The job market is extremely competitive today. It has become very hard to keep good employees because the competition is so fierce. Poaching talent is nothing new. However, with companies becoming more mercurial, times have changed. There is an extreme need for employees to be valued so that they think twice about switching jobs. There is a lot that can be done to retain employees, but there is very little that companies can do once their mind is made up. Hence, it is always better to work on good employees before they make that decision and make them feel valued.
Mentorship Programs
When you introduce an employee to a mentor or make sure that the company has invested in him, it establishes a bond between him and the company. The mentor gains respect and admiration. More than that, the employee values the company for teaching him or her a new skill. This talent improves his or her worth as a professional.
This also familiarizes an employee with the company culture and makes him or her feel valued.
Reward Accomplishments
This is always a great idea. Most employees have a tendency to expect a pat on the back or a promotion or just a salary bump when they’ve accomplished something. This is human nature. People always appreciate positive feedback when they’ve accomplished something and it makes that much more sense to reward a good employee if you want to retain them.
Rewarding an employee for great work will automatically make them feel valued and will also allow them to appreciate a company that rewards achievement. It’ll make it that much harder for them to leave said company if an offer presents itself because the culture of rewards doesn’t translate everywhere.
Balance Home and Work
This balance of work and life has to be essential in today’s world. If an employee thinks that they are being overworked they will try to escape that environment as soon as they can. It has been seen that employees that can’t strike a work life balance have issues in their personal lives and become easy targets for anxiety and depression. Hence, it’s a great idea to have a great paid vacation plan and a work plan based on equitable distribution. If each person is given as much as they can handle, then they will be able to strike a work life balance much more easily.
Training Programs
Just like the mentorship programs, this makes the employee feel valued. Since the company is investing in them, they come to value the company more and more. More than just another bullet point on their CV, employees see this as a learning opportunity. They thank the company for increasing their skill set in a way that they never could on their own.
These training programs can lead to foreign conferences and certifications that feed back in to your company. They also grow your employee’s admiration of the company as well.
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Employee Feedback
This is very important to focus on. It just so happens that as companies grow, they lose sight of what their employees need most. As the recent strikes against Amazon in Europe have shown, even if you have a company worth $1 trillion, it is still no guarantee that you’re taking care of your employees.
It’s important to stay in touch with your employees and understand their gripes and their problems with the company. The feedback could be related to pay, to general benefits, to working conditions or to work life balance. Whatever it is, it would be better that you listen to your employees before they riot and leave.
Better On-Boarding
Each new person you hire should be set up for success from the beginning. You should make sure that his or her job orientation focuses on their strengths and aims to develop them as their best potential self in the job. They need to be familiarized with the corporate culture so they can navigate their way around the new job with ease and not feel at all awkward or shy. This is of the utmost importance if you want the employee to function at their best.
Have Core Values
A company that follows the standards that it has set for itself has a moral high ground that a lot of employees will value. That’s why it’s important to set yourself up to follow the law, to not compromise on your principles and treat everyone fairly. This is a rare quality that fades from corporations as they grow bigger which is why there is so much talent poaching at the top. However, if a company stays true to its vision, it’s that much harder to get employees to quit.
Be “Part of Something”
Companies that have a vision to contribute to the community have a higher rate of employee satisfaction and self-worth. And that’s something that can’t be bought. Companies that allow themselves to work for something are usually high on the list of companies that employees want to join and stay with.
Pay More
This is the most objective way, but it’s also one of the most important ways to retain employees. If employees are getting a substantially better offer somewhere else that values their talents more, they will leave. If you keep their salaries down and force them to work for less than they think they’re worth, you will see many leave while few stay.
Are you finding it harder to locate the good technical and IT talent? Many companies find them selves in the same situation. There are some better ways to locate and attract the right it and technical people to your company. Contact us to learn more.