Organizations lose employees for a variety of reasons. The most prevalent result from a lack of constructive employer-employee communication and may relate to:
- expectations
- earning potential
- feedback on performance
- timely communication regarding critical issues
According to a number of surveys, finding qualified workers is a primary challenge for businesses. This becomes especially daunting when a company is in its growth phase. During this time, the enterprise has to find new employees to fill newly created positions as well as retain its best people.
The following are some of the steps that companies can take to retain employees:
Growth Opportunities: Companies that are growing can offer growth opportunities by promoting existing employees. Successful companies also provide proper training facilities.
Rewards: Employees can be rewarded both monetarily and in kind for their efforts. They can be given recognition, status, or respect for their work. Employee-recognition programs prove useful to some companies.
Achievement and Personal Satisfaction: These are two important factors employers can focus on in order to retain employees. Employees' achievements and levels of personal satisfaction stem from how their jobs have been designed.
Work Environment: It is important that the work environment is positive. Employees are often attracted to small businesses due to their positive cultures. An aggressive growth approach accompanied by stress can often reverse this culture. A positive culture should be established and maintained from the start of every business.
Community: Actions that demonstrate a company values the importance of family are appreciated by employees.
Transparency/Clear Vision: Employees should be kept informed about where the company is headed and should be reminded of its goals often. They should be assured that they are growing with the company. A clear vision can help everyone concentrate on the work at hand.
Management Education: Management-level employees can be offered regular training programs to develop their recognition skills and help them implement retention practices. They can also attend events led by top industry retention and recognition specialists.
The above are only a few factors that can affect employee retention. Human resources departments should continuously implement effective recognition tools and resources, including continued research on effective retention practices. It takes effort to retain your top-performing employees.
