A Manager's Guide to Improving Staff Retention

The biggest most powerful incentive to reduce staff turnover, is the cost to the business. There are many calculations regarding the cost of staff turnover. They range from the most conservative that puts the total cost of replacing a staff member as being equivalent to a minimum of 30 weeks income for that staff member. At the other end of the estimates the figure of 100 weeks is suggested.

Whatever the figure it is a preventable loss to the business.

Staff retention strategies are not costly. However they do require thought, effort and time. It is relatively easy to justify staff retention programs when you know the losses incurred through staff turnover. To get approval for a staff retention program, current losses are a powerful argument.

From a business point of view, the losses incurred through staff turnover will make a dent in their net profit. Staff retention is a low-cost initiative and represents a considerable return on investment. Every thinking business should invest in strategies to retain its staff because it is an economically sensible decision.

There are not many alternatives to an effective staff retention program. Paying higher wages has proved to be a limiting strategy. After a while you will find that you have recruited wage and salary sensitive staff. Just remember, if you employ somebody because you've offered a higher rate, they will be the first to leave when faced with an even higher rate.

The factors affecting staff retention are relatively simple but must be managed carefully. Income is only one of the many aspects of staff retention.

Surveys over the years in different countries show that there are different factors that have been identified as what people want from their work. High income typically is fourth or fifth on the wish list of desirable benefits that can be achieved from work. Things that come before income are, recognition, being involved, respect and personal development. Surveys and studies show that most employees want to do a good job and also work to their potential.

Sense of involvement.  A lot of people need a strong sense of involvement with the business in which they work. They feel that a lack of information is a disincentive to put their hearts and mind into the work. They like to be a part of the organization with the opportunity to voice their opinion and add their ideas.

Because the workplace is a social environment, people do not want to be just treated as a number. Most of them enjoy belonging to a team and participating in teamwork. This teamwork does create a sense of obligation to the other members of the team. It obviously pays to recognize and create teamwork because of the contribution to staff retention.

Because of the diversity of human beings not everybody wants to be part of the team. These individuals have to be treated differently and not shoehorned into a team against their wishes. This is where the leadership skills of the immediate supervisor are put to the test.

Recognition.  Recognition contributes to the sense of involvement.  It takes many forms.  Acknowledgement of a job well done and specific information of why the performance deserves your special attention is a good form of recognition. Recognition of a person who is working under difficulties such as pressure and stress, goes a long way to reducing the effects of the stress on the individual. It is surprising the number of managers and supervisors who do not use recognition and praise as part of their leadership style. It is one of the most effective leadership tools and costs very little.

Motivated contributors are proud employees.  They feel they belong to something worthwhile. They feel they matter. Their performance reflects their self-image. Recognition has to be meaningful and specific. Letting employees know how much you appreciate their input makes them more receptive to what you are trying to do. On the other hand, meaningless praise serves only to confuse people about what behavior is desirable and what isn't.   Saying, "well done" to somebody is not specific enough and is unlikely to reinforce desirable behavior.

A comprehensive and effective induction process.  There is a clear link between the quality of the induction process and staff turnover. Companies that retain their staff have an effective induction process. Therefore, it seems sensible as part of staff retention strategies to include an effective induction process.

Induction sets the standard for the time the person is employed in the business. Poor induction sets poor standards and vice versa. Induction can be a quite complex process but is another cost-effective strategy.

One of the biggest problems created by the induction process is its delivery. Typically, an induction process may last from an hour to several weeks. Go back to first principles. Ask yourself the purpose of the induction process and then look at the method. Better still ask the people emerging from the induction process what they thought about it and you may be surprised.

When somebody moves to a new employer, there is a wealth of new information. Human beings learn differently and at different rates with different levels of retention. The first day of the induction program is often far too much for the person to absorb. They go into "brain overload" at some time during the day and much of the following information is just not retained.

When staff turnover is a problem, look objectively at your induction process. If you are going to restructure your induction program consider the process as being "little and often."

Clear expectations of performance.  Many organizations do not clearly lay out what expectations of performance they have from their staff from day one. Expectations and performance become the topics of the conversation only when something has gone wrong.

Rather than state expectations during the induction process, the employer only mentions his or her expectations after there has been some problem.

The difficulty of this approach is that, when the crisis arises, emotions are running high and blame is normally a factor. This is a counter-productive approach and can be handled quite easily by setting expectations and repeating expectations on a regular basis throughout the person's employment.

There is compelling evidence that people who work with clear expectations, perform better and are much more fulfilled in their work.

Feedback on performance.  It is strange to think that in every hobby, sport or pastime, people keep score. They count how many shots when they play golf, they count how many goals were scored at a football game, they count the fish they caught, they count how much beer they drink, and so on.

At work, often there is very little feedback on performance. This means that members of staff don't know how their performance is measured.

When feedback is provided, it is much easier to share goals and targets. There appears to be a strong need for people to know how they are getting along. One of the ways to meet this need is to provide regular and relevant feedback.

Feedback can be the number of rejects produced, the amount of "up time" the machine operates during a working day, the distance traveled, the fuel used, the deliveries on time, the cartons filled and so on.

The psychologists call it Knowledge of Results and have concluded that this is a strong motivator of behavior. It also helps people to see that their work is worthwhile and is a valuable activity.

This sort of information not only contributes to higher performance but also strengthens the bond between the employee and the employer.

Feedback from customers.  One of the most neglected practices in the workplace is the lack of information about what customers think of the service or products the company has been delivering.

This information is also a strong motivator for behavior and because it gives purpose to the work being carried out. Furthermore, it places a measure of importance on the activities of the individuals and the group.

Feedback from customers has an extremely positive effect in creating an environment where the staff member is valued. Every piece of information either negative or positive should be fed back to the staff concerned. This will also improve performance and give valuable direction to changes that should take place in the workplace.

In the absence of feedback information from customers, managers, supervisors, employees will tend to assume that they are doing the right things or that no-one cares.

Well maintained tools and equipment.  It is very hard for people have pride in their work if the tools they have to work with are substandard or poorly maintained. It borders on being a Health and Safety issue.

Quality work does not normally come from poor quality tools or poorly trained people. It is a false economy to supply employees with equipment which is substandard because it sends a clear message that the work is not important, quality is not an issue and that the employees are expendable. A situation like this can adversely affect staff turnover, quality, safety, pride, and discretionary effort.

Effective Leadership   Effective leadership is absolutely necessary to create a stable workforce. It is the single most important factor in determining staff turnover. However, effective leadership is rare. People get placed in leadership positions without any training and are expected to be effective. But the sad fact is that most of them fail.

Failed leadership is the single biggest cause of staff leaving. Competent leadership on the other hand is found to retain staff and fulfill the needs of the staff so that they can perform to their potential.

The key to raising business performance is clear. Raise the leadership skills within the organization and business performance will follow.

When businesses provide effective leadership they are sending a positive message to all members of staff. The message is this, "We value your contribution. We respect you as an individual. We have provided you with the best leadership that we can to demonstrate our commitment to you."

 

by Peter L Mitchell

10 Strategic Tips For Employee Retention

Lots of Model Survey are being used nowadays for the purpose of HR-benchmarking such as the classic Cross-Sectional Surveys, Longitudinal Surveys and other copyrighted Management Model Survey such as Engagement Model Survey, David Ulrich Models etc... but because of the complexity of human behavior a scenario of one survey conducted in one specific place is not applicable in another place. As human behavior in one organization is directly affected by the quality and attitude of leaders' leading the organization and culture & trend that being breed in an organization location. Conducting a survey is one way and probably the most effective way for HR practitioner to decide on what to do next, base on the results of the surveys in relation on the current trend that affecting Human Resource issues and problem and one of this is Employees retention problem. Before employees retention is never been that important especially here in the Philippines, as it known a lot of talented professional can easily be found, but because of the brain drain that currently affecting our country it change the trend..

The blunder in the cost of Employees turnover and its serious impact in an organization's bottom line are increasing, because employee recognition and rewards are limited in most organizations. Unfortunately many HR Practitioners' don't understand the importance of recognizing and rewarding a team member's hard work. Many might even ask why they should recognize their employees when they are "just doing their job." The truth is that recognizing employees for the job well done is one of the least expensive and easiest ways to improve the morale and employee retention in one organization plus a return on investment for a manager's time with a very minimal expense in the part of the company. Because of this to help HR practitioners' in this problem I'd listed here 10 tips that I research and learned and ranked it accordingly during my Masters studies at Mondriaan Aura College-Subic:

1. Balance work and personal life
Balance work and personal life - HR professionals is battling to the challenges of a transforming workforce reality the need to be aware of certain trends which impacts efforts to attract and retain talented employees. Work-life balance application to a person's effective work-life and personal life wasn't as important in the past as it is today because, in the past, people often are able to attend easily to every major role in their life. Family is very important to all of us, when work begins to put a significant strain on one's family no amount of money will keep an employee around. So a small gestures of allowing an employee to take an extended leave once a month to watch with his daughter's or son's schools activity will likely be repaid with loyalty and extended employment with an organization.

2. Competitive compensation package
Higher salaries" Money still the number one consideration, in which employees' seek change. It is normal for us to feel that we've been paid appropriately and fairly for the work we do. So be sure to research what other companies and organizations are offering in terms of salary and benefits. It is also important to research what is the standards compensation package and benefits for the particular position, particularly health and dental insurance, retirement, and paid vacation days and time off. You must make sure that the compensation package your company has is competitive enough, so that team members will not go out and look for employers who are willing to offer more competitive compensation packages.

3. Treat each employee with respect and as an individual
Treat each employee with respect and as an individual, recognize the team member's contribution in front of members of management. This can reduce the tendency for employees to feel that their supervisors take all the credits. Know how to recognize your staff, not all employees want to be singled out at a gathering of hundreds of peers. The approach to recognizing team members can vary greatly by generational group. You might humiliate unintentionally a baby boomer by having them stand up in front of their colleagues while discussing their recent achievements conversely a Young Gen will appreciate the opportunity. A simple "thank you" or "nice job" or a pat in a back given in regular basis or frequency can significantly boost employee morale. Often times a team member will greatly appreciate the time you spent to find him at his desk and deliver the message personally.

4. Positive Work environment
While compensation, benefits are important, the primary reasons workers leave a company are unorganized work environment, toxic workplaces, bad bosses and difficult co-workers. Every employees want is a clean, organized work environment in which they have the necessary equipment to perform well. When people and resources are not organized, physical barriers are stand in the way of being able to work efficiently, obviously it causes stress. Try to arrange things so that people have easy access to the people and resources they need. This normally works best by organizing workspaces around the people operating the process, or the types of work that they do. The idea is to make it as easy as possible for people to do their jobs. Some employee need a personal space but none is available, try blocking off areas with furniture, screens or blinds.

If noise is an issue, plants can help to soften it. Make sure that you explain to your workers why you are doing this emphasize the benefits of making the change. The quality of supervision and mentorship, by a "bad bosses" has been said so often that, people leaves people, not their jobs. Supervisors play the largest role in a team member's development and organization successes. All employees want to have Boss who's respectful, courteous, and friendly. Workers are more likely to remain with a company if they have a good and positive work environment.

5. Eradicate Favoritism
The better person can see a question from all sides without bias-Cunfucius" The so-called "inner circle club or good ole boys" can create unpleasant organization culture and can promote bitterness among team members, which can results devastating effect on some valued team members. The results of employee favoritism are destructive in natures because the following idea are unavoidable (Why should I perform if It will get me nowhere? Why do this if others will not? Why put in the effort if I will not be recognized? Why trust the boss if they are not fair?)

As a result, employees' morale, productivity, and relationship with the manager will diminished thus creating a disengaged employees which eventually create disengage customers. So equally treat all employees and avoid favoritism at all costs. Individuals want a perception that each employee is treated equivalently. Device or create a policy, a behavioral guidelines, or methods for requesting time off, and on any other work related decisions you can think about.

6. Communication and availability
The Human Resource department needs to be very responsive to employee questions and concerns. In many companies, the HR department is perceived as the policy making arm of management. In fact, in forward thinking HR departments, responsiveness to employee needs is one of the cornerstones. You can easily do this by actively listening to your Employee's. Give them honest feedback, both positive and negative. Clearly communicate expectations, goals, and new rules to be followed.

Let them know what is expected of them. Get them involved and keep them informed - give them any information that tells them how their work fits into the overall company effort. Let's face it. Employees really want is to have a face-to-face communication time with both their supervisors and managers. This communication helps them feel recognized and important. For the managers; You may have a lot of things to do and attend to and surely your time maybe full. But, a manager's main job is to support your peers towards the success of organization. With this act managers' leads and magnifies organization success.

7. Employee Empowerment
Empowered personnel have a sense of responsibility and a sense of ownership, and their ideas are often recognized. So a workplaces that promote employee empowerment, power over what and how things are done, and the knowledge that they are important to the organization have enormous productivity results and less complaints. When employees think that they need their organization as much as the organization needs them, that need became best appreciated more than a paycheck and all benefit package that made them to stayed and remained at the company longer.

8. Placing the Right Talent for the Right Job
Placing the Right Talent in the Right Job dramatically increases Employees retention and enhances the organization success by reducing costs in many business aspects. Discover the way in which you can improve your employees, place them in environment that they can be truly useful. A new car behind glass is just a mass of metal plastic and glass, but a car being driven is truly what a car should be. The same goes for people once developed, one should use what they have learnt so that they can make the world around them a better place for themselves and others. And with this you shall not forget to provide them training, show them advancement opportunities and help them turn a job into a career.

9. Celebrate successes, big and little and make the workplace fun.
Sharing small successes with your Employees' is a great way of making the workplace fun, not only by champagne, a two or more kilo of Ice Cream or a small cake with a 1.5 Liter of Soda is good enough, but you have to do what works best for you, If your immune system has taken a hit then maybe you can celebrate successes with a cup of coffee or hot tea with a loaf bread, it warms you up and still sets the tone of the celebration or maybe celebrating positive momentum for some time by just whistling a happy tune or tapping out as affirmation of an enhanced gratitude.

10. Workplace flexibility
Be flexible whether that means specifically giving your workers the option to work flexible hours, do some customize schedule rotations or a self-scheduling thru coordinating with some other staffs in-charge are good ways to promote positive employee morale or you could allow your staff to leave work early for a personal matter when appropriate. Workplace flexibility is hard to manage, because you need to meet operational demands. But it has to manage so the flexibility policy should be well defined and be implemented accordingly so its' good intent will not be lost.

 

By Jaime Menor