HOW TO RETAIN YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYEES (AND SURVIVE THE GREAT RESIGNATION!)

I’ve been working as an?HR professional?for decades, and I can tell you that my colleagues and I have never seen anything like the ‘Great Resignation’ we’re now experiencing. American workers are quitting their jobs like never before, and can expect this trend to continue into 2022.

When this pandemic started, there was so much we couldn’t predict, and I don’t think anyone predicted this ‘turnover tsunami.’ That said, the same things that will protect you now and help you retain your current team is exactly what I’ve been preaching for years. Employees quit?managers, not jobs.

So if you want to keep your employees, you’ve got to be a better manager and leader. Here’s how.

Retaining Your Current Team

When it comes to retaining your best and brightest, you can take it to the bank that the employees you’ve had on your team for a while were frequently receiving calls for interviews even before the?pandemic. Rest assured, they’ve now got plenty of options, either with your competition, or in another field altogether.

Either way – if you want to keep your best employees, they better feel the love!

I’ve been doing this work for a long time, and I’ve interviewed thousands of good people who left one company for another one. And I can tell you with great confidence that people leave?management, not the business itself.

If employees don’t feel appreciated, they will entertain other requests, leaving your company on the losing end of the stick. Period.

People want to be able to do their best work, share their ideas, be listened to, respected and compensated fairly. And they don’t want to be underappreciated, overworked, disrespected or underpaid. It’s never just about the money! Understand this, and you’re well on your way to keeping your best employees.

Don’t Wait For An Exit Interview

Don’t wait for an?exit interview?to find out why the best are leaving – get in front of it and stay on top of it by ‘re-recruiting’ your staff on a regular basis.

This is where the idea of a ‘stay interview’ comes into place. Stay interviews let you spend dedicated time with your current employees so you can understand their experiences, both good and bad, ‘on the ground.’ As such, they give you all that valuable information that exit interviews give you but in such a way that helps you actually retain your best employees now.

Learn more about how to conduct stay interviews to keep your top talent here.

Foster Relationships

The employee-employer relationship is no different than any other. If it’s all about the thrill of the chase, then the relationship will eventually fall apart. You’ll be off in search of the next thrill while your company suffers, and your business fails to achieve its maximum potential. I’ve always thought it strange that when someone is first hired, management is singing their praises as if they are the answer to everything big and small! But then, pretty soon someone else comes along and they are the next big thing and the last person looks around, asking “what just happened?”

More than once I’ve seen business owners hire bright people, and think that’s all they need to do. So when these new bright people have new bright ideas, they’re just shut down, expected to get in line and conform.

So many new employees hear, “that’s not how it works around here” and “we tried that before and it doesn’t work.” Can you imagine how many times those ideas could have turned into pure gold if the owner would have allowed some ‘beyond the box’ thinking?

(I use the term ‘beyond the box’?because I believe as a society of intelligent, free-thinking, innovative human beings, we’ve outgrown the box entirely. When I hear?“think outside the box”?all I envision is a box that is closed and confining – stifling even. So, years ago, I decided to get rid of the box once and for all and coined my new phrase!).

Ensure you’re regularly checking in with your staff to make sure their work satisfaction stays high.

What Do Your Employees Say About You?

If your employees stop talking when you walk into the room, that’s a big red flag. And you’ll need to find out what they’re saying about you and your managers (using stay interviews and?skip-level meetings) if you want to keep your team.

Ultimately, if your team would describe you and your managers in any of the following ways, you’re setting yourself up for failure:

• Shoots from the hip
• Loves to catch me in a mistake
• Plays favorites
• Never has time for me
• Is so impressed with him or herself
• Doesn’t care about anything but themself
• Wants to keep me down
• Never explains anything
• Doesn’t follow?company policy
• Confuses me on my assignments
• Doesn’t care about me or my time
• Never has a nice word to say
• Is moody and takes it out on me
• Doesn’t like me
• Never gets back to me
• Takes all the credit, but none of the blame
• Doesn’t promote teamwork

Wouldn’t it be great if they said the following instead – especially when you aren’t within earshot!

• Listens to me
• I can talk to them
• Not stingy with compliments
• Doesn’t play favorites
• I trust them
• Always has time to help me with my problems
• Let’s me know what is expected of me
• Tells me what’s going on
• Runs a tight ship, but is still fair
• Doesn’t pass the buck
• Stands up for me when I’m right
• Doesn’t talk down to me
• Taught me the ropes
• Wants me to be “promotable”
• When they give me their word, I can take it to the bank
• Handles complaints promptly and only on an individual basis
• Takes care of things quickly
• Knows the job
• Went out on a limb for me

Simple Strategies To Keep Your Team Happy

Keeping your team happy means supporting them, compensating them fairly, treating them well, and letting them know how much they’re appreciated.

Of course, small to mid-size companies may not have the budget to offer big bonuses and other incentives. But there are still many ways you can show your employees how much they matter.

Here are some simple strategies small to mid-size businesses can use to retain their team:

• Birthday and anniversary cards
• Handwritten thank-you notes for a job well done
• Giving them one of your favorite leadership or skill-building books
• Meet regularly with employees privately to provide real-time feedback on their work performance and allow them to ask questions about anything related to the business or their career.
• Regular ‘Lunch ‘n Learns’ where employees can eat lunch and listen to a speaker
• Periodically treat employees to lunch such as pizza, sandwiches, etc.
• Have an HR consultant come in and conduct employee listening sessions and report back to you the concerns and ideas shared by your employees
• Get to know the names of their family and any special interests such as soccer, baseball, football, etc. and ask about them at times. This isn’t being invasive – it’s showing that you care about them as people, not just as employees.
• Company-sponsored activities such as discounted movie tickets, company picnics, group discounts on cell phone bills, or sporting events for families
• Conduct an Employee Engagement survey to find out how engaged your employees are in your business and then create action plans to address opportunities
• Fishing, golf or sport events with the boss – but only if shared generously and equally across the company (otherwise it can be perceived as favoritism or discrimination)
• Employee referral rewards
• Suggestion boxes that are reviewed and implemented when possible. When it’s not possible to implement a suggestion, give the employee an opportunity to meet with the leader and understand the rationale behind the decision.
• Let them leave early sometimes as a way of saying “thank you” for what they do when they’ve gone the extra mile
• As a developmental opportunity, offer to let them work on a special project and participate in important meetings outside the scope of their normal job
• Provide pay and recognition for ideas that are implemented that either save money, improve employee morale or improve safety
• Give a day off with pay for perfect attendance
• Offer a bonus plan where all employees win when the company meets or exceeds their goals
• Gift certificates for holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas
• Flexible work hours
• Working from home if it’s suitable for the position

Employee turnover is a business killer. The only way to combat it is with exceptional leadership skills.

Being a great leader isn’t a given just because you are a business owner or have a “management” title. It has everything to do with how you behave and how you treat others.

There are millions of books on leadership and I encourage you to be a lifelong learner. Read a couple of business and leadership books a month. Learn from others who have done what you want to do and how they do it. Successful people aren’t accidents, and you absolutely can learn to do better.

You and your managers need to be inspiring leaders if you want to keep your top employees and make your business truly successful. Thankfully, you can learn to be a better leader – and my?leadership coaching?is a great place to start.?Reach out for a free consultation.