With almost half a century of hiring and management experience amongst our experts, we’ve learned a thing or two about retaining talent. In a world where employees are changing professions in droves, company and employee relations have taken the spotlight. That’s why the minds behind Top Applicant have decided to combine our retention experience in one simple guide. Dig in to learn how to retain and build your best team ever.
Company Culture Matters
In a post-COVID-19 world, company culture is more important than ever. Hybrid schedules and mandatory returns to the office have only soured employee relations and cost companies millions in rehiring and recruiting. Our observation is that company culture is one of the most important aspects of an effective company.
In lieu of extreme overcompensation, such as unlimited time off and lavish vacations, most employees would stick around if they were happier to come to work every day. Even if your team is busier than ever, making time to commune as people and professionals is important. Here are the two effective cultures to foster in your company:
Culture of Mobility
With a clear path to growth, it is easy to breed loyalty and comradery as you recognize your employees successes. Companies that silo their employees too far apart can experience issues when it comes time to hire more managers. Instead of taking a chance on an expensive hire, we suggest that you foster a culture of mobility to retain talent and maintain a strong team.
Culture of Compensation
As your employees continue on the path to growth, they’ll also need some compensation. Simply put, you can’t ask someone to do the work of three employees for the pay of one. If an employee is adding value to your company, compensate them accordingly for their value. A simple example of this is commission-based compensation.
On a car lot, more cars sold equals more money in your company. Therefore, the workers who make that money a possibility are paid their fair share of the reward. There are drawbacks to this form of compensation, but other companies have found success in offering additional PTO, promotions, and even trips for employees who meet their goals. This is effective compensation in its finest form.
Fostering an Effective Culture
Before we go any further, it is important to understand that employees with a great attitude should be retained at any cost. Positivity is infectious, so from the bottom up, it is the duty of every employee to foster a positive work environment. We all know what happens when the work environment isn’t positive, so here are the most important things to keep in mind to avoid costly turnover and turmoil:
Know Your People
Your employees are the lifeblood of your company, plain and simple. So take the time to get to know them! Company outings and experiences are great ways to get conversations started. But when it comes to your day-to-day, getting everyone fired up can start with a spontaneous group coffee order or a quick ice breaker in the morning. High fives, hell yeahs, and thoughtful feedback are the best sounds you could ever hear in an office.
Know Your Assets
No, we’re not talking about your accounting. We’re talking about the most important investment you make in your business. Who can you trust to step up, take the lead, and see a project through? If you can’t effectively delegate your work, things don’t get done. Instead of wasting time and money, put your people first by recognizing and fostering good talent. Any employee who is an asset should be retained at any cost.
Know Your Liabilities
Just as your business has financial liabilities, it has internal liabilities. Internal liabilities can mean everything from bad attitudes to subpar work. So take a look around your roster and make sure you know your liabilities just as well as you know your assets. Mitigating the effects of your liabilities is entirely up to you, but we suggest eliminating them before their negativity spreads throughout your organization. Knowing when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em is incredibly important when retaining talent.
Connect With Your Employees
As you learn where your assets and liabilities stand, it’s important to learn how to really connect with the right people. Networking never stops, so go beyond the company bio by asking questions and having conversations with the people you trust with your company. In our experience, there are two sides to every employee. To understand the professional and personal sides of your personnel, a friendly conversation can go a long way.
On a Professional Level
Not all questions have to be thought-provoking, but maybe your employee is really excited about a particular project they’re working on. If you never ask them about it, they’ll likely never talk to you about it! Talk to your people about what they’re working on from time to time without sounding too interrogative. This not only offers an employee an opportunity to be seen and heard, it can tell you a lot about how your processes are working from every perspective on your projects.
On a Personal Level
Saying good morning is the most cost-effective way to retain talent out there. It’s free, it’s fast, and it’s easy. It also shows that you want to acknowledge your employees rather than just go to your office/cave and start your day.
Just a simple good morning or random high five can brighten someone’s day, making them more apt to open up personally. As your team gets comfortable, feel free to start asking the bigger questions on subjects like their family, their hobbies, or their aspirations. This will foster a positive atmosphere and help your employees feel seen and heard.
Help Your Employees Understand That They’re an Asset
A positive side effect of getting to know your employees is that they also get to know you. This is a great way to help your employees take ownership by sharing their value as an asset. Sometimes work can feel like a grind, but if you take the time to share how much you appreciate them as an asset, employees are more likely to stay and grow your business.
Best Practices for Promoting From Within
The ultimate goal of retention is to foster growth. Without a solid foundation of good employees, your team will struggle to grow and be productive. With the right retention strategy in place, you’ll inevitably have to promote from within to retain top talent. In our decades of experience as managers, we’ve settled on 4 major keys to retaining talent through internal promotions:
Find Your Leaders
In most work environments, the qualities of a good leader remain very similar. At any level, you can find future leaders through everyday interactions. How do they respond to constructive criticism? Are they highly reactive? What is their drive? These are all things you can get to know about employees at any level of your organization.
Finding the right chiefs is crucial to the health of your company. At Top Applicant, we believe that when everyone is able to do their job efficiently, everything else is smooth sailing. If your business is experiencing high levels of turnover, communicate with your current leadership and find pressure points that could be alleviated by promoting current employees. When everyone’s happy, retaining talent is easy.
Find Your Facilitators
Getting the right number of cooks in the kitchen is important, but cooks don’t single-handedly run a restaurant. It takes agile professionals in every aspect of a business to keep things humming along. One example can be seen in a modern restaurant.
Your head chef will need a sous along with an army of other hands to get one dish from start to finish in just a few minutes. The restaurant as a whole will also need a team of servers, a sanitation worker, business admins, and a bartender to keep everyone in high spirits. Don’t discount the value of a good facilitator. Look for dependability, accountability, and follow-through when finding your next facilitator to trust.
Encourage Ownership and Inclusivity
In every facet of a successful business, there is a sense of pride and ownership over a job well done. The best way to foster this is through inclusivity. Specialization has its place, but when a team feels as though they’re not working on a project alone, everyone works better together.
A great mantra is used in scout troops and successful teams: “Be your brother’s keeper.” This mantra builds comradery and ownership by framing the idea that everyone needs to be able to count on each other. Next time your team runs into a bump in the road, introduce this mantra to work toward an ironclad resolution.
Fun Is Underrated
A fun workplace is a lively one! Who doesn’t love the buzz of a production floor as employees are smiling and having a good time? Many startups use a loosey-goosey approach to attract and maintain talent. However, keeping up this mentality is often difficult due to the nature of a loosely structured organization. To inject the right amount of fun into your workforce, roundtables, good-natured competition, and team outings are great ways to retain talent.
Happy Employees Create a Healthy Bottom Line
Retaining top talent is easy when you know what to look for and where to find it. Contrary to popular belief, it’s better to be liked than feared. That is why keeping your employees happy is crucial to the health and success of your company.
Less turnover means more valuable employees, more valuable work, and a better bottom line year after year. Our experts at Top Applicant are focused on helping the right employers meet the right employees. So when you’re ready to ramp up your retention strategy, just follow our best practices.
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