Regardless of industry, we believe that people are the foundation of any firm’s success. Everything starts with your employees. Once you’ve carefully assembled a stellar team, the next step is to make sure they are happy and sticking around for the long haul.
We have compiled five practices to help make that happen. By implementing a few practices into your regular workflow, you can make a big impact on employee satisfaction and retention. Here are five ideas that you can use on a weekly, monthly, or even yearly basis to fight turnover and build strong teams.
1. Boost Morale
Whether it’s a weekly or monthly tradition, morale-building events can be fun opportunities for employees to bond with each other. For example, L2 Inc. in New York City hosts a weekly “Champagne Friday” where everyone is encouraged to take a late afternoon break to enjoy themed treats and drinks. Employees are encouraged to invite friends from other companies, which can also serve as a subtle recruiting opportunity. If you don’t have the resources or planning bandwidth to do something every week, even a monthly outing or yearly trip can be highly effective. We have found community service events to be especially great given the added benefit of supporting worthwhile causes. Any of these any of these events can be all-inclusive or perhaps linked to performance, which we will discuss later in the blog.
2. Stay Interviews
Forbes Human Resources Council recommends conducting “stay interviews.” Why wait to gather valuable feedback until someone already has one foot out of the door? While it is important to gather information at all stages, some companies focus too heavily on the beginning and end of an employee’s tenure. Catherine Deckell of Outsell advises, “Instead of waiting until the employee leaves the organization to find out what was going well, what could have been better, and what kind of relationship that person had with their manager, meet with team members annually to discuss these items. Ask for feedback on recent events, give a heads up on events to come, answer any questions, etc.”
3. Anonymous communication
Consider looking into electronic services that allow employees to give anonymous feedback, such as Tiny Pulse. Anonymous surveys give the opportunity for employees to voice concerns or insights without worrying that it could affect their image or career trajectory. This also demonstrates that you truly value their input.
4. Facilitate mentor relationships
In addition to an employee’s manager, they may benefit from the perspective of another mentor. Encourage the development of both types of relationships, and carve out time for regular one-on-one check-ins. Managers may prefer to assess performance and give advice during weekly or monthly check-ins, while the mentor relationship can be a little more fluid and fun. In any case, communication is key. You want to make sure your employees have a sounding board for their concerns and feel like someone is invested in their long-term success.
5. Incentivize Effectively
Structure incentives in a way that motivates employees on an ongoing basis. Thoughtfully approaching rewards can boost your top and bottom line performance. This is near and dear to our hearts. We created IncentViz to help managers structure meaningful commission programs and give accurate, real-time insights to employees.
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If you want to learn more about how IncentViz can help with exceptional execution of an incentive plan, please request a demo!