If you’ve recruited recently, you’re probably not in a hurry to do so again anytime soon! How many other business activities are as time-consuming, expensive, and angst-filled? (Will they fit in? Will they be any good? Will they stay?). Holding on to good staff is vital, but as the number of jobs advertised across the UK increases, how confident are you that you will be able to retain your best employees? 
People tend to leave companies because of a feeling. They feel undervalued, or that their effort is not appreciated, key relationships aren’t working, or the role itself doesn’t challenge them. 
 
Simple action can make a big difference. Here are 10 ways to make sure your people feel positive about working for you. 
 
1) Structure jobs so they are interesting, challenging, and offer opportunities for personal learning and development. Make sure people are being stretched, and learning new skills every year. 
 
2) Talk to people more – get to know them as individuals, and work out what makes each person tick. Involve them in decisions that affect their work. Use different leadership styles with different people to get the best out of each one of them. 
 
3) Make time for team meetings so that people can build relationships with their co-workers and work together to solve problems and improve working practices. 
 
4) Ensure employees understand your whole rewards package (salary and other fringe benefits such as flexible working, staff facilities, discounts etc.) and that your offer compares well with the external market. 
 
5) Say “Thank You” whenever you can– make sure you acknowledge and recognise the behaviours you want to see more of, such as effort, commitment, flexibility and innovation. 
 
6) Don’t be a slave driver. Recognise that there are times when everyone needs to pull together to get things done, and times when it’s OK to slacken off a bit. Exercise some give and take over working hours and you will see employee flexibility increase as a result. 
 
7) Set (and stick to!) clear rules about work-time and down-time. Do your staff routinely send e-mail, or receive work-related phone calls, out of hours on a regular basis? Tired workers make poor decisions so insist that out of hours contact is only for real emergencies. 
 
8) Tackle unhealthy conflicts early. Don’t let problems fester, or allow cliques to form. Create opportunities for people to work together so they can build positive working relationships 
 
9) Listen to new ideas and be seen to act on some of them. Nothing kills commitment more than feeling you’re being ignored. 
 
10) Your staff probably joined the company because they liked you. It’s too easy to find your time swallowed up by the serious side of running a business - don’t forget to have a bit of fun sometimes. Let people see your human side now and again! 
 
Need help with any of this? I can help you review your management approach and improve your results. Contact me on 0790 2903086 today. 
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