Powering company performance through staff driven insights. The true value add for your business.

Powering company performance through staff driven insights. The true value add for your business

How many of you embarked in the HR Profession because we wanted to make a difference in people’s lives?

Working in HR can sometimes be hard – but it can also be immensely rewarding. Day in and day out, you can be juggling a whole range of spinning plates, constantly trying to make sure that one doesn’t drop. Whilst at the same time, doing your best to support your company’s biggest asset – their people. If you are in HR, you are all about people…

Our need to improve, change and help people is what drives most of us in the Human Resources field but we also get so wrapped up in the procedures and policies that one has to wonder, are we really making a difference? Are we having the greatest possible impact in a world that is riddled with negativity, worries, concerns, stress and disappointment?

The difference that you can make in someone’s life isn’t always something big, most times it’s just acknowledging that there is a problem. As humans, we instinctively protect ourselves and avoid showing our vulnerability, but we all have faced challenges and made a desperate cry for help –you need to be able to hear your people…

What if we could just leave a light on for those who have lost their way….

As a Recruitment specialist and owner of an agency that focuses on recruitment of a variety of positions within all sectors, myself and my team are always communicating and listening at ground level to the job seekers.

I have played various roles in the business world, my professional career is extensive . I have worked as an entry level staff member, I have been an HR Manager and dealt with company policies, I have focused on labour brokering and now I have brought all my skills together to build this company. I try to ensure that the candidates, employees and employers are thinking along the same lines and working together to support and encourage longer, more meaningful and engaged relationships with one another. These are the people who will stay with you for years to come – they are your greatest and most loyal business asset.

Of course, there is a wide variety of candidates that we work with, they all have different skills, but today I want to focus on GOOD candidates that are looking for better…

Better often means more recognition, or more pay or just leaving bad management.

When good candidates are looking elsewhere, I believe by then it’s too late to rectify the situation and you have lost a good employee.

What can we do as HR Professionals to retain our staff and create happy and healthy working environments.

Are we missing the obvious with Employee Retention?

Can we change the unhealthy working environments?

Should we start having more productive conversations with our employees?

Is there power within appreciation and recognition, resulting in employee retention?

Richard Brandson firmly believes that great employees make great businesses. Take a minute and let’s say that again… great employees make great businesses… because they do!

Do we make an effort to connect with our employees on a personal level? Don’t we all ask the question, what are your personal goals, during an interview? Once that candidate becomes an employee, are we checking in on them to see if they are getting any closer to their personal goals or if we can help them reach them in any way? 

We are so lucky that in this world no two people are the same. Each staff member on your team is unique and probably rather amazing. What if we as a company can help our employees reach their full potential, wouldn’t we have more contented staff resulting in us having an advantage over our competition? If your staff are in a good place, your product or service will automatically be a positive reflection of this.

The human brain works in a funny way, when we do something we are good at it we want to do more of it and become even better at it.  Doing what you love is far more than just a saying it’s a fact. You have the potential to thrive if you enjoy the things you do. Neuroscientists have said that our brains will not get to its full capacity to perform if we are not connected with a healthy group.  Our work environment directly impacts every molecule of our lives.

What drives human behaviour in the work place, what drives people to do what they do when they come to work every day? Money, the feeling of achievement and the opportunity to improve oneself through learning and growing. We are all driven by motivation – it’s a personal thing because what motivates me might not motivate you and certainly the things that motivate us changes over time. This is often on line with our goals.

Motivation isn’t a one size fits all approach, motivation is a balance to seek pleasure and avoid pain. As human beings, we are hard wired to go and seek pleasure and avoid pain in whatever we do. We are also striving to get that degree and find that great job or partner, we are searching out our version of happiness. Through this process, we are always looking at how to avoid conflict; we’re problem solving and getting rid of what causes us pain or frustration. 

We are simplifying and if our work environment is too stressful, we will move on to what we perceive as an improved working environment that will be conducive to our overall happiness.

This is also reflective in the diversity of our employees – you probably see this very often. One employee can be a very ambitious employee that sees growth and potential in everything. To them, the world is filled with opportunities and they attempt to reach their full potential in work, at home and socially.

Another employee is wired differently and may seem a bit more logical. They are motivated through protecting what is working and drawing on their experiences, possibly finding the risk in everything around them. These employees are also so valuable to you as they are moved to see what can go wrong. Their strategy shouldn’t be mistaken for negativity but rather it is a strength to have a team member who looks at the consequences and doesn’t want to jeopardise the team or what you have worked towards.

Can we approach both these employees the same way? They often respond to different encouragement.

If we go to the first employee and say that he or she is so motivated and recognise that they want to take over the world with their approach to be ambitious and mention what a great employee, they are – they will undoubtedly respond in a positive way and feel like they can truly grow and they will feel more fulfilled.

If we go to the second employee with the exact same message, we might easily assume that he or she is not motivated because we didn’t take the time to get to know what motivates this particular person.

And this is why as HR professionals we must engage with our employees and get to know what makes them tick.

Now that we have established that employees are motivated differently let’s look at some aspects we find in our profession of why good employees are leaving even if they are happy in their jobs…

The quality of the supervision an employee receives is critical to employee retention. This is the most common reason we are finding with candidates is the job market, so I interviewed 2 key people around this topic.

First, I spoke to The National Sales Manager of a large multination who will be celebrating 25 years with the company in November.

Craig started at a ground level as a Sales Rep and till date he has managed 25 people in this management career.

 I asked him if believe Managers should be likable people?

Craig said that you don’t just manage people you manage departments, you have a management style, and this will depend from manager to Manager. His management style falls back to listening to why employees are doing what they are doing and then using those answers to guide them to what you want them to achieve. He believes that by using this method of management you don’t need to be likable. You also get what you give, if you bark you will be barked at if you are respectful you will be respected.

Do you think the way staff is managed makes a difference in staff that leaves organisations?

I think people leave for various reasons and it’s not always the way the business operates. In my opinion the main reason is there bottom line, some people believe they work to much for what they get paid and others believe that within 2 years they should be on the board of directors. 

Do you agree with the statement that employees leave managers and not companies?

Yes, people will leave managers that are bad at managing their departments. In the 3 divisions within our organisation there is 1 division with a very high staff turnover and that because the manager changes his processes on a weekly basis. Those people who left didn’t leave our company they left that department led by that Manager.

What is the rule you live by when it comes to managing staff?

Engage with your employees, talk to them on an individual level often, understand why they are doing the things the way they are doing it, take that information and mould them to the results you want them to achieve. If you engage with your employees often you might learn something new about yourself or your business.

Because people do not always get along what advise do you have for HR Professionals to deal with situations where good employees and Managers clash?

Never attempt to resolve any situation in public always allow both parties to explain their reasoning and then allow both parties to discuss this privately with your mediation. People are emotional, and they want to be heard allow everyone to say what they need to say regardless of it being right or wrong.

What is your company doing right to have retained you for such a long period of time?

Starting from an entry level I resigned every year, not because the money was bad but because of my lack of skill to understand the growth. My Manager and now Sales Director always listened to why I wanted to leave, he took my concerns and provided me with training and thought me the skills I needed to cope and grow. His investment in me was so valuable because I now identify these concerns in my team and is able to invest my knowledge in them to create a strong team for my company but most importantly a lasting one.

I asked a Good candidate that is in the job market as an Accountant similar questions around this topic and here is what Angie had to say

Do you believe Managers should be likable people? -Good Managers are Leaders, leaders are naturally influential, and to manage well you need peoples buy in so yes I think it's Extremely important it also makes your life easier as a manager.

Do you think the way staff is managed makes a difference in staff that leaves organisations? yes as Leaders we have a responsibility to look after not just the way we interact with our staff but how we set them up for success, the opportunities we present and the way we pass over knowledge. all of these helps to retain your staff base. your biggest asset in your business is your people if they feel valued they will always put in more than what is expected there are very few that will leave if they are happy. 

Do you agree with the statement that employees leave managers and not companies?  Yes, I do, and can relate to this, I love my current job, its rewarding its challenging the culture and organisation is great but I just cannot work with our CFO. She is unapproachable and unreasonable and sadly I do not have anywhere to turn so I have to find another job.

What is the rule you live by when it comes to managing staff? Every human being is different so you cannot manage your staff in the same way, but it is important to keep the same standards throughout your management. It's a fine line to balance,

Because people do not always get along what advise do you have for HR Professionals to deal with situations where good employees and Managers clash? Communication is key, as long as there is an understanding of what is expected the relationship should stay professional.

In conclusion employees leave supervisors and managers more often than they leave companies. We’re not saying this manager should be a likeable person, it’s about having a clear expectation of your staff members and if they are not good communicators or clash with people that they manage, you need to implement a system to ensure that your staff that report to this person, are feeling heard and have another way to approach challenging situations. Be consistent with your management style, engage with your employees. As HR Professionals let’s not let one bad manager snap up the good employees. 

Promote suitably from within. When your best people are doing work that is making a difference, recognize it. One great way is to give them a well-deserved promotion or a bonus. This is encouraging for everyone and certainly ensures long term retention of staff.

Overworked employees make for unhappy staff members. We understand that often you have one person that you can rely on to get the job done, but is that person over worked? Does that one person feel like they can NEVER unplug or take time offline from work? Most critical too, do we challenge the employees who don’t perform? Using your go to employee for everything can often lead to them feeling unsatisfied that the non-working employee is still benefiting from their salary and benefits while your go to person is doing the work. 

Offer compensation packages that fit your employees needs and that they will truly benefit from. Here is the opportunity for you to go back to your employees’ personal goals. Do you know what they are and is your compensation and benefits inline with this?  Don’t offer them a special dinner or weekend away, if they are struggling to make ends meet at home and feel worried about paying their child’s school fee’s.

Encourage open discussion and implement a system where your employees feel like they have a voice to talk about things. How often do you listen to their experiences and opinions about your business, the good and the bad as well as their experiences with your clients? Are they not your first point of contact to growing your business. Allow them to speak freely without dire consequences to their job.

Make the expectations, visions and goals of the company clear to everyone, let your employees know what they are working towards and that they are part of a bigger picture. Acknowledge them for helping you reach the BIG picture when you reach your own business goals.

Teamwork and promoting working together for one goal is a real thing. Employees need to feel that they are part of a family. Take them back to drinking coffee together as a team, engaging with one another on things that are not only work related.

One of the easiest things to fix in your quest for retaining good employees is recognition. We have found that 65% of the job seekers that come across our desk and want to leave their current job is because of the lack of recognition.

Research shows that engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave than detached employees. Truly engaged employees come to work every day of the week with a smile on their face and they don’t call in sick on a rainy Monday.

Research also shows that that engaged employees take an average of 2.69 sick days a year compared to 6.19 days per year for disconnected employees.

Engaged people treat their customers like royalty and also tell them how great your organisation is because they believe it and feel that way and it’s not just the thing that they are paid to say. There is great value in what people say in their downtime – I have come across many employees in a social setting who run their company down, mention how much they hate their jobs and I can assure you that I see that person again soon when they are looking to move to another company. I also don’t really want to work with their previous company because I now know that there are issues there and their employees are essentially unhappy and unappreciated

Are managers spending too much time staring at numbers, pushing paper around and forgetting about their people, those that are the face and the voice of their businesses?

There is a fine balance between our role as managers and not getting too caught up in the external activities of our employees but if you are unapproachable and not talking to your biggest asset, your staff, this can have long lasting and negative repercussions for you. 

We have found that the companies that spend time with their people, listen to their people and reward their employees for the job well done, have better staff retention and can easily focus on the actual business growth. Once your staff are equipped and content, you know that you can ensure that your product or service is competitive and be assured that you have the best team to leave a lasting impression in a competitive market.

Engagement drives performance for individuals, teams and organisations…

Take the time to get to know what motivates your employees, engage with them regularly, reward and encourage them for doing well and understand that these people shape your business; in return you will find that good employees will stay with you for years to come.