When you hire someone, you want to make sure that they are interested in working for the company for a long time. The cost to your business of training someone up and getting them settled can be quite significant.
If the person you have hired turns out to be a great fit, then there is all the more reason to make sure that they continue to work for you.
There are three things you can do to increase your chance of hiring and retaining great employees; offer clear paths of progression, have a strong sense of employer brand and show them that they are valued. Making an effort to implement these things into your business will give you the best chance of building a fantastic team to help your business to grow.
Offer clear paths of progression
Something that will attract motivated and driven potential employees to your company is offering clear paths of progression. This will also give them more of a reason to stay in the company for a long time. You should give your employees space to be tested and show their skills, and if that is a success, reward their efforts.
Have quarterly meetings with each employee to discuss their progress and potential pay rises or promotions. Facilitating growth and opportunity like this will make people much more motivated to work hard. Give your employees space to become the best version of themselves and they will see that they could have a long and successful career with your company.
One of the best ways to evaluate performance is not through a numbers based approach, but rather to focus on the important skills they should be showing evidence of. Here are three simple things you can look at in order to evaluate performance:
How effective they are at fulfilling their role: are they productive and do they provide the quality work that you would expect? Do they set themselves clear objectives and meet them? Do they communicate well with the rest of the team?
How efficient are they in their role: do they carry out tasks with care to prevent waste of time and resources? Do they delegate well?
Does this person take action to learn and improve: do they use their initiative in unfamiliar situations? How motivated are they to grow within the company? Are they able to take calculated risks? Do they have the right character to lead others?
Having a discussion with employees about this every three months will make sure they are constantly working towards the next step, which will be great for their confidence and also their drive.
You can implement a 90 day review meeting with your new employee who has just completed 90 days with the company. The purpose is to align and review the professional job requirements and see if the employee is reaching his goals, this way you can make sure that he is happy with the company as well and you can reward him with good feedback.
Have a strong sense of employer brand
Having a strong sense of branding is essential in any business, yet many companies overlook their employer brand.
This should be clearly portrayed on your website and in any job advertisements, as it will allow potential employees to see who you are as an employer, what you prioritise, how you value employees, your company culture and your commitment to growth and progression.
People want to work for a company who have a strong sense of who they are and what they offer, so working on your employer brand is important.
Just as many companies might invest in a large city design agency Manchester or London based to show their company off to customers, you should put just as much effort into your employer brand. This will attract fantastic employees who will commit to your company and help it to prosper.
Here are 5 things you should try to communicate through your employer brand:
Authenticity
You want to portray that your company truly cares about their employees and give evidence to show that. Don’t try to sell your company as something it isn’t as you will probably be able to hire employees, but they are unlikely to stick around.
Positive environment
Provide an open and positive environment that helps employees to prosper, rather than relying on pressure.
Have brand ambassadors
Create friendly content with some of your top employees and get them to openly talk about the opportunities that the company offers and how rewarding working for you can be.
Employee benefits
Although this is not the only avenue to show employees they are valued, rewarding them with benefits for their hard work is useful. This will be discussed in more detail below, but things like offering to pay for a gym membership or putting on virtual meditation classes will prove you care about their wellbeing.
Two way communication
Highlight that you are a company that not only makes room for, but encourages, two way communication between employees and their managers. Showing that you are willing to change and learn from new employees will give them confidence that they are applying to work in a progressive and caring company.
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Show employees that they are valued
Finally, showing your current and potential future employees that they are valued is essential. This will be evident through the progression meetings we discussed earlier, but there are so many other things you should be doing. If your employees are working hard, it is important that you show recognition and reward them.
Emails
If you hear that an employee has done a great piece of work or hit sales targets, send them a very quick email just to show them that their work is appreciated. This might only take a minute but could mean a lot to someone who needs an extra boost.
Create opportunities
Give someone an opportunity to try something new that they haven’t before. They could show evidence of an amazing skill that will be a great asset to the company.
Pay rises and promotions
As discussed previously, their performance should regularly be analysed and they should be rewarded for their hard work and commitment. Quarterly reviews are the easiest way to do this.
Benefits
Providing benefits linked to employee health and wellbeing is a great way to look after them and also show that you care and value them.
These things could include giving them an extra day off for their birthday, providing a healthy office breakfast every Friday, paying for gym memberships, gifting each new employee a plant for their desk and providing fresh fruit everyday. These small indications of your appreciation will go a long way.
Flexible working
Offering different options when it comes to working is important to maintain a healthy and positive company culture. Acknowledging people’s preferences in relation to working remotely may be what great employees need in order to stay.
Tell employees you are open to discussions about part time remote working or even full time if it works in your line of work. Staff will feel like they can better manage their work life balance and you will increase your chance of retaining fantastic employees.
Social gatherings
A fantastic way to not only show employees they are valued, but to also create a stronger bond between your team, is to arrange regular social gatherings.
This could be something like allowing employees to finish work an hour early on a Friday to go out for drinks together, hosting summer BBQ’s, attending pub quizzes or annual trips to the races.
Pension scheme
Although employers are required to contribute to a workplace pension, unless it isn’t wanted by the employee, you should be doing everything you can to make your contributions competitive.
Go slightly above the average employer contribution to show your employees that you value their work and want to reward them for it, even if it will be later in life. Knowing that they are working towards their future with you could be a great incentive to retain employees.
Early finish
Something to discuss with staff is the possibility of finishing early on a Friday. They could work an extra half an hour each evening Monday to Thursday and then finish at three o’clock on a Friday. This won’t work for every company or industry, but it is definitely something worth mentioning to gauge interest.
In Summary
The best thing you can do for your company is to hire and retain great employees. Not only will this save you time and money, but it will also create strong bonds in the office which will be evidenced through the work your team produces. Invest in showing your employees what you offer and how they are valued and the returns will be ten fold!
Remember to offer clear paths of progression, have a clear employer brand and show employees that they are valued. You are likely to notice a significant difference in your company and the reputation that you will develop as an employer will be fantastic.
About the Author
Daisy Moss is an experienced freelance writer specialising in working environments and wellness. When she’s not writing, you’ll probably find her reading a good novel or enjoying a yoga class.
