We spend number of hours to judge the right person for our empire of dreams, our own company, but sometimes we fail to keep those employees committed to us for a longer time. Successful companies are built with people. Employees pay the most important role in building any company, they act as bricks for a strong building. As they say, “In the end we bet on people; not strategies!” Strategies don’t make the company, but effective people do.
We are never aware about the results whether positive or negative because any employee that leaves the company. He doesn’t only leave a company but he also carries your company information, your data, your clients with them and it becomes very difficult to replace or find someone exactly similar to them. Hiring a replacement or finding a new similar person is expensive than retaining the one. When you have a good and performing employee, every other company would want to hire them!
12 Ways to retain Employees/ Team
1. Make them feel like a family a part of your community. If they feel alien to the company why would they even want to work? Tell them about your goals, your vision, your mission. Add them in company’s meetings. Call them in company’s events. Mostly ENGAGE with them, you don’t have to get personal! It’s always human to human. When an employee leaves its a LOSS! Check how they interact with present employees and the management.
2. Don’t always be roaming alone if you are marketing about your company or giving speech at any events. You are because of your employees; how would you manage work alone? Give them credits. Call their names. Reward them even before they ask.
3. Give them the privilege to have lunch, dinner with you. Don’t eat alone. At least once in a week. This will help you have a conversation with them.
4. Celebrate their special days. Make them feel important. Employee engagement activities – it also includes special programs that can help develop their skills. There are many things done in employee engagement activities and employee management programs.
5. Rewards and recognition- by that it doesn’t really mean paying them for what they haven’t done. Pay them Bonuses instead of incentives. Yearly bonus can be budgeted and has to be paid when targets are fulfilled. You can also use an alternate to pay them 10% on base. Don’t let compensation and performance be at a conflict. Pay them for results. It will make them perform. Give them a competitive environment, that doesn’t really mean giving them irrational targets. Divide salary into fixed + variable pay in variable add yearly bonus.
6. Recognition and rewards can also be given by simply cutting a cake, inviting for dinner/ lunch, giving them a certificate, mentioning their name on boards, mailing them appreciation letters or appreciating in any possible manner. Whichever is affordable to the company’s pockets.
As they say- some work for money and perks. While some want to be recognized!
7. Pay them as per market standards.
8. Work flexible options: If the employee is really Good and you don’t want them to leave you, give them work flexible options if they can not give so much time at office. Just give them a task with deadlines and let them complete with their ease and comfort.
9. Initiate referral programs: It will let you know how many even want to work with the current company. The more employees refer your company and ask people to join hands, is your impression on the employee about you. As they say, it’s not about what you do, but how you make them feel. Keep the communication window always open.
10. Be transparent and open: Don’t be goofing about your company. Don’t only do the talking don’t show them dreams which can not be fulfilled. Be open about how much time does one need to give and what would be their role in it. Be very open and transparent about your current status. Be very clear about the growth pattern. When they say growth, not everyone seeks a designation, just an example. Growth is different for each individual. Describe them your growth patterns!
11. Handle grievance issues: Keep the communication window open for new ideas. Let your employees give you ideas. Implement them as trial with short deadlines. Let the ideas also be debatable. Keep weekly meetings to understand and have views about those ideas. There will be agreements but there will also be disagreements and conflicts. Because it’s never about an individual but always about how the task can be performed effectively as a team. So the reporting managers/ decision makers/ HRs should always take care of grievances and how disagreements are handled?
12. Exit Interviews: This mostly takes place when the employee is just about to put his foot outside and you just try to retain. There is an exit interview process which helps companies retain employees. What all questions to ask in exit interviews will be posted after this article. Take the maximum possible feedback from an employee when he leaves, this will help you know WHY? The company is always not at fault, sometimes employees also have irrational expectations.
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