There’s a never ending list of factors that contribute towards success. But there’s only one factor that your organization absolutely cannot operate without: your people.
Your people are everything.
Even if you’re using the latest technologies, building the most efficient processes, and have a healthy bank balance, nothing matters if you don’t have the people to utilize that technology, implement those processes, and spend that budget wisely.
So you can’t just focus on attracting the right people. You need to keep them, too.
How to Retain Your Valuable Resources
Retaining top talent means understanding why employees leave. While there are many reasons, here are some of the biggest factors affecting employees today:
Salaries are staying stagnant:
The cost of living is rising significantly, yet in an economy that’s got a long road to recovery ahead, pay rises aren’t near the top of the ‘to do’ list for many businesses. Quite simply, your employees could secure a serious bump by finding a new job that comes with a salary that’s designed to attract. Ensure you’re offering a livable, competitive wage.
Employment is transactional:
Money is important. But it’s not everything. In fact, when employers give pay rises without making any effort to build or strengthen the business-employee relationship, work can begin to feel a little transactional. That’s not what many people want. They spend so much of their lives at work that they want to feel involved, appreciated, and valuable.
Lack of flexibility:
The importance of wellbeing and developing a healthy work/life balance is growing. Today’s employees want the freedom to work in ways that meet their own personal needs, such as flexible hours, or remote or hybrid options. Ask yourself whether it’s necessary to have everyone in the office all the time, or if you could offer wiggle room to boost satisfaction.
There’s no room to grow:
Sometimes, employees can simply ‘top out’. They reach a point where there are no new challenges. They have nothing more to learn within the role, and no new opportunities to develop their skills or progress their career. Where possible, try to encourage and promote ongoing professional development through training and changes to responsibilities.
It’s hard to see the bigger picture:
Employees need a purpose. It’s very difficult to get up and go to work everyday when you don’t entirely know why you’re there, or what you’re contributing. The solution to this is to increase transparency across the organization. Communicate and share the big picture, and make it easy for employees to visualize where they fit in.
Employees leave. It happens. And finding the right people to fill these vacant positions – as well as hiring for new ones as your business grows – is crucial. However, as well as focusing on acquisition, organizations must be prepared to prioritize retention, too, keeping their top talent happy, satisfied, and productive.