7 Ridiculously Helpful Ways for Retaining the Best People

"Happy days are here again, the skies above are clear again; let us sing a song of cheer again. Happy days are here again." (Lines from a song featured in the 1930's film Chasing Rainbows.)

With the official statistics of seven million jobs available in the US and only six million bodies to fill them, it looks like it should indeed be happy days, right? Yet, managers everywhere are hurting for people across the globe. Good jobs are available but there aren't enough qualified applicants. In addition, they lose excellent team members to competitors for a few more dollars per hour. There is an antidote to this common dilemma. Keep good people and dramatically cut turnover.

Check out these seven ridiculously helpful ways for treating your team right, and dramatically increasing employee engagement and retention.

1. Communicate, communicate, communicate!

Poor communication is one of the biggest culprits of employee disengagement. A professional interview process initiates good communication. Managers and supervisors need to be fully conscious and involved. It continues with a thorough on-boarding and it extends into the regular workweek. Managers need to actively coach in positive team meetings and regular one-on-one performance discussions. For every one of these opportunities, YOU need to facilitate and listen.

2. Show appreciation

This is more than a platitude. Everyone likes a pat on the back, praise and encouragement. ROI studies show that consistent recognition improves results. This requires one-on-one attention and time. In addition, there are numerous social recognition and conversation companies that offer unique and trending support solutions.

3. Clarify goals together

Make this a key discussion in team meetings and one on ones. Also, gather team input regularly on plans, problems and improvement possibilities. Research says all good performance begins with clear goals. If you don't do this, you shoot yourself in the foot.

4. Invest in your team

Know your individual team members. Help them design successful career development plans. Give your team all of the training you can. Become HRs best friend in this area, and learn to do your own training. Great and consistent training pays off in great performance.

5. Have some fun

One of my past managers made the workplace fun. He used dinners, crazy meeting formats, the Zoo, contests, new training technologies and just a great sense of humor to keep us on our toes. We excelled in all we did. Someone once told me that the entrance to Harvard Business School says, "He who enters here will never smile again." Lighten up and the team will loosen up to get things done!

6. Coach better

Learn to coach like a pro. You have two main goals: help each person become a top performer. Next, delegate to others so each person can grow their career and give you time to take on improvement projects. Coaching is the secret sauce that accelerates success. If you master this, you master positive relationships and influence with each team member.

7. Be genuine

In all you do, engage your team in all of these approaches with integrity. Otherwise you will sabotage their efforts. Really believe in your team. Demonstrate honest care for their situations and success. Have their back. Most employees will give it back to you with excellent performance. Consequently, it will teach your team much more than any motivational speech.

Please understand, you have to pay your team well, too. In this day and age, if you aren't above the market or better, you won't get the best players. In summary, most of these methods are missing in so many companies. Be different, do these things, become a servant leader and you will achieve superior results.

Bottom-line Gains and Improved Retention

One of my clients wanted to do two things. Improve team communication and decrease turnover. They, like most everyone else, battle for top talent. By improving in the above areas they:

• Decreased turnover by 4X
• Improved management effectiveness by 20%
• Increased an already world class NPS score by 4 points.
• Enhanced team bonus levels by 40%.

Who wouldn't want these kinds of achievements? Leadership is about positive influence as described above. The relationship is paramount with employees. Therefore, the reporting structure is secondary. If the team believes in you because you treat them well, your title doesn't matter; they will achieve for you.

Agree? What are your thoughts?

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Want to gain fresh ideas for motivating others, check out the eBook: How to Motive-NO-Inspire People: 10 Keys to Employee Engagement.

Or, check out Rick's best selling book, Superstar Leadership.

If you like this post or others, please hit the FOLLOW button above. Thank you for reading and commenting! Here are a few other posts you may find interesting.

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