Talon’s Top Tips for Talent Retention
There are few things that are more important than hiring exceptional people, but retaining them is definitely one of them. After all, every second and cent you put into recruiting someone can be wasted if they get cold feet and decide to flee at the first sign of trouble. Simply put, investing in employee retention can save you considerable time and money, but there isn’t a ‘silver bullet’, catch all solution to doing so.
That said, we have witnessed organisations using some excellent tactics to retain their staff over the years, ranging from the tried and true to the weird and wonderful. So, without further ado, here a few no-nonsense tips to help you keep your best people where you need them.
Reward Those with the Right Behaviours
As a basic rule, people want to be appropriately rewarded and recognised for their hard work and loyalty. It goes without saying that giving people raises, bonuses, or other incentives is a great retention tactic, but how you do this is important. If you’ve got team members whose remuneration packages consist of several different bonuses or incentives, then be consistent. Shifting the goalposts on these or having staff lose commission, even if it is because of a company issue having an impact, isn’t what they signed up for and is a sure-fire way to drive good people to the exit door.
The key here is to not make people fight for a pay rise. Keep it simple by rewarding the behaviour you want to encourage and recognising individual and team achievements to maintain a positive atmosphere. If someone feels short-changed then the problem needs to be addressed, this feeling can quickly spread if you’re not proactive about it.
Keep an eye on the market and stay away from the “that’s just what we pay for this role” mentality, upping people’s salaries as the market changes. Doing this effectively keeps you ahead of any potential problems and ensures that your people are suitably paid – the basis of any retention strategy.
Support Their Development
That said, to encounter an employee who may have outgrown their role, you need to develop them in the first place – which is something you should absolutely do. Make sure there are options available for career development, and that there are clear pathways within your business to help employees reach their goals. Having established success stories can help people get more enthusiastic about this, so if you have them, showcase them.
Keep up to date by periodically reviewing everyone’s performance and development. Find out what they want to achieve, and commit to doing what you can to help them achieve it. Lay out a plan, set targets, and make a time to check in again. It’s simple, but effective, and will show your people that you care about their development.
There are many different things you can do to help your team develop new skills and hone their current strengths, including: sending them on courses, helping them expand their network by sending them to events, organising secondments, or even just pushing them outside of their comfort zone a little bit by setting them challenges.
Keep Open Lines of Communication
If you are supporting your people’s development effectively, then it’s inevitable that your top performers will outgrow their roles at some point. If they haven’t been given the opportunity to progress in the company, they’ll quickly start to feel like they need to go elsewhere to continue their development.
This is a problem that you can prevent from occurring simply by communicating effectively. Make sure that your team feels like they have an open line of communication with the people within their business who can solve their problems; whether that’s their manager, HR or another function. Catch up regularly with everyone in your workforce to make sure that they’re happy. If they’re not, address their concerns as best you can; if you can’t, then explain why. Transparency goes a long way to creating trust, which is a key puzzle piece in keeping people long-term.
Be True to Your Culture
Your culture, and how you treat your people, is another integral part of your great retention strategy, and it’s also where you can get a little creative. Employees want to work in a supportive, fun and positive environment that has values that they resonate with. To that end, many employers have opted to embrace things like flexible working or relaxed dress codes. Ultimately, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to building a great culture, but it should be true to your business’s values.
Do Something a Little Bit Extra
Pay, development, and communication – these are all great retention tactics, but they’re the foundations of retention; the very basics of keeping your people happy. To make your team feel like they’re part of something special, it helps to go the extra mile and do something a little bit extra. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to go as far as sending your whole team to Disney World like some companies do, but doing small things to show you appreciate your team can go a long way.
For example, if a big project has just wrapped up or a goal has been met, getting a masseuse into the office is a great way to say thank you – something that is becoming an increasingly popular trend. Another tactic we’re seeing more of is to engage a personal trainer, either to give people a chance to train at work or to organise a team bonding exercise. This is can be a great perk to give to people, especially if they’re more fitness minded, and can often come at a surprisingly low cost – especially considering the return you get in terms of retention.
You should also consider personalising these perks to each specific employee. If your team feels that you understand them as people, rather than just as employees, they’re far more likely to stick around long term.
Team Bonding
Speaking of team bonding, organising events for everyone in the company to let off some steam is a great way to build relationships. Although most companies have a Christmas party (with varying degrees of success, it must be said), organising smaller events throughout the year can help to bring your team closer together, as well as keeping morale up.
Social events don’t have to be limited to big, one-off events either. Smaller, more regular social events – like company sports teams, for example – can be a great way to build bonds and make your employees want to continue working with the people they’ve built relationships with. It’s common to see companies put together a social soccer team that plays together weekly, complete with branded uniforms for maximum brand representation!
Make the Most of Your Corporate Arrangements
This is an innovative tactic that we don’t see all too many organisations take. Most companies will have arrangements with their providers; whether that be for phone plans, travel, hotels, insurance, entertainment, retail discounts, removal services – some companies have them for just about everything, often procuring these services at a discounted rate.
Despite this, they don’t think to extend these benefits to their staff. This can be a great way to make the lives of your employees easier, as well as helping you to stand out as an employer, as you have a unique offering that your competition won’t be able to replicate.
Summary
When it comes to success, having the right people in the right roles is crucial. That is why it is equally as important to invest just as much time in retaining your workforce as you do finding and hiring great people. If you are struggling with either of these two, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today. We are happy to help any way we can.