7 Tips to Help Retain Your Employees

4/25/2022

By: Kathy Kent Toney, CEO & Founder of Kent Business Solutions

Photo by Jopwell from Pexels

With the Great Resignation in full swing, many business leaders are scrambling to stop the exit of employees that may be negatively affecting their operations and perhaps their bottom line. What are they to do?

Here are seven tips to help stop the bleed and, at the same time, improve your employees’ work lives.

Employees are more likely to stay when they are:

1. Valued & Appreciated

Every employee likes to know if they are doing a good job and making a difference in the company.

Regularly showing them appreciation is a great start. And, if you can understand the best way to go about that, that's even better. Gary Chapman and Dr. Paul White present a great approach in their book 5 Languages of Appreciation in Business: Empowering Organizations by Encouraging People.

2. Challenged

Many employees leave their positions because they don’t feel challenged. Schedule a 1:1 with them precisely to determine if they feel challenged or not. If they’d like more challenging assignments, start the ball rolling to do just that.

3. Trusted

It goes without saying that no one likes to be micro-managed. When you give your employees assignments, let them know you trust they’ll do a good job. And if you let them know you’re available for questions, that gives you the ability to have a hands-off approach, which shows you trust them.

4. Empowered

Give your employees the full scope of what they need to do their jobs, including the authority they’ll need to see their assigned tasks through to the end. Doing so can prevent them from unnecessarily going back to you with questions when they could have handled the job independently.

5. Involved

Ensure that you involve your employees in matters that concern them when it makes sense. It doesn't do you or your employees any good to make decisions about them when consulting them would have been a good idea. This approach also applies to communicating important company and department info.

6. Mentored

Most employees want to grow and develop their abilities, and many leave their positions because they lack mentoring opportunities. Invest in your employees to help them become more effective in their roles and have the potential to move into leadership positions. Doing so most likely will save the company money in the long run if they don’t have to hire from the outside to fill vacated positions.

7. Promoted and Paid Well

This tip is a no-brainer. Provide opportunities for advancement and compensate your employees well, or they may walk out the door when a better option comes along.

In the end, investing in your current employees will most likely help increase their satisfaction. Doing so could reduce employee churn and perhaps positively impact the bottom line.
And who doesn’t want that?

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Speaking of churn, are your customers satisfied with your products and services, so they aren't leaving for greener fields?

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