Next to customers and clients, staff/employees are the lifeblood of many small businesses. But it can be a challenge retaining valued employees in a competitive marketplace. Here are a few things small business owners need to keep in mind about keeping valued staff:
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Communicate your appreciation for their hard work
Everyone likes to be appreciated, a fundamental aspect of retaining valued employees. Your employees are not unlike your students in a certain way. If you have ever been a teacher, you will understand the comparison. Your students wanted your approval. They wanted you to like them because they liked you. Now that these same people are adults, they may not bring the apple for the boss the way they took the apple to their teacher, but rest assured, most people would prefer to be on their boss’ good side. They want their boss to like them, and appreciate them.
As the boss, you can hang on to your most valued employees a lot more if you show that you not only “like” them, but that you appreciate them as well. Rest assured that you will not get the best out of an employee who feels disliked or unappreciated by you. Indeed, don’t be surprised if an employee who feels disliked or unappreciated is likely going to quit and find another job someplace else as soon as possible.
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Reward excellence when warranted
Not every employee necessarily deserves an “excellence” award. Indeed, if every employee received an excellence award, the whole point of rewarding your employees with an excellence award will be defeated. Good employees are good employees. Mediocre employees are mediocre employees. Excellent employees are excellent employees. There is a difference. It does not mean that layoffs of less-than-excellent employees necessarily has to be imminent. However, acknowledging excellent employees publicly in the company is important for retaining valued employees. This sets the benchmark for the other employees, and it encourages the excellent employees to continue to do an excellent job for you. Rewarding excellence also reduces the likelihood that your excellent employees will leave the company for other companies where their efforts are rewarded.
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Be flexible with remote work
Since Covid, the debate over remote work has been integral to strategies for retaining valued employees. It is a huge debate, perhaps worldwide, whether in-office output is greater than remote output. Whatever the case may be, workers by a landslide have expressed a preference for remote work. If you, as a small business worker, want to hold on to your employees, it behooves you to be open to remote work on at least a partial basis. Forcing your workforce back to the office may feel powerful, but don’t be surprised if they are seething while they search for a new job at a company that offers remote working options.
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Show support for personal struggles
Your employees are more than just one-dimensional office inhabitants whose entire raison d’être is getting work done for you. They are also individuals with lives, families, and problems outside of the office. Sometimes, life outside the office can be difficult and this can spill over into life inside the office. Understanding that your employees have lives outside of work is essential in retaining valued employees. When people are stressed out at home, this will typically have an impact on their performance at work. As their boss, it goes a long way if you show even a little bit of concern for their personal struggles. It makes them feel that they are more than just a pencil-pusher – or what have you. And they are more likely to stay with the company for that reason alone.
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Trust them to do the work
If you show your employees that you trust them, they are likely to rise to meet your expectations of them. If you show your employees that you distrust them, however, the opposite result will likely occur. Trusting your employees to do their job, and trusting their loyalty, is a fundamental part of retaining valued employees. This does not imply blind trust, however. But hopefully, you have hired well in the first place, so that there are no scammers or incompetents in the midst, because you cannot ignorantly entrust your company to people who are not worthy of your trust. But assuming you have done your due diligence during the hiring process, then by all means, trust your employees to do the job you hired them to do. They will thank you for it, but sticking around longer than if they feel fundamentally distrusted.
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Compensate them commiserate with their performance
Fair compensation is crucial in retaining valued employees. To the extent you possibly can, compensate your employees for their performance and for the value they bring to your organization. This builds trust and loyalty and will reduce the attrition rate in your small business. It does not suggest that you break the bank trying to impress employees who fundamentally do not want to be in your organization in the first place. It is folly to put yourself in debt trying to hold on to employees who will leave the first chance they get anyway. But it is good practice to compensate valued employees to the best of your ability. And be sure to give them ample paid time off while you are at it. They will appreciate that and potentially stick around because of that.
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Encourage evolution and change
Encouraging an environment that evolves and changes with the times is key to retaining valued employees, especially the younger generation who bring fresh skills to the company. Younger employees who bring fresh skills to the company want to work in an environment that evolves and changes with the times. They don’t want to be stuck with 1950s ideas and equipment when newer models and versions are available to their contemporaries on other companies. That is one quick way to lose fresh, young talent, is to have a work environment that discourages evolution and change.
