Today’s business environment is not an easy one. There are many challenges. One of which, surprisingly, is being able to hire enough people. In some countries, e.g., the UK, unemployment levels have fallen to the point where some businesses are having to reduce their hours because they cannot get enough staff.
Why Staff Retention Matters
The last thing firms in that situation need is to lose the people that they have. Even for companies that find it easy to hire new employees, losing an experienced member of staff is not a good thing. It takes a long time to train staff to do their jobs well. According to a study carried out by Employment Benefit News (EBN), it costs an average of 33% of an employee’s annual salary to get them up to speed. That is a lot of money to spend every time you take on a new staff member.
The Role Company Culture Plays in Staff Retention
Studies show that poor company culture is one of the main reasons people leave their jobs. When the UK recruitment specialist Robert Walters looked at the subject of reducing staff retention, 73% of those that they interviewed had left a job because of poor culture. You can read the full study here.
Simple Ways to Improve Workplace Culture
Most employers realize that there is a strong connection between company culture and staff retention. But because it is hard to measure, they struggle to produce a joined-up plan to improve things in their workplace. As a result, they give up on doing so and everything ends up getting out of balance. With the needs of the business trumping those of the people who work in it, to the point where workers end up feeling taken advantage of, unfulfilled, worn out, and underappreciated.
Fortunately, there are some amazingly simple things businesses can do to stop this from happening.
Make Your Employees Well-Being a Priority
Most firms have a mission statement that reminds employees of what they are there to do. Regardless of what that mission is, the people who work in the business need to perform at their best. That means they cannot be put under relentless physical or mental pressure. If they are, they will crack and not be able to do a good job. This simple fact has to be recognized by everyone in the business who has a team to manage.
Consider How Changes Will Affect Your Staff
Managers need to be alert to how changes will affect employees and look for ways to do things better. To make things as simple and stress-free as possible.
Invest in Your Employees and Equip Them for Success
Nobody likes to be set up to fail. Most people genuinely want to do their jobs well. So, it is important to make sure that workers have the equipment that they need to do so.
It is also a good idea to invest in your staff. Provide them with training that equips them with skills they can use in the future, as well as the knowledge they need to be able to do their current job well. You may wish to look into seeing if your company is able to qualify and make a claim for ERC credit, for retaining your employees during recent events concerning partial or total shutdown.
Creating a positive and comfortable work environment is equally essential. Thoughtful touches, such as Built-in Seating Solutions in breakrooms, can offer employees a place to relax and recharge. A well-designed space like this promotes well-being and productivity, making it easier for staff to perform at their best.
It is also a good idea to invest in your staff. Provide them with training that equips them with skills they can use in the future, as well as the knowledge they need to be able to do their current job well. You may wish to look into seeing if your company is able to qualify and make a claim for ERC credit, for retaining your employees during recent events concerning partial or total shutdown.
Develop Core Values to Keep Things on Track
As well as a mission statement, every business should come up with a set of core values. Guiding tenets that support its vision and reflect the company’s identity and culture. Getting everyone to refer to these when making decisions in the workplace is a powerful way to keep things moving in the right direction.
Making one of these core values looking after your people is essential. It is something that virtually every phenomenally successful organization has done. You can find out more about coming up with, introducing, and using core values by clicking here.
Remind People Daily of The Business’s Core Values
Once you introduce core values into your business you will need to constantly remind people of what they are and encourage them to use them. There are lots of ways to do this. Using digital signs for workplace culture enhancement is one of the easiest approaches. These screens can be put up virtually anywhere and the message can be changed to fit in with what is going on at any point in time. If for example, people are starting to feel pressured to stay late every single night, you can put up a message encouraging them to sit down as a team to address the issue. That sort of message reminds everyone that presentism is not a part of the culture and that it is an issue that needs to be addressed before people burn out as a result of it.
Don’t Let Things Slip
All too often the pressures of doing business in the modern world naturally pushes companies towards a poor culture. If business owners do not actively work to keep things in balance things soon go wrong. So, it is wise to make maintaining a strong culture a priority.
Good employee retention is one of the markers of a great company. There is a lot of good advice in here and it’s great to see that company culture is recognised as one of the most important factors.