“Finders keepers, losers weepers.” That old playground chant has haunted most of us at some point in our childhood. Whether it was over a lost toy, a misplaced homework assignment or a treasure someone found and refused to give back, hearing this rhyme was often the harbinger of costly or otherwise unpleasant outcomes.
Fast forward a few decades. As a business leader, a finders-keepers-losers-weepers scenario is even more costly, especially when the lost items are employees. We’re experiencing the lowest unemployment rate in 20 years. Keeping your employees in our current labor market is not only critical, it takes less effort and expense than finding new ones. Let me prove it to you.
Employee turnover is a hidden cost that can go unnoticed in the daily rush of doing business. However, it’s a quantifiable cost that can and should be calculated. Every business will come up with a slightly different figure, but the calculation should include not only the cost of hiring but also the cost of training a new employee and the productivity and sales that are lost in the interim. An Inc. magazine article estimated that if an employee leaves, it costs the company 33% of the employee’s salary to rehire and train a new employee. If that doesn’t make you cringe as a business leader, it should!
However, there is hope. Hanging on to your employees isn’t difficult if you are intentional, proactive and dedicated to making it happen. Below are six strategies to help take you from a weeper to a keeper.
The first step in keeping employees is knowing why they stay. Don’t wait until it’s too late; ask your employees now why they’ve stuck with you. This is best done by forming a focus group consisting of your most outstanding people and the ones in the most critical positions. Gather feedback from all levels in your organization — you may be surprised at what you find.
And while you’re at it, consider asking your employees what might tempt them to leave. This will reveal both your strengths and your weaknesses. If a focus group isn’t feasible, create an anonymous survey, leaving space for employees to expand on their answers.
The phrase “work/life balance” is overused and misunderstood. Work today is fluid and more of a work/life blend than a balance. Employers that understand the importance of flexibility in the workplace statistically retain more employees. It begins with acknowledging that employees have lives outside of work. How companies recognize and support this spans a range of attitudes and programs both formal and informal.
A good place to start is by evaluating workloads. Are you piling on so much that your employees have to work long hours and on weekends? Granted, in the green industry, with our seasonal crunch, reducing workloads can be a challenge.
Companies in various industries are learning from their high-tech counterparts. They’re allowing remote work and flextime and offering paid-time-off programs. They’re providing conveniences such as dry cleaning drop-off, package delivery, car washing, on-site health clinics and more, all in an effort toward making the work/life blend more seamless.
We’ve all heard it said that employees don’t leave companies, they leave bosses. This isn’t quite accurate; studies show that most employees don’t dislike their bosses but may think them poor managers or that the company overall has poor management practices. This is an important distinction and begs the question, “What are you doing to develop your leaders?”
First-level managers are on the front lines of employee retention yet frequently receive the least training. As great individual contributors get promoted into leadership positions, they need to gain a whole new skill set that will help them become great leaders. Yet these new managers are often left alone to learn on the job in hopes that they’ll somehow figure it out as they go. Not only is this not a sound business strategy, it most certainly will lead to poor leadership practices that will only increase employee turnover.
A wealth of leadership training opportunities are available if your organization lacks internal offerings. Explore online classes, community colleges, webinars, consultants and leadership development curricula.
As a recruiter, I often hear candidates say the reason they’re interested in a new job is the opportunity to learn and grow in their careers. Recruiters capitalize on this desire as they try to poach talent.
Can your employees learn and grow while remaining with your organization? If not, what if your company provided those kinds of opportunities? Creating these avenues takes intentionality and a willingness to change but the payoff is enormous.
Start by looking at how you can provide a career path for every employee. Make sure they know what that path is and what skills they’ll learn.
Next, consider getting even more radical by creating rotational programs to expose employees to different aspects of your company. Could a strong operations person come into the human resources department to help on a project? Why not? How about having a finance person take a rotation in the field? These rotations could be tied to short-term projects or longer-term roles but will offer the exposure, learning and growth employees seek.
Innovative companies are creating project teams that come together to complete a task and then disband. Traditional job duties are being broken up and spread across individuals allowing more flexibility.
While hiring the right people is critical, many businesses fail by not getting rid of the wrong people. By not addressing poor performers, you’re sending a message to your good performers that bad behavior is tolerated. Great employees don’t want to work with subpar ones. Certainly, provide poor performers with opportunities to improve and the resources to do it. If it doesn’t happen, make the tough decision.
This also goes for strong performers who have difficult personalities. For instance, Netflix established a “no brilliant jerks” policy. These abrasive individuals, as smart and talented as they may be, are toxic to a work environment.
While showing brilliant jerks the exit can feel downright agonizing, it’s critical for the long-term health of your business. As an old boss of mine used to say, “Doing the job is only half the job.”
Last but certainly not least, don’t forget to recognize and reward good work. The Inc. magazine article stated that 22% of employees felt their work was not recognized. What an opportunity! These rewards can take many forms: positive feedback, employee recognition programs, spot bonuses and more.
A client recently engaged us to help build a talent pipeline. As we dug into the organization, however, it became clear that we were being asked to fill a bucket with a hole in the bottom. This company was losing 50% of its workforce to turnover, most of it unwanted.
It makes no sense to increase the flow of candidates to the front door if employees are walking out the back door in equal numbers. By implementing a few of these strategies, our client was able to slow the turnover so we could get a jump on building that talent pipeline for the future.
To help these strategies stick in your mind, note that the first letter of each one spells out the word “keeper.” Commit to trying one of these six strategies every week, and they’ll put you and your organization on the road toward being talent keepers.
