Written for a Human Resources Management college course with one learning objective provided. The goal is to create connections for students by providing casual language and relatable scenarios:
Learning Objective:
• Explain the use of employee development in retaining talent
Tandie loved the team-building activities at her job. Her company, Speed of Light Marketing, often hosted fun activities to bring employees together. One of their legendary events was the SALSAbout Teams contest, a salsa-making challenge. Employees entered the contest through categories—medium, hot, and unique—and brought two quarts on the day of the big event. A taste-testing table was prepared with tiny salsa dipping cups (no double-dipping!), the salsa entries, plates, and chips.
Employees tagged their homemade salsa with funny names—like Pico de Papas, Fire Ant Juice, Habanero Punch, and Bee Sting. To add to the fun, the company always did this event on a Tuesday and brought in a taco truck and a photo booth, complete with tiny piñatas, sombreros, and stick-on mustaches. Not to be forgotten was the fresh sopapilla station for a sweet treat to lessen the heat.
Voting cards were provided, which employees filled out for their favorites in the three categories. Trophies were given out, and fun was had by all. Good-natured teasing about the next contest began that day, and everyone looked forward to the next SALSAbout Team bash. A friendly work environment means employees are comfortable, motivated, and creative. Team-building breaks any barriers and allows better relationships. Let’s learn more about how this feature can improve employee retention.
Techniques for Employee Retention
Happy employees don’t look for other jobs. And in today’s competitive recruiting environment, the value of hard-working, loyal employees can’t be overstated. Let’s look at ten vital ways to make employees feel valued.
1. Develop an employee-centric culture. Southwest Airlines is the perfect example of a company that values its employees. Founder Herb Kelleher lived by the philosophy, “The employee is always right.” He also believed in praising in public and correcting in private. If an employee did something out of line, it would be addressed in a private situation. Let’s look at more ways to build an employee-centric culture:
o Listen to employees. Employees want—and need—to be heard. Making time for this is crucial, no matter how demanding your management job might be. Employees can offer an incredible perspective, so don’t interrupt or interject when they’re sharing ideas or feelings. Give eye contact and be aware of your body language (Sherman, n.d.).
o Increase employee engagement. This can be accomplished many ways, but some suggestions include: performance coaching (regular one-on-one conversations to understand what resources an employee needs to be successful along with providing helpful feedback) and establishing a cause (volunteering for a cause helps employees work together and cultivates better relationships) (Bernard, 2018).
o Consider an employee perks program like fitness opportunities, extra time off, or a special parking spot. Another idea is a corporate gamification system that allows employees to receive points based on task completion. Points could be redeemed with work-from-home days, extra vacation, or donations to a non-profit organization (Conlin, 2019). You can also offer a developmental stipend for continuing education.
o Consider a survey to determine what employees need: you might receive requests like remote work, training opportunities, or flex scheduling. This encourages feedback and employee buy-in.
o Consider forming an employee committee for regular feedback and assistance with new ideas and strategies.
2. Make expectations clear. To reach your business goals, everyone must understand their part. You need employee buy-in, but you must connect your employees to your company’s mission. Clear expectations eliminate confusion and increase employee success. In addition, make sure your employees know why their contributions are important. Then, ask them to sign off so that everyone understands.
3. Provide quality management or supervision. Just as employees should have clear expectations, so should management. Consider the following essentials as a manager or supervisor:
o Provide proper support, training, and leadership
o Create healthy and safe working environments
o Maintain accurate and timely wages
o Fully disclose job responsibilities along with company procedures and policies
o Provide regular performance feedback, both verbally and in writing (Schooley, 2020)
4. Offer opportunities for the employees to grow in their career and develop both personally and professionally. Many employees want opportunities for a higher salary and greater responsibilities. Consider the following options:
o Encourage continued learning. Send your employees to conferences, classes, or testing. Incentivize continuing education by paying in part or full. Ask them to report back and share what they’ve learned. Let them network during business hours to share knowledge (“13 key,” 2019).
o Offer one or more of the following when appropriate:
Cross-training: being trained in more than one skill
Job shadowing: learning about another employee’s responsibilities
Job rotation: moving employees between different tasks
o Increase team-building efforts, like the salsa competition. Avoid the same old exercises. Use innovative ideas like game days, show and tell, or scavenger hunts. Or build activities around employee interests. You could even create your own game with your company’s “insider information.” 91% of workers say they have a friend at work, so remember that team-building improves work morale and team dynamics (Lavoie, 2017). Just keep in mind that the goal of team-building is to think together as a team and create bonding experiences, not to embarrass people.
o Encourage a healthy work/life balance. Employees are juggling pressures from work, self, family, and friends. If possible, offer access to exercise, childcare, flexible hours, or telecommuting. Serving the needs of employees means they can best serve your organization.
o Promote from within when possible (Craig, 2018).
5. Encourage employees to use their skills and talents. Gallup research shows that “people who use their strengths every day are six times more like to be engaged on the job” (Sorenson, 2014). This increases employee work ethic, effort, and commitment and reduces employee stress, worry, and anxiety. In fact, “strength-based management is the best way to improve the employee-management relationship” (Sorenson, 2014). For employees who don’t know their strengths, there are many assessment options to uncover their talents.
6. Provide fair and equitable treatment. As you can imagine, unfair treatment can cause many problems with employee morale and productivity. To avoid that, consider the following tips:
o Do not discriminate. Differences in “race, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender, or any other quality” should not change how you treat an employee (Imani, n.d.).
o Promote based on qualifications, not a personal relationship.
o Post job openings where all employees can see.
o Treat employees as equals. You’re on a team. Managers wouldn’t have a job without employees to manage, so you need each other (Imani, n.d.).
7. Make the employee’s purpose and the purpose of the company clear. Where the company is working for a higher purpose and employees understand why, there is a greater sense of loyalty and commitment. Simon Sinek wrote a book called Start with Why, explaining that people are more inspired to work when they have a sense of purpose (Sinek, n.d.). Workers need more than just waking up, going to work, dealing with a boss, coming home, going to bed, and then doing the whole routine over again. Once they now why they’re doing the job and how they contribute to the whole, they’re more likely to be passionate for what drives their career and the organization.
8. Make employees feel appreciated. Remember, it’s called “human” resources for a reason (Maza, 2018). Organizations should provide a baseline of human understanding and empathy. Consider showing your gratitude on social media or in a monthly newsletter. Recognizing employee highlights and contributions to the organization are outstanding ways to show appreciation and build employee loyalty.
9. Make sure senior management knows that an employee exists. This is a complaint that often occurs in exit interviews. Even senior management should acknowledge an employee’s abilities and skills periodically. An effective boss shows interest in their employees and thanks them for their contribution to the company. This could be an email, lunch out, or contest to build morale. Employees just want to be acknowledged—not to feel invisible and replaceable.
10. Celebrate together. The company that celebrates together stays together (Maza, 2018). Employees like good news, and celebrating achievements together brings positive vibes to your office. Recognize business and employee achievements, including personal milestones like having a baby, running a marathon, or getting engaged. Positive vibes create a culture that positively affects employee satisfaction. So does food—employees love being fed. Free bagels on Friday are a big deal, as is a random pizza party. Let’s face it: food brings people together, which in turn strengthens office relationships.
Hiring employees is just part of your job—retaining employees is just as important. To reduce employee turnover, remember that small acts of appreciation go a long way. It might not be a salsa competition, but earning an employee’s commitment and loyalty is priceless.
References
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Bernard, J. (2018, October 16). Three simple ways to increase employee engagement and retention. HR Technologist. Retrieved on July 1, 2020. https://www.hrtechnologist.com/articles/employee-engagement/three-simple-ways-to-increase-employee-engagement-and-retention/#:~:text=Three%20Simple%20Ways%20to%20Increase%20Employee%20Engagement%20and,cause.%20...%203%20Implementing%20employee%20incentive%20programs.%20
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Craig, W. (2018, March 13). Successful ways to encourage employee development and strengthen your team. Forbes. Retrieved on July 1, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamcraig/2018/03/13/successful-ways-to-encourage-employee-development-and-strengthen-your-team/#60b607fb1300
Imani, F. (n.d.). How to treat employees fairly in the workplace. Chron. Retrieved on July 1, 2020. https://work.chron.com/treat-employees-fairly-workplace-3070.html
Lavoie, A. (2017, December 19). There’s no easy way to say this, but…your employees hate your team-building ideas. Entrepreneur. Retrieved on July 1, 2020. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/306246#:~:text=So%2C%20if%20your%20employees%20are%20still%20rolling%20their,Keep%20things%20fun%20and%20exciting%20through%20regular%20feedback.
Maza, V. (2018, July 19). The five C’s of employee-centric company cultures. Forbes. Retrieved on July 1, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2018/07/19/the-five-cs-of-employee-centric-company-cultures/#4476f0b27ded
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Sources of Information
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Whitten, M. (2019, July 25. The importance of listening to employees. Industry Week. Retrieved on July 1, 2020. https://www.industryweek.com/leadership/article/22027966/the-importance-of-listening-to-employees
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