Keeping Quality Employees

Posted on October 18, 2019 in Consulting

 The unemployment rate sits at a very low 3.5%. Employers are not going to find the best new hires in this tiny percent of the population. Rather, Companies poach employees from each other, and the low unemployment rate will only intensive the competition. Just the other day I saw this well done video on how to advertise for a competitor’s employees: https://www.applicantpro.com/articles/how-to-attract-experienced-applicants/ Here are my tips on keeping your quality employees from jumping to the competitor.   

Assess your Compensation Structure

Retain quality employees with conscious, periodic attention to pay practices. Businesses need to analyze and reassess their salary scale to know where they fit in the market place. In frugal times, employees earned less and were happy with cost of living adjustments. Now, in an employee-favorable wage market, employers need to make sure to adjust pay of existing workers to be consistent with the pay offered to new hires. This sometimes reveals itself in signing bonuses. Employers justify a signing bonus as a quick way to attract new talent. Yet, don’t forget about your existing employees. Consider that with few secrets in the workplace existing employees will learn about sign-on bonuses.

Deliverable on intangibles

Companies love publishing their core values. It is less clear that they live by them. If you claim to provide a work-life balance, you better show it. For example, adopt and enforce rules that preclude managers from pestering employees when they are off work. Consider my 7 to 7 rule. See https://theemploymentmatters.com/consulting/my-7-to-7-rule/. If your business promises professional growth and advancement, assign employees a mentor. The designated mentor should prepare (with the employee) a written plan to chart and map goals. This is not a variation of a performance review. Rather, this is a growth session in which the employer helps shape an employee’s future with the organization. The mentor’s role should emphasize realistic and achievable targets with employer supported incentives (e.g., how to get a promotion). None of this works without scheduled and sacredly maintained meetings. Concepts do not achieve reality without begin set on a calendar.

Conduct meaningful exit interviews to police against jerks

A quality in-person exit interview with a form of questions to answer is a very useful tool in exposing a bad boss. Too many people tolerate a bad boss because they believe the company endorses the behavior. Employees quit rather than complain to avoid being the target of retaliation. The departing employee can be brutally honest as they have little to lose by speaking their mind. Conduct meaningful exit interviews to ensure you do better to keep your employees happy.


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