Even if your business doesn’t have unlimited resources for recruitment it’s still possible to stay competitive and ensure that you retain the best people. Many employees today are much more concerned about their day-to-day experience of working life than huge salaries or a glamorous range of benefits. If you want to attract and retain, top talent then there are some simple ways to do this, no matter what the resources you have available.
Provide employees with purposeful work
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to shift the entire focus of your business to an agenda of doing good. Any objective or role can be purposeful when it is framed in the right terms. The key to this is finding ways to demonstrate to employees – and potential employees – why the work that the business is doing matters and where it is making a difference. This could be making a difference to consumers, customers or clients, as well as communities or even the impact that it has on those inside the business itself. There are many different ways to identify the purpose behind a business – highlighting this for your staff will give them a strong incentive to stay.
Pay attention to the culture you have created
A poor business culture often results in high rates of attrition and is difficult to disguise. Even the most impressive pay and benefits packages are rarely enough to retain top talent when the business culture is toxic. Improving and upgrading the culture of an organisation is something that can be done with very limited resources. Start by emphasising positive attitudes via processes that involve recognition and appreciation. Integrating this into the management of your business will not only help when it comes to retaining people but can also boost engagement and – as a result – productivity too. There are many other ways to improve your existing culture, including encouraging more transparency, focusing on strong relationships between co-workers and giving staff more autonomy, as well as introducing greater elements of flexibility into working structures. Most of these don’t need a big investment in the business to start generating results where retention is concerned.
Re-evaluate the working environment
This doesn’t mean providing free doughnuts or trying to incentivise the best performers with the most appealing workspaces (e.g. the coveted corner office). It’s much more about taking a realistic look at the working environment in your business and evaluating whether it meets the basic needs that most employees have for security, inspiration and teamwork. Are there opportunities for people to interact and spaces where employees can get away from their screens and take breaks? Are you catering for the non-physical elements of the working environment, such as the need that any individual has for personal growth? All of this will have an impact on whether employees want to stay.
Even without the unlimited resources of a large business, there are still a lot of options when it comes to improving retention rates within your organisation.
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