The most obvious way to retain staff is to keep them happy. This can also keep up high performance and attract new, varied employees into your business. In terms of saving money, retaining staff means saving on advertisement, interviewing costs and extra training costs.

Two of the most common motivators of choosing a job are location and salary, but these alone are not enough to ensure a prosperous workforce. There is no easy recipe that works for everyone to ensure a happy workplace, but there are guidelines for you to keep in mind:

Know Your Employees

Everyone is different and respond to different incentives.  For some a company night out seems perfect and can help a team recognise each other’s strengths and develop a high level of trust. Although for others, a night out means a night away from their families and risks being outcast from the team if they don’t attend.

So knowing your teams personal circumstances and personalities is a good idea. If you listen to them and know what to listen for, you can find out what motivates them to do a good job for you.

Praise

This costs you nothing but can make a huge difference. Just saying ‘well done’ can work wonders. In our society, it is common not to give praise often, but what harm can it do? Make a conscious effort to use this at every appropriate opportunity, and make sure you don’t just praise your ‘favourite employees’ as this can have a negative effect on the rest of your staff.

Reward

Don’t just hope self satisfaction of a job well done is enough of a reward for a good job. Reinforce it with perks to make focus on achievement stronger. You may decide to reward people individually or as a whole team. Tailor rewards to people, or let them choose what they get, within reason.  And remember rewards don’t have to cost money. You could, for example, give someone a half-day off on a Friday.

Offer Opportunities For Development

No matter how initially exciting it seems, everything loses its charm in time. Therefore create new opportunities for your employees, new tasks and responsibilities. Give them the opportunity to stretch themselves and develop their skills.

Communicate

Bad communication is one of the most common reasons for misunderstandings in the workplace, as well as frustration and bad time-management. Make sure feedback is welcomed and there is time for questions after briefing. If your staff feel they can discuss tasks, they’re less likely to feel isolated.

The Little Things In Life

Simply asking employees how their weekend was can change the atmosphere entirely. Make sure you are interested in other people, know when their birthdays are, remember the names of their children etc to make the environment friendly and inviting.

What Do You Think?

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