Have you ever asked yourself why you struggle with retaining employees, particularly the top talent? Well, there are two possibilities–you do something that puts your employees off or there’s something you’re not doing to retain them.
According to employment experts, such as this employment lawyer in Toronto, identifying and recruiting top talent is one thing, but retaining them is something else. So, if you’re worried about the high migration rate of your employees, this article is for you.
What Causes Employee Migration?
- Treating Employees Unequally
Although not everyone is equal in the workplace you should try to treat all employees equally and fairly. We understand that some workers are entrusted with harder duties than others and it’s not easy to replace such workers. However, a company should have policies that make each worker feel appreciated and important to the company.
- Tolerating Mediocrity
Most top performers feel entitled and that’s why research shows that they rarely make good team players. For instance, putting a top performer with C-players can create animosity because the top performer will feel that they’re the boss in most cases, which is not good for everyone.
- Having Unpleasant Rules
Rules are needed to ensure all runs smoothly but that doesn’t give you a right to implement dumb rules that will make everyone uncomfortable. Always remember that no one likes working in a toxic environment. When an opportunity comes up, your employees will certainly leave you if they’re not comfortable in your company.
- Failing to Recognize and Reward Good Performance
Pleasing employees is very simple because everyone wants to be recognized and awarded for good performance. That said, ensure your employees know what you like, give feedback constantly, and recognize good performance.
- Dull Workplace Environments
We understand that anything finance is serious business but who said you can’t have fun when dealing with serious issues? Again, all work without play made Jack a dull boy. Workplaces can be fun. For instance, employees should come up with team-building ideas– everyone will enjoy and it will help in bonding.
- Micromanaging
Research shows that 38% of employees can easily put up with any annoying habit except a micromanaging boss. Also, employers feel untrusted when they are micromanaged, which can feel suffocating.
How to Retain Human Capital
If you’re struggling with a high rate of employee turnover, the following tips can help you retain workers:
- Recognize Performance
It’s not always about rewards – whether financial or tangible, sometimes your employees just want to be recognized and feel appreciated for good performance. Even research proves that employees can quit if they’re not appreciated. Everyone feels happy when they are praised, whether privately or publicly.
- Defining Goals and Objectives
It’s difficult to excel where goals and objectives change frequently. That said, you should communicate and set precise goals for every employee and ensure they understand what is required of them. Always remember that results are highly influenced by the set objectives. One way of excelling here is using the—OKR—Objectives and Key Results methodology (used by successful companies like LinkedIn and Google).
- Set Yourself for Future Growth
Analyzing past performance can help you project, plan and prepare for events. Although your employees are part of the future of the company, you shouldn’t solely focus on them, particularly in a fast-paced work environment. Management techniques, such as Progress, Plans, and Problems will help you understand and know the intentions and plans of your team.
- Involve Employees in the Decision-Making Process
Most employers ignore the input of their employees in the decision-making process but it finally catches up with them. Why? First, that is human nature. Also, some people feel like they’re smarter than others when they’re in authority, which is wrong. That said, employers should learn to ask for the input of their employees.
- Ongoing Employee Feedback
As tasks or companies grow, and things get more complex, your employees will seek clarification on certain issues and they’ll need feedback from you. When employees ask questions or seek clarification and no feedback is forthcoming, they will feel ignored, which may hurt their morale and output in the long run.
- Be Mindful of Your Employees’ Welfare
The welfare of your workers will determine their performance or output. In other words, your employee’s performance will be negatively affected if they have unresolved personal issues or challenges. As much as you expect your employees to behave in a certain way, sometimes it can be impossible because they are human.
- Being Positive
This is where constructive feedback comes to play, even if the feedback is negative. Criticism is not always a sweet cup of tea for most people but the truth is that most people can easily recall negative criticism more than positive criticism.
Besides the point discussed in this article, there are many reasons why employees leave. So, employers should identify the issues that increase employee turnover to rectify the situation.
