Do you stop and take the time to say hello to Megan from Accounts? Chat to Mark from Payroll at the water cooler and trade stories from the weekend? Are you engaged with your younger workers, aware of their desire to develop and refine burgeoning career goals, taking the opportunity to mould them to the benefit of your company? When was the last time you admitted your staff are the reason the wheels of productivity keep turning, keeping your brand visible and stable in a highly competitive post-GFC business whirlpool? You need to start taking an interest in your employees. A recent Monster study exposes a culture of discontent among workers, disengaged and frustrated by their lack of progression and appreciation, with over 59% constantly on the lookout for something better. Humans are not machines, they do not compute automated commands without harbouring a few professional ambitions and desires themselves. As the boss (that’s you), it is your job to meet these desires half way and value your best performers, rough young diamonds and loyal stop gaps. How? Don’t worry, we have you covered.
Would You Work For You?
What kind of culture do you offer your employees? No, we’re not talking about the obligatory cheese and crackers distributed with a cold one or a glass of chardonnay on a Friday afternoon. Instead positive culture refers to open door management, an emphasis on up-skilling and communicate your core values effectively. Clear transmission of these values will allow employees to derive what you expect and integrate the companies’ goals with their own, creating a kind of professional harmony. Let them know you’re interested in their lives, talk about their hobbies and find a common ground with everyone, so you’re never lost for words – yes, this requires you to get down on the ground, face to face with your front file, but a little energy now will promote long term sustainability and employee satisfaction. Oh, don’t forget to have fun! We spend most of our lives in the workplace, if your staff hate coming in on Monday, you might not see them for very much longer.
You Better Recognise
We all love being told we’re doing a good job, that we’re appreciated, that the hours we spend and the overtime we invest are not going unnoticed – Why would your employees be any different? Creating a systematic, action orientated initiative of internal achievement will encourage colleagues to promote their teams into focus, honing an inexplicable camaraderie and full scale project that manages itself. No conclusion, no rules, no need for extra energy or detailing, just a public acknowledge of, hey, you did a great job, why don’t you tell the team how you came to make those decisions or take those actions? Maybe a gift card wouldn’t go astray…
Of course, there are several strategies to increase employee retention, these are just two highly successful indicators that will provide the bedrock of bigger things. Take a page out of the One Key Resources annual of client satisfaction and put your employees first, your investors second, your bottom line third and yourself last.
