Retention Tips (Employment-HRM).

The continued possession, use, or control of something; or the fact of keeping something in ones memory. Recruiting the right employees and keeping the right employees matters; especially now in these economic hardships you have to take your time in selecting your prospective employees and gauge thoroughly in order to get the best of the best.

According to a recent survey, one in four employees plan to quit their job this year. Two years of cutbacks and business austerity have taken their toll on staff morale, and many now want to move to pastures new.

This will have a potentially disastrous impact on businesses across the country. Many firms will find themselves losing their brightest talent and having to fill new vacancies. Aside from the loss of experience that this will cause, businesses also stand to incur significant recruitment costs.

So how can you prevent a rush for the exit, and hold onto your best employees?

1. Be prepared to listen

Many employees are troubled by a sense that their input is not valued by the firm. This often stems from managers’ failure to listen to their employees.

It was, presumably, their abilities and judgement that led you to employ these individuals in the first place. So why not use those characteristics? Involve your employees in the decision-making process; they will often have a more accurate interpretation of the situation ‘on the ground’, and will be able to contribute an important new viewpoint. The firm as a whole will make better decisions – and your employees will feel more highly valued.

2. Compensate properly

Compensation is one of the key concerns for any employee. Quite understandably, many individuals will be drawn to the position in which they are best paid.

It is therefore vital that you compensate your employees properly if you wish to hold onto them. It is worth remembering, though, that the headline salary is not the whole picture. An attractive benefits package can often be just as valuable to an employee as an increase in their salary – particularly if they wish to reduce their tax bill.

3. Recognise achievement

A simple ‘thank you’ is often enough to ensure that your employees feel valued. Of course, staff members are paid to work – but this is not necessarily recompense enough. If you wish to raise staff morale, increase productivity, and reduce your employee turnover rate, you should make sure that achievement is properly recognised in the firm.

Consider ways that you can ensure that employees know their accomplishments are noted and appreciated. This might include awards ceremonies or special events.

4. Be flexible

Workplace flexibility is likely to become an increasingly hot topic as the government considers plans to roll out flexible working.

In the meantime, you can keep your employees happy by flexible working arrangements of your own accord. In circumstances where employees do not necessarily have to be in during set hours, consider allowing them to choose, within reason, when they come into and leave the office. As little as half an hour at either end of the day can make a big difference to employees’ lives.

5. Think about downtime

Long, uninterrupted work hours are bad for productivity. Indeed, in most cases the longer an employee is in the office, the less they will achieve per hour.

Consider ways that you can encourage employees to make the most of their downtime. Some employers have taken to actually forcing staff members to eat their lunch away from their desks; this way they can return to their work refreshed, having had a proper break.

You may also wish to think about how you can ensure that your employees do not regularly work late. Again, as well as increasing productivity this will help employees maintain a good work-life balance – and therefore feel better about their job.

6. Build teams

Employees that feel they are part of a cohesive team tend to be more motivated, happier in their work, and less inclined to look for employment elsewhere. As such, you should think about ways that you can encourage good relations between your employees.

You need not go for the cliched team-building exercises that you might expect to see in an episode of The Office. Instead, the most effective methods are often the simplest – and the most laid-back. Putting some money behind a bar or paying for employees to go out of an evening can be a great way to get staff members talking, and begin to forge strong links amongst your workforce.

As the economic situation begins to improve, staff turnover will become a more significant problem for businesses of every size. Recruitment is an expensive business and, as a result, you need to think about ways that you can keep hold of your best talent. A few simple steps can help ensure that you build and maintain a strong, productive workforce.

A recent Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)/(CIPD) in the US and UK press releases revealed the answer to the question of what people plan to do when the job market rebounds. The majority of the Human Resource (HR) professionals and managers surveyed agreed that turnover will rise significantly once the job market improves. Both groups felt that the job market will improve within the next year, according to the latest Job Recovery Survey.

Employees cited the following three top reasons they would begin searching for a new job:

• 53 percent seek better compensation and benefits.
• 35 percent cited dissatisfaction with potential career development.
• 32 percent said they were ready for a new experience.

HR professionals were asked which programs or policies they use currently to help retain employees. The following three are the most common programs employers are using to retain employees:

• 62 percent provide tuition reimbursement.
• 60 percent offer competitive vacation and holiday benefits.
• 59 percent offer competitive salaries.

Most HR professionals surveyed (71 percent), in large organisations (those with more than 500 employees), thought it would be extremely likely or somewhat likely to experience an increase in voluntary turnover once the job market improves. Forty-one percent from small organisations (1-99 employees) said it was extremely likely or somewhat likely that turnover would increase. Fifty-three percent of respondents from medium organisations (between 100 and 499) thought the same.

In addition to the three retention tips offered by HR professionals in the (SHRM-US)-(CIPD-UK) survey, competitive salary, competitive vacation and holidays and tuition reimbursement, these are your key retention strategies. (If you think they read like the Golden Rule, you're right they do.) And, they're also common-sense, basic and incredibly hard to find in organisations today.

• Select the right people in the first place through behaviour-based testing and competency screening. The right person, in the right seat, on the right bus is the starting point.
• Offer an attractive, competitive, benefits package with components such as life insurance, disability insurance and flexible hours.
• Provide opportunities for people to share their knowledge via training sessions; presentations; mentoring others and team assignments.
• Demonstrate respect for employees at all times. Listen to them deeply; use their ideas; never ridicule or shame them.
• Offer performance feedback and praise good efforts and results.
• People want to enjoy their work. Make work fun. Engage and employ the special talents of each individual.
• Enable employees to balance work and life. Allow flexible starting times, core business hours and flexible ending times. (Yes, his son's football game is important.)
• Involve employees in decisions that affect their jobs and the overall direction of the company whenever possible.
• Recognise excellent performance, and especially, link pay to performance.
• Base the upside of bonus potential on the success of both the employee and the company and make it limitless within company parameters. (As an example, pay ten percent of corporate profits to employees.)
• Recognise and celebrate success. Mark their passage as important goals are achieved.
• Staff adequately so overtime is minimised for those who don't want it and people don't wear themselves out.
• Nurture and celebrate organisation traditions. Have a costume party every Halloween. Run a food collection drive every November. Pick a monthly charity to help. Have an annual company dinner at a fancy hotel.
• Provide opportunities within the company for cross-training and career progression. People like to know that they have room for career movement.
• Provide the opportunity for career and personal growth through training and education, challenging assignments and more.
• Communicate goals, roles and responsibilities so people know what is expected and feel like part of the in-crowd.
• According to research by the Gallup organisation, encourage employees to have good, even best, friends, at work.

Now that you have the list, why not work to make your organisation one of the few, the best, which truly honour and appreciate employees. If you treat your employees wonderfully, you will never lose them.