewards based on this recognition.
Being as flexible as possible with staff is a good way to engender loyalty. Yes, the needs of the business come first and you can’t give in to every whim of your employees but making concessions and being flexible where sensible can make all the difference to an uncertain staff member.
By understanding them and getting to know them, you will also know who are likely to be taking advantage of you and who had a genuine issue that they need assistance with. Prioritising the happiness of your staff may sound a bit soft to some tough executives but has a proven track record of success.
Getting rid of the wrong staff
No-one likes to fire someone or not continue their employment after a probationary period but the wrong staff in the job can do more than just leave you with a job not being done well. They can demotivate other staff and make them feel that their efforts are wasted.
Always adhere to employment laws regarding firing staff but by doing this, you create a space that can then be filled by a productive member of staff who will contribute to the business and be a happy member of the larger team.
Article courtesy of Workstars, the global leader in social recognition software technologies. Talk to them @WorkstarsHR.