How To Avoid Losing Your Best Employees At All Costs

It’s tempting to blame departing staff members for their decision to leave the business, but most people who quit are only doing so because they believe better opportunities exist elsewhere. As a leader, you have the responsibility to do what it takes to keep your top people engaged in your company’s mission. In this post, I shared with you ways on how to avoid losing your best employees at all costs.

Most business professionals would agree that talented employees are the most valuable corporate asset. However, finding those people is only half of the equation. Retaining the best and brightest is what ultimately matters. The most innovative and successful companies today have figured that out. They’ve taken retention efforts to an advanced level.

Recruiting new staff is a long and expensive process, which is why whenever you lose a member of the team, the repercussions are felt far and wide. Even worse, if you go through a series of resignations, the overall morale among those left may take a serious hit. To build a strong and healthy business that is capable of growth and constant improvement, you need to retain good staff. In particular, the top talent you’ve spent years nurturing is a business asset that needs ultimate protection.

Here are ways on how to avoid losing your best employees at all costs:

1. Show Respect For Your Employees

This is one of the most critical factors in keeping your best talent. When you treat your team professionally and with dignity, they have a reason to deliver their best work. This practice also establishes respect for you as a manager, so it’s self-perpetuating. Even when employees love the work itself and are well paid, if they feel disrespected, they won’t stay committed for long. Stripped of dignity, people not will only leave but they may seek revenge in their own way. It’s always best to respect your employees and to treat them like human beings.

2. Treat Your Staff Like Gold

Once you have a solid staff established, the only reason an employee should want to leave is if they’re not sufficiently challenged and not because of compensation. Research the industry standard in terms of salary and then exceed that standard.

One highly paid, really great employee can be a much better value in the long run than three entry-level, mediocre ones. Top employees give you efficient work, satisfied customers and peace of mind. If you look at your bottom line, factoring in things such as how much time and money you’ll lose, you’ll discover that investing heavily in your staff is the wisest choice you can make.

3. Promote Appropriately

When your best people are doing the kind of work that makes a difference, recognize it. One great way is to give them a well-deserved promotion. This tells the rest of the company (and others outside) that you appreciate the extra effort they put forth to make the company more profitable and efficient.

4. Get Employees’ Input & Then Apply It

Who knows what it takes to do a job right? The people who are doing it best. If you want to keep people, then involve them in the decision-making process. Create a “safe zone” where you ask them the hard questions about what should be changed, then hear them out. You may not be able to implement every suggestion, but change where you can and let them know you value their input.

5. Open Honest Dialogue

Change is inevitable. Your employee’s lifestyle and needs may change. You may decide to shift the direction that you’re taking your business and change can be exciting, but it can also be stressful and it can alter other aspects of your business.

The key to retaining great employees through your evolutions is to ensure that information flows freely and honestly in both directions. Keep your staff informed about where your company is headed and keep your eyes and your ears open for concerns. Honest communication is the foundation of solid business relationships and mutual trust yields honesty and loyalty. Make sure your staff knows that you value their contributions and you think enough of them to keep them in the loop in terms of what’s ahead for the company.

6. Give Them As Much Autonomy And Creative Freedom As Possible

Talented employees thrive best when left alone and are allowed the creative freedom to pursue new ideas. This is another reason to be careful about micromanaging employees and a reason some organizations allow employees a certain percentage of work time to follow their own passions as it relates to their work. Freedom for employees can make them happier and more productive.

7. Support Them From The Start

When new hires start, how much close-quartered attention are they given? Do you simply sit them at their desk and leave them to it or are they properly mentored and gradually introduced to all aspects of the business from the moment they enter the building?

A proper onboarding process will ensure that every employee gets the best possible start when they join the business. It will introduce them to their colleagues, establish business norms and plant the seeds for a relationship that will stand the test of time. To get started, speak to existing employees and ask how they found the onboarding process to be. Encourage them to be completely honest and this will help you build a great onboarding process for new starters.

8. Praise And Recognize Them

Your employees want to be appreciated for their contributions and thanking them for a job well done is core to anyone’s feeling of value at any level. When you publicly recognize staff members or departments, you also build loyalty.

The praise you offer should be objective, however do not try to manipulate the results. For example, if you use these exercises to pit one group over another, then nothing will be achieved. The goal from these types of practices is to ensure that everyone gains recognition and feels appreciated within the organization.

Conclusion

It’s tempting to blame departing staff members for their decision to leave the business, but most people who quit are only doing so because they believe better opportunities exist elsewhere. As a leader, you have the responsibility to do what it takes to keep your top people engaged in your company’s mission. In this post, I shared with you ways on how to avoid losing your best employees at all costs.