Where Have All the Good Staff Gone? Five Ways to Keep Great Talent

Great employees are almost always the first ones to quit, while poor employees often get fired. Great employees generally don’t mind quitting because they’re confident about finding better opportunities somewhere. However, when great employees quit, it’s bad news for employers. Recruiting and training top talent is expensive, and losing them so soon is a waste of money and precious time. Recruitment alone costs a third of an employee’s annual salary.

So what keeps great employees from quitting so soon?

To answer this question, it helps to learn why they quit. High employee turnover signals distress. It indicates that the working environment is unsafe or unhealthy, or that workers are not well-compensated, unrecognized and unappreciated, or not provided with opportunities to grow. Unrealistic expectations, ineffective recruitment, low compensation, bad practices, job dissatisfaction, and conflict in the workplace cause labor turnover. Management needs to look into the root causes of the problem and act upon them accordingly.

Longer tenure is encouraged through a number of ways.

1. Creating a work environment that’s conducive to productivity and growth. Employees tend to work harder when they know they have something to look forward to – growth. And this basically covers all forms of growth within the organization, both the company’s growth and that of its staff.

2. Making realistic expectations and not changing them too often. People are motivated to work when they know clearly what is expected from them. Although workers are flexible, management mustn’t change expectations all too suddenly as this creates stress and confusion, not to mention curb learning.

3. Making provisions to ensure health and safety. It’s not only sensible for the company to make the workplace safe and to provide health benefits, it’s the law. Workers appreciate it when the employer goes beyond what’s required of them in this regard.

4. Recognizing commendable performance and making positive reinforcement. Punishing people for their mistakes doesn’t help in keeping good workers, but rewarding excellent performance is. Although it’s a must to reprimand lazy, reckless and unproductive workers, management shouldn’t waste time on such people but focus on those who are doing well.

5. Providing above-average compensation and fringe benefits. Money isn’t everything, but it does bring food on the table. In a world where employment opportunities are scarce, good compensation works like a magnet, attracting experienced workers. Financial and non-financial rewards are the topmost reasons why great talents stay.

It’s natural for people to seek greener pastures and for an employer to remove unproductive workforce periodically. However, excellent workers must be retained because the loss of productive and skilled employees significantly impairs productivity. Continuous, positive reinforcement is one of the keys to retaining good talent. It makes the workforce consistent, contented, and competent. Indeed, workers tend to stay longer and perform well if they’re safe, happy and healthy.