Where did they go?

Retention is at the top of many business discussions these days.  The baby boomers retiring, the work from home crowd unsure of the new work rules, the gig economy jobs, and the workforce now quitting before they have other jobs – all play into the heightened turnover rates.

Here is the magic to reducing turnover – stay connected to your teams. 

Sure, there are many levers to pull to be reviewed later, but the key to employee retention is our ability as leaders to understand, motivate, challenge, include and engage our people.

“Treat employees like they make a difference, and they will.” – Jim Goodnight, CEO and co-founder of SAS Institute.

A negative or toxic workplace culture can lead to unhappy or unengaged team members, substandard work, unhappy customers (and clients), and high staff turnover. A bad workplace environment will usually push away our best employees. Our “shown” culture and values act as decision-making rules for our employees.

“Inspired people, inspire people. To engage and motivate others, first your people leaders need to be inspired and energized.”

A positive culture fosters a sense of employee loyalty. Our employees are much more likely to stay with our teams when they feel they are treated right and enjoy going to work every day. They want to work, they want to be included, they want to add value, they want to be recognized.  They want to succeed. 

“Employee engagement is an investment we make for the privilege of future proofing our organization’s productivity and performance.”

If our team members feel connected to our company's values and mission and have positive relationships with their colleagues, they are more likely to stay long-term. If we have a low employee turnover rate, it can be a clear indication of our positive workplace culture.

“Engagement = Motivation = Performance = Productivity = Profitability”

Aligning our organization to our purpose and values, empowering our employees through flexibility and appreciation - and investing in our employee well-being are just a few ways to strengthen our organizational culture. These actions can directly influence our company's ability to attract and retain purpose-driven talent.

Diversity also plays a vital role in the retention of employees. The reason is simple, everyone loves to work for a company where there is acceptance and inclusion of who they are.  When we are focused on inclusion and our team is appreciated for their hard work and dedication, they stay.  And remember our diverse employee base includes many differing types of humans – so be aware of age, ability, experience, culture, veteran status, personality type, education level, political views, orientation, etc., in addition to race and gender.  As leaders, we need to engage our individual team members in ways that work for them.  Look to include.

“An employee’s job is to give his or her best work every day. A manager’s job is to give the employee a good reason to come back to work tomorrow.”  – Liz Ryan, CEO and founder of Human Workplace

So, I was trying to come up with a list of levers the other day to help us reduce our turnover.  This is not an all-encompassing list, but some highlights of where we, as leaders, can have an impact.

·      Our environment. Does our positive working environment or company culture fit like our favorite pair of jeans?

·      Work acknowledgement. Is rewarding and recognizing our teams (both big and small) part of our daily DNA?

·      Meaningful benefits. Do we provide benefits which align to our employee demographics and are inclusive of all their needs?

·      Ongoing training. Training has changed, do we provide our teams with more frequent, digestible chunks available on their time? 

·      Workplace environment. Do we start with an environment of respect, inclusion and open communication?

·      Mission and values alignment.  Does your team know why we exist and where we want to go?

·      Providing the tools.  Can our teams do their work with the systems we provide?

·      Personal feedback.  Do we provide regular feedback, both positive and constructive (the more you give the easier it gets)?

·      Empower innovation.  Do we look to our teams for solutions?  Do we “ask” versus “tell”?

·      Challenge and growth. Do we push our teams to expect more, learn more, produce more?

·      Avenues for feedback.  Do we regularly allow our teams to educate us, direct us, inform us?

·      Inclusive culture.  Are we respectfully including everyone?  Are we actively ensuring all voices are heard?  Are we explicitly welcoming to those differing from us?

·      Promoting work life balance.  Do we actively assist in help our team in managing their life (work plus personal = life)?

·      Earning employee trust.  Are we vulnerable leaders?  Do we admit our mistakes?  Do we focus on resolving problems versus placing blame?

·      Feeling connected.  Lastly, and most importantly, how are we connecting with our employees, connecting our employees with the mission, and connecting with each other?

Employee retention is important because it directly affects the profitability and productivity of our organizations.  Replacing our employees is an expensive task. It requires, at a minimum, a new position to be filled, interviews scheduled, new hires trained, supplies and office space procured, technology approvals, and other financial and resource-intensive steps. This doesn’t even consider the time it takes for our new hire to become as efficient as their predecessor: a process that can take up to year or more. 

“There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization’s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow… It goes without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it.”  – Jack Welch, former CEO and chairman of General Electric 

Overall, it’s in our organization’s best interests, both financially and productively, to do everything we can to retain our employees.

"Employees are a company’s greatest asset – they’re your competitive advantage. You want to attract and retain the best; provide them with encouragement, stimulus and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company’s mission."  – Anne M. Mulcahy, former CEO and chairwoman of Xerox Corporation

Together.  We.  Win.