More than ever following the pandemic last year and the continuation into 2021, we want to ensure that we retain our good employees.
It is important to any business, that employees are respected and acknowledged for being the key aspect of any business.
Retention is important to a business as, without it, it can not only become a costly expense, but it can also create organisational issues such as:
- An insecure workforce
- Excess duties for co-workers
- Recruitment time, training
According to Glassdoor the average cost to recruit in the UK is £3000! (For more senior positions, or the use of a recruitment agent, could increase recruitment payments dramatically)
These costs can be a huge cost for a business to absorb, especially in the current climate.
To keep your best-motivated staff, we would recommend these factors to be considered in the workplace, to keep your retention turn over low and make your employees wish to stay. Ensure your staff know what is expected from them, provide a specific framework which clearly outlines what is expected of them. Provide Strong Quality Management or Supervision, Employees will leave businesses because of supervisors/team leaders and management more than employees leave because of their actual jobs, shown through;
- Lack of clarity about expectations
- Lack of clarity on potential earnings
- Lack of feedback about performance
- Failure to stick to scheduled meetings.
- Failure to provide a framework which the employees perceive they can succeed.
Provide an employee communication platform, to speak their minds freely
Create and provide an environment for employees to solicit their ideas in a comfortable environment, where feedback can be provided.
It is engaging for employees to be able to offer ideas and criticize for continuous feedback and improvements.
Enable staff to use their skills and talents
Your motivated employees will want to contribute to work areas outside of their roles and duties.
Showing the investment in your employees by taking the time to listen and learn your employees additional skills, talents past and current experience will enable you to tap into them, and they will feel respected.
Ensure and provide a perception of fairness and equitable treatment:
For example, if you have a commission or bonus structure within the business for specific roles to avoid other staff feeling cheated within their roles look at other methods of rewards, such as long service or absence recognition and consider promotion using long service, to show recognition into your loyal employees”
Salaries
Whilst there is the saying “not to discuss salaries with your colleagues” this happens, and when new roles or replacement roles are advertised this can also impact moral undoubtedly.
It is important to recognize everyone where the company can, especially in circumstances such as
“Awarding an employee with three years’
Service and excellent performance with a £3000 pay rise, and their supervisor receives less or none, then this will almost definitely cause upset.
Ensure you annually review all salaries and ensure they are fairly increased with reason.
Tools and Time
If an employee is underperforming/achieving in their role, review if the working systems are the reasons.
It is vital that all employees have the necessary tools to conduct their roles if they do not this is another reason why employees will move onto, a company that does invest in technology.
Training
Exemplary employees will want to learn and grow themselves.
If employees do not have the opportunity to learn, take on challenges, attend seminars they become stagnant.
A career orientated, valued employee, with the opportunity to grow will realise their potential within the organisation, and not have a need to look elsewhere.
Management/Team Leaders/ Supervisors engagement
It is key in management roles like these that they know their employees, and that they exist.
A common complaint given in exit interviews is voiced, that they do not know who they are, they are just a number or a body.
Even the company Director or owners should know their employees and spend time to learn their talents, abilities, and skills.
This can be achieved with meeting employee’s periodically and conducting 1-2-1’s or reviews. The employee will feel acknowledged and the results of loyalty, dedication and commitment will be shown.
Threats
Even in circumstances of the investigation and hard times such as the current pandemic, it is extremely important to not threaten your employee’s job or income, even if you know layoffs are looming.
Sharing this information or using this method as a driving tool to excel, can make staff nervous in either circumstance, in whatever context used.
Your best employees may also start updating their CV’s, and LinkedIn Profiles.
Think before you share information and keep solid performance information on a need-to-know basis, along with anything that could encourage staff to search for a new job.
Making staff feel appreciated! Simply say “Thank You”, pay-out timely with fair bonuses, give thank you gifts where deserved.
In doing these actions to recognise a job well done, or going above and beyond, will raise tired accomplishments and achievements which in turn will help retain employees.
Once you have maintained your good employees, you need to continue to keep them motivated, and driven.
It is important to ensure that your employees are motivated, engaged, and challenged to be productive within their 8-hour days, the most.
As discussed above failing to do this can result in high turnover, and inflated recruitment cost, slowing the growth and success of the company down and cause a constant state of flux and chaos. By encouraging the employee’s to participate as partners, will keep everyone motivated and it does not actually mean they have ownership in the company. This just means that everyone is invested in company growth and success.
When employees are respected for their input and talent, this motivates the fire and drive within them, which in return can be contagious and builds a sense of partnership within the organisation.
Some motivaving factors to incorporate into a business for success are known as the Engagement Bridge (As referenced in Glenn Elliott & Debra Corey’s book Build It).
The book demonstrate how building a bridge with the following elements, with employees will build a safe and strong environment for engaged and motivated staff, without them you could fail.
How important and urgent will depend on each element is needed in the organisation, the context and situation.
The key elements of the bridge are:
- Being Open & Honest
- Have a Mission, Purpose and Values
- Workspace
- Wellbeing
- Job Design
There are others that we have already touched on such as leadership, management, learning and recognition.
By incorporating these connecting and underpinning elements to your bridge, you are creating the rocks and beams to a successfully motivated business & culture.
Being Open & Honest
Having an open and honest culture is important that it is closely linked to an employee trust. Without trust, it is very hard to imagine an engaged culture where people will voluntarily put the company, and its mission & purpose first.
Mission, Purpose, and Values
With a baseline of honesty, and transparency within the company, the next steps are to have a clear direction and purpose, plus a consistent way of behaving will also drive the employee’s motivation.
“There is something deeply human about the need to feel part of something bigger than yourself, something that feels worthwhile”.
Workspace and Wellbeing
These underpinning elements will help create your motivation strategy, these elements are not something that can engage employees directly and alone, but they are hugely important.
To start the employee motivation of engagement many companies will start with a small perk, or social room as an olive branch with the workforce, it is just key to ensure the starting point is not the ending point.
Job Design
This element is hyper designed as we know from above having the best-designed jobs, will create the most successful and engaging roles.
A boring job where there is no meaningful output, no sense of achievement and no one seems to notice you, can lead to poor performance, or resignation.
Fundamentally to motivate someone, someone has to be in a job that has some degree of autonomy and accountability to produce some meaningful results that are seen and recognised.
Any job can become disengaged if it does not develop and progress over time.
The key principles to consider in designing high- engagement jobs are benchmarking the levels of:
- Burnout
- Flourish
- Boredom
- Complacent
Within a role, how high or low the demands & controls are. Have a think about the roles and departments within your company that need some TLC and ask yourself three questions and reflect on the graph above to see if any of these elements have a pattern in line with the control or engaging points;
Question 1
How can I build more freedom in this role?
Question 2
What output or result could employees actually own themselves?
Question 3
How will this role develop?
By taking the time to review and analyse your business, to invest in motivating your employees, and maintaining your good workers.
By using these points of practical, thoughtful, logical recommendations will help you to achieve a high-performance culture and successful business.
If your business needs help dealing with nepotism or any other HR issue, contact Wurkplace! We create bespoke HR solutions for businesses all around the UK. Contact us by calling 0330 400 5490 or Click here and fill in our contact form.
An experienced Director who controls and oversee all business operations, people and ventures. Responsible for the overall success of the business.
As a leader, he is able to steer a company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goals. Additionally, he has strong crisis management skills to “save” companies in times of need.