The 4 ways to retain your best staff in the new year

The cost of losing and replacing top talent is too great to ignore. Excluding the associated replacement costs, interview time, recruitment, and training expenses, you also need to consider the sudden vanishing of all internal know-how and expertise from your organisation. Most employers do acknowledge that employee retention is a key competitive differentiator. They admit that an organisation’s ability to hold onto its internal talent has huge effects on its performance output to a higher level?- without all the unwanted interferences and interruptions that unexpected employee turnover brings.

Although it’s not always possible to see early signs of employees wanting to leave, employers can take active steps in ensuring their employees stay committed and an active part of their organisation, and reduce employee turnover whenever possible with the following steps below.

STEP 1 - Getting recruitment right

Selecting the best candidates is essential for a company's long-term success. The successful candidate has to be someone who can not only succeed within an organisation but be a long-term asset for the business as well. There are a few things to consider to get this right, and here's the approach we take at STOIX:

• Demonstrated specific skill sets required for the particular role through their past experiences, whether that be their previous job, education, or other avenues of life.
• Genuine interest in the role, in particular the career progression aspect, shows that the talent is likely to stay long-term and interested enough to work their way up within the company.
• Previous work experience in the same field is preferable in the sense that the employee understands what type of role they are getting into.
• Reference checks to verify the applicant's previous job performance and employment history and to reduce risks

Another great way of securing top talent is through references, which allow employers to gauge an idea of the type of applicant they may be potentially hiring. Conducting a reference check involves verification of an applicant's previous job performance, employment history, and whether or not an applicant will be able to fit into the job role. Reference checks minimise the risks a company takes and maximises the clarity of expectations for the candidate.

When hiring, risks should not be taken and every effort should be taken on the employer’s behalf to ensure the candidate will offer long-term benefits within the company.

STEP 2 - Training

Another way companies can secure high-quality employees, and maximise productivity levels is by offering training. Training not only enhances the skills and knowledge of new talent but also boosts staff morale, which is a key driver of retention. There are so many benefits of training as listed below

• Higher quality standards of work produced from talent
• Competent talent is less likely to make faults, waste material, or experience customer complaints.
• Productivity and efficiency of work tend to improve with enhanced skills, which empowers staff, and their loyalty towards the company.
• Helps you attract top talent if your company is seen as one that values and invests in its workers, and helps them improve their skills and the opportunities associated with those new skills.

Employee turnover is a universal issue that every industry faces, thus companies going the extra mile to offer training and investing in their employees add so much value for the employees which does tend to lead to greater retention rates.

STEP 3 - Retaining top talent

Retaining employees once the role is secured is vital in keeping costs to a minimum and lowering employee turnover. Retention should be a point of focus in every business, as existing employees will have an understanding of the company, as well as the valued experience learned. Retaining workers help to create a better working environment and make it easier to recruit quality talent, as ultimately, satisfied employees are much less likely to leave. Whilst this, there are several reasons why employees may want to leave such as the salary, commute to work, few benefits, a lack of training and more. Hence it's the responsibility of employers to capture regular feedback from employees regardless of the way it’s done and allow them an opportunity to solve the issues before it's too late.

• Strong employer-employee relationship - This adds to the stability of the business which is essential for continuous growth. Great employee relations sow the seed of trust and confidence in the workplace. It means employees will feel comfortable enough to discuss their views openly and constructively give feedback. Employees tend to appreciate such loyal relationships with their managers, making them more likely to stick around.
• Surveys - Surveys can be very beneficial to organisations, as it allows them to take steps in the right direction by understanding the needs of their team. Surveys allow employees to anonymously give open and honest feedback without any barriers, which can be bought to the company’s attention. Companies can then prioritize future actions in response to the feedback, leading to more satisfied employees. When employees feel that the company has their best interest at heart and feel appreciated, they usually support its mission and work hard to help achieve its objectives.

Retaining talent often saves the company money and hence it must be a top priority to ensure employees are satisfied with their role and their complaints are dealt with.

STEP 4 - Understanding the reasons why staff may want to leave

Sometimes, loyal employees may intend to resign, despite their satisfaction with the role. They may have greater salary offers or career progression opportunities on the horizon.

In this instance, employers have to decide if they let the employee leave or negotiate perks which could be salary-related, career progression-related, or anything else that the employee is leaving as a result of.

There are three things to consider:

1. The value the employee brings to the company
2. The costs of hiring again
3. Training a new employee

Most of the time retaining employees is the best money-saving method, and employers are better off ensuring the employees' needs are met.

In summary, retaining staff is vital for ensuring long-term business success. There are significant financial costs associated with losing high-performing individuals. To avoid this, companies need to pay attention to the right recruitment process, providing training, building strong relationships between employers and employees and address the reasons for which staff may want to leave.

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