If you’re a small business owner, you are certainly familiar with the process of hiring & finding employees who are the best fit for your team. However, after you’ve invested all that time & effort into hiring the best employees, it’s important to do what it takes to retain them. No company wants to lose their best people; so it’s crucial that you invest in your employees, build on their strengths, and provide them with opportunities to be innovative, if you want to keep them.
The well-being of your employees can be broken down into 3 categories: Financial (salary, retirement, etc), physical (health) & emotional (job security & satisfaction). In addition to this, employees need to feel like their employer cares about their well-being. In an environment where these needs are not fulfilled, any company will find themselves losing employees.
So, how can a company ensure that they retain their best workers? Here’s what you need to consider.
Benefits
What benefits do you currently offer your employees? Are these benefits relevant to & fulfilling the needs of your employees, or are they out-of-date and redundant? A study by The Guardian relates that within the next 5 years, 49% of small businesses plan to amplify their wellness initiatives, while 46% plan to start providing telecommuting options & adaptable scheduling. The important thing to remember while considering the benefits you will offer your employees is to talk to them. Ask them what they need and then do your best to fulfil it.
Observe Millennial Entrepreneurs
Many employees today (and some of your best employees) are millennials; and while millennials have been accused of getting a lot of things wrong, there is one thing they certainly seem to have gotten right – 66% of millennial- owned small businesses have a strong emphasis on employee well-being in their company culture, vision & values. This leads, naturally, to greater job satisfaction for their employees. In fact, many millennials are pulling away from working at companies that they feel are too focused on money, lack flexibility, and seem to be tied to the past in terms of workplace culture.
Care
While there may be many things employees look for in a job, 55% of employees agreed that would stay at a company for 10 years or more, if they felt that their employer cared about their well-being. When you, as an employer, genuinely care about your people, they can feel it, and it earns you their loyalty. Great employers encourage & promote a healthy work/life balance, which in turn engenders in their employees a desire to do their best work, to push themselves, and to make themselves & their company proud.
