The Christmas break is fast approaching. Your employees will get to spend time with their loved ones, switch off from the work place and recharge the batteries ready to tackle the New Year. This all sounds fantastic, however, it will also be a time of reflection on the year that has past and assessment of the year to come. For many, this means reassessing their career and place within your organisation. For some, their New Year’s resolution will be finding a new job. In my experience, February and March are two of the busiest months in the recruitment world and that’s no coincidence.
Fear not, there is something that can be done about it. I know we are still a month out from the silly season, however, the planning needs to start now!
How can we retain talent after the New Year?
Top Tips for Retaining Talent
1. Communication
Create an environment where employees feel like they are an asset to the company and have a say.
- Engender an environment where everyone can speak their mind.
- Ask employees for feedback on things ranging from day-to-day issues through to new changes and/or projects.
- Maintain an open-door policy and encourage staff to actively participate in improving the company.
- Remember communication is a two way thing so make sure you keep them updated as well, especially during uncertain times, to ensure they feel included, appreciated and safe.
- Make them feel like they are more than just a number and that what they do is important to the company. Everyone should know how what they do contributes to your company’s goals. This will not only make it more meaningful but also motivate them to keep achieving their goals, and ultimately, the company’s goals.
2. Clarity
Have clear goals for the year to come
- Ensure everyone is clear on the strategy and vision. Even top employees can become disinterested if they do not know what the direction is for the team/company. People intrinsically feel better when they know they are moving in the right direction, even if it is slowly.
- Focus on the development of individual employees. Your employees have aspirations so find out what they are – don’t make the topic of advancement a “no-go” zone. This is a great time to catch up with your team and work out their development plans for the New Year.
- Set realistic targets, empower your employees to be involved in setting those goals and help set them up for success. It is important that they can see a future in your company.
- Provide development opportunities through training, mentorship and promotions. Make sure you always keep these goals in mind when making decisions regarding staff management.
3. Recognition
Recognise and reward good work
- Employees could feel used if their hard work goes un-noticed. Recognition is important but it needs to be meaningful. You need to know your staff; their roles and how they’ve excelled within them; and how they like to be recognised.
- Use various ways of recognising great work and think about what they would actually appreciate. This does not always have to be in the form of monetary bonuses (although that is usually nice!) as people who don’t feel appreciated will still leave regardless of money.
- Be genuine – Remember your talented employees are smart enough to know the difference between sincere appreciation and when it is forced.
- Finally, this should go without saying but make sure you are not seen to be taking credit for work those in your team have done. Give credit where credit is due.
Retaining talent is important, some would say it is difficult, but it shouldn’t be. Many of the mistakes employers make can be rectified or avoided. The tips I’ve listed should help guide you to ensure you don’t lose great staff over the silly season and beyond.
Do you have advice to help keep your staff over the “silly season”?
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