Leanne Ganley Employee Engagement, Staff Retention, Company Culture...
How much would you pay to keep your staff?
Do you have a member of staff who makes your heart flutter every time they come near your door with an envelope? Or do you have that sinking feeling when someone asks you to chat in private?
Chances are you dread the idea of losing at least some of your people to the competition and will do everything possible to keep them.
This might be why we saw employers stretch to a staggering 23% increased compensation award as an average counter offer as stagnant pay forced employees to look elsewhere before their value was realised.
The tangible costs of replacing an employee are on average considered to be between 6 to 9 months of salary in recruiting and training expenses, but others predict the cost as much higher, even twice annual salary when the tangible costs of lost knowledge, productivity and opportunity costs are taken into account.
So how do you avoid losing staff without providing them with an immediate 23% pay rise? Our top tips include:
1. Show them you value them; saying thank you, writing them a personal letter or praising them publicly can be all it takes and manners cost nothing!
2. Review any areas of your business where staff turnover is higher than it should be and conduct a review as to why people leave by holding exit interviews.
3. Create a culture of feedback, assume nothing, and constantly solicit the feelings of your staff. You can do this very cheaply through survey monkey, they even have a template questionnaire you can send out.
4. Hold frequent 1-2-1’s (at least quarterly) where you focus on the skills and competencies you want to develop in your team, ask team members how they feel they measure up to your requirements and what needs to be done to help them get there.
5. Share your vision for your business with them and your vision for them within your business.
6. Create small wins; building small achievable goals into the day to day, that all add up to a final big result will enable staff to feel good about their progress more often and less daunted about what needs to be done.
So what if you are reading this and it’s too late; despite your best efforts to retain them, your key employee has already left and you are trying to recruit their replacements? It is highly likely that any offer you make will face fierce competition from this key employee’s current employer in the form of a robust counter offer.
eBook: Staff Retention [Keep hold of your best employees in 4 steps]
