Practical Staff Retention Ideas

Following from last weeks blog regarding focusing on staff retention rather than recruitment I felt it was appropriate to provide some positive solutions or ideas. The objective is to create happy and loyal employees. Elements are taken from an article written by Nukte Ogun in May 2008.

1. Salary
One of the biggest employee motivators, pay is what attracts us to most new positions and encourages us to stay.

2. Remuneration package
Think about other perks, besides pay, which you could use to lure and keep staff, including salary sacrifice, bonus super and novated leases.

3. Respect
Your grandmother had it right: treat others as you would like to be treated.

4. Resources
Staff tire pretty quickly of faulty and out-of-date equipment. It doesn’t have to be the newest or the best (it’ll help if it is though!), but it all needs to work.

5. Green factor
Green is in, and we’re now looking at a company’s vision before signing on the dotted line.

6. Location, location, location.
News flash: we don’t want to work hard to get to work. Consider parking and public transport availability when setting up shop or making a move.

7. Leadership
Make yourself approachable and available and give updates about changes in the business.

8. Recognise and compensate
It might seem obvious, but we hate not getting paid for work. Whether cash compensation or time in lieu, reimburse us if you want to keep us!

9. Take responsibility
Own your mistakes; don’t just dump them on us. We all make mistakes, so we’ll appreciate your maturity and show understanding when you make them too.

10. Listen
How often do you listen to your staff?

11. Follow-through from management
When issues are raised, do something about it.

12. Dress code
Adopt a relaxed dress code, or at least casual Fridays—it’s still a winner for many of us.

13. Goal-setting
Believe it or not, we actually like working towards something.

14. Fostering skills and ability
Training is a great way to ensure we don’t becoming stagnant and can move into new positions. Would you like being glued to your chair?

15. Incentives and bonuses
The best gifts are thought out and meaningful, so consider spa sessions and massages if your employees need to relax, or give out simple hampers at Christmas; a time when we’ll really appreciate them.

16. Adequate and stocked facilities
We don’t like nagging for supplies—so don’t make us.

17. Personal days
Even for those who love their job, work gets a little blahblah at times. Who wouldn’t want the occasional breather?

18. Coaching and mentoring
We actually like to learn in our jobs, and when managers take the time to coach or mentor, their charges tend to ‘blossom’ under their tutelage.

19. Reverse mentorship
Don’t be afraid to learn from us. You might be surprised by what we have to offer.

20. Job sharing
We like having time. And you might find that two part-timers suit your needs better than one full-timer.

Recruitment vs. Retention

The costs of replacing departing staff can be massive. Companies should be focusing their attention on how to keep their existing staff.

It is an exhaustive process to hire new staff and not one that an organisation wants to do often. So don’t let the recruitment take over, change your focus from recruitment to retention.

Why should I focus on retention?
The cost to replace a single employee is between 25 per cent and 150 per cent of their annual salary[1]. Once you start multiplying those replacement costs out across the number of employees lost each you, the cost of attrition can be crippling.

What is the true cost of losing a member of staff?

• Recruiter's fee




• Advertising costs




• Exit interview costs




• Psych testing




• Interim staff costs [casuals, overtime, contractors]




• Training costs




• Protective clothing , uniform




• IT and systems set up costs
  

These costs are only the beginning, other costs include:

• Lost productivity for the exited person in the lead up to their final day




• Lost peer and manager time to retrain the replacement




• Lost manager time to sift through CVs and conduct interviews




• Lost HR time to sift through CVs, shortlist, interview, briefing and re-briefing and managing agencies, taking calls from candidates




• The de-motivation on your current employees from overwork or changed team dynamics




• Dissatisfied customers, reduced quality, slow service, poor reputation and




• The additional costs of reference checks, farewell parties, induction programs, welcome morning teas, lost team productivity during transition, it goes on and on[2].

Change the focus
We have all read about positive people bring positive outcomes and negative people bring negative outcomes. So don’t focus on recruitment, allocate some of the budget to staff retention. Recognise that staff do work hard, that they do go above and beyond for your business that they do give 100% or more, that they are committed to the vision and goals of the organisation. Recognise that the staff care about the business and let them know you care about them.

What would you consider in a retention plan? It is important to focus on each individual wherever you can, rather than make sweeping changes you hope will pick up most people.

Silvana from LifeStyle Refocus provided insight into what they can do for a company to aid retention of staff. Silvana commented that “we discuss with the management the outcomes they are looking for, find out what they know about their staff, then meet with the staff members that have been targeted. We can then assist them in their personal or business lives to ease the pressure. Personally for them we can organise a family member’s birthday celebrations, arrange for the lawn to be mowed, garden weeded, fridge stocked, book the family holiday, load the iPod, tidy their wardrobe, de-clutter the study. This allows the employee to be fully focused on work yet enjoy their down time with family and friends.

Using the above information as a basis, and steering the engagement planning around what the employee needs, will bring the engagement and retention result that benefits both the employee and business.

The philosophy at LifeStyle Refocus is “Don’t give your employees reasons to leave – give them every reason to stay”.

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and life style management organisation. If you wish to engage your staff contact LifeStyle Refocus directly [Silvana] 0417 595 744 or Michele on [0437 311 802] or www.lifestylerefocus.com.au

[1] My Business Magazine. Managing your business section; “Dearly Departed” by Caroline Herman and Lisa Halloran
[2] My Business Magazine. Managing your business section; “Dearly Departed” by Caroline Herman and Lisa Halloran