Four Top Tips to retain your best employees
As all organisations know recruitment and onboarding employees is an expensive business so besides recruiting the right staff, you also have to nurture and engage your top talent to help prevent them from leaving.
So how can you keep your best employees engaged and prevent them from looking elsewhere!
1. Match the right candidate to the right job.
This is where the relationship begins. It is crucial that you hire the right person for the right position. Job descriptions should be comprehensive, transparent and updated frequently so that there are no surprises for the employee once they start. Those doing the hiring will need to assess job candidates thoroughly and make sure they have the skills and personality to cope with the job and fit in with the culture of the organisation. It is crucial to hire adequately trained individuals as this will decrease job turnover
2. Offer Career Progression
If employees do not see a future within the company, they will look for better opportunities elsewhere. If you enable them to acquire more skills and progress in their careers, they are far more likely to remain loyal. It is not always about a higher salary, career development prospects and mentorship are attractive to the most talented employees. They would rather stay at a company offering them this than go to another company offering them a higher salary. One way to encourage them to keep progressing is to make it easier for them to study and do assignments. You can reimburse tuition fees and give them paid study leave.
3. Provide Good Benefits
Organisations that offer the most benefits to their employees are more likely to keep them. Health benefits and retirement plans are top of the agenda for most employees at the moment. With the costs of healthcare rising, a strong employee health care plan is essential to recruit top talent.
Employee Assistance programs offer health information, support and help employees to understand more about their health risk factors and make positive changes. This can improve productivity and reduce absenteeism.
In terms of retirement, Employers could help contribute to savings by offering a good pension scheme. This could be a great motivator for staying at a company.
Employers that offer generous paid off-time avoid burnout and retain their employees more successfully. Other important benefits are performance bonuses, maternity/paternity leave and flexible working hours. With the right to disconnect and requests to work from home more prevalent, flexible working is now more important than ever.
4. Create a great work environment
A work environment that makes people feel included and celebrates diversity will encourage employees to stay. Employees want to enjoy where they work. We spend a lot of time with our work colleagues so create a positive working environment, celebrate the birthdays, the milestones in individuals lives. Sometimes it is the little things that make the greatest difference. Be mindful of the work life balance and acknowledge that your employees have a life outside of work.
There are many small ways to show that you value your employees. Just acknowledging their contribution and saying ‘thank you’ can make a big difference. As our Founder Niall O’Connell regularly says:
“The freest words in the HR Toolbox are ‘Thank You’ and are often the most under utilised”.
If you feel you need assistance with any of the matters raised in this blog just reach out and let us know!
This blog was brought to you by Maureen Heffernan, Head of HR Service Delivery with Corporate HR Ireland. Maureen can be reached by Email: maureen@corporatehrireland.com
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