You’re probably familiar with all kinds of staffing problems, from staffing shortages and problem employees, to trouble finding the people with the right skills for your business. Retention is another big staffing problem, and it crops up for many businesses.
Staff turnover costs businesses millions of dollars every year, so it’s imperative hiring managers keep turnover at a minimum.
How can you ensure staff retention isn’t your staffing problem? Follow these tips.
Focus on Leadership
Employees want to work for great leaders. While you’d like to think your management team is effective, motivating, and inspiring, often employees don’t think the same way.
Sometimes, it’s not necessarily the people in these positions either. Some people may be excellent managers, but the company culture or policies could be improved to create better management practices. This can be especially true during restructuring or reorganization, when the business is in the midst of reinventing itself.
Look first to the top tier of leadership. Great leadership at the top translates into effective management further down the chain. Do you have the best people in these positions? Is there a clear vision for the business everyone’s on board with? Could you provide additional training to managers to improve effectiveness?
Use Systematic Selection
Another common staffing problem tied in with retention is the idea of employee “fit.” Most of the time, this refers to an employee’s individual personality and how they “click” with your corporate culture.
Often overlooked is how well new hires fit within the roles they’re being hired into. You may think you understand the necessary skills and core competencies of the job, which is why those in hiring circles rarely talk about candidate fit in terms of the role itself. You know what you need, right?
Unfortunately, many hiring managers hire solely on instinct or gut feeling, which can be subjective. People will rationalize hiring someone who didn’t have the right skillset simply because they got along well with the candidate. Similarly, they might turn away someone who does have the right skills because they didn’t feel that connection during the interview.
Instead of using instinct to drive your hiring decisions, use a systematic selection process. This rationalizes the process of candidate selection, allowing you to evaluate people for the skills they have and how those fit the role.
Allow Employees to Grow
Employees always want to grow, develop, and improve professionally in their careers. They want varied assignments, challenges, and opportunities for growth and development.
Employee retention includes more than salary and benefits. While these are important components of anyone’s decision to accept a job or stay on, company culture is even more important.
One aspect of your corporate culture is what you believe about your employees. If you believe they’re smart, talented people who will continue to grow and learn over their careers, you’ll be more likely to invest in training and development opportunities for them.
Employees, without exception, see themselves as smart, talented people who want to continue growing and learning! By providing these opportunities for growth, you’ll retain your employees.
If you address these three issues, you can ensure retention isn’t a staffing problem in your business.
