Jobhop Jobhop's blog : Retain Employees In 5 Steps

Replacing employees costs UK businesses approximately £4.13bn each year!

You should do everything you can to retain employees.

It is reported that the average amount to replace an employee is £30,614. This amount is made up of advertising for a new employee, training and an approximate waiting time of 28 weeks until they reach the productivity level of the original employee who left. Expensive isn’t it, it’s also very problematic, it puts pressure on your other employees and customers may be inconvenienced.

It makes sense to look after your employees, that way you’re not continuously in the position of fire fighting.

What makes your employees want to stay? How do you retain employees?

Follow these 5 steps and hold onto your employees.

Tell them the mission

Everyone needs to know why they’re doing what they’re doing, otherwise they are just going through the motions with no purpose. As an employer you should want your employees to have a meaning to the work they do, if they don’t it leads to an ill culture, an unhealthy organisation. When every employee knows and understands the mission, they start to take ownership of it, their input becomes mission led and they become more productive because if it. What’s extremely important is that they become committed to the mission and commitment is what companies need to retain their employees.

Engage your employees

Engaged employees are productive employees FACT Engaged employees are enthusiastic about their work place and the work they do, everything must be done to create an engaging work. It makes sense to motivate your employees and engage them, so it’s disappointing to find out that only around one third of UK employees say they feel engaged at work. As well as engaged employees showing higher loyalty to their company, engagement also produces much happier and loyal customers, makes sense really, happy employees equals happy customers. Companies with high employee engagement do better with revenue, profit and customer satisfaction. Companies with high employee engagement also show turnover rate of 40% lower than companies with low levels of engagement.

Do everything you can to engage your employees.

Keep developing them

Invest in the development of your employees, help them to grow. When a company helps an employee to grow in return that employee helps the company to grow. It’s not optional, it’s essential if you want to retain employees. If you don’t give your employees the opportunity to grow then they’ll quickly find somewhere else who will, may be your competitor. A great example of employee development is Waitrose, as well as training that directly benefits Waitrose it also invests in employees personal interests. For example if someone wanted to learn to play the piano Waitrose will pays half of the costs, this is an indirect benefit to Waitrose, that employee is a happier employee and shares a personal interest with their place of work, it creates an emotional connection. When people feel invested in and are emotionally connected, they are more loyal.

Celebrate them

Appreciate and celebrate your employees to keep morale high. There’s a yearly employee appreciation day, but come on, appreciation just once a year! Your employees should be celebrated daily, you owe them that! When you say “thank you” you also say “you matter”. Appreciation is a human need, it’s acknowledgement of their value, people need to feel recognised and that their contributions are noted. When someone is thanked, appreciated and celebrated it makes them want to do more of the same to be thanked, appreciated and celebrated again, this process helps to cement their bond to the company.

Empower them

Let your employees shine, get out of their way, allow them to show you what they’re good at. They know what mission they’re on, it’s their mission too, they know what results are required, let them get on with it, don’t babysit them.

Empowerment happens when you trust your employees, when you give them the freedom and the power to make their own decisions, face their own challenges, when you allow them to be in control, and savour their own successes.

JOIN Jobhop and spread the word.

Julie Bishop Jobhop.co.uk

Pic credit Highways England

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