Maintaining an established, dedicated and dependable workforce can be a real challenge for any organization. While hiring managers and executives have struggled to come up with creative and unique ways at bolstering the longevity of their staff, one shouldn’t overlook some of the more basic and fundamental methods that successful managers have used for years. In fact, there are several key steps you can take to ensuring the stability — and productivity — of your staff.
Get to Know Your Candidates From the Start
In order to effectively reduce the turnover rate of your workforce, it’s best to start with the interviewing and hiring process. Ensuring that everyone on your shortlist of potential new hires is equipped with the right skills for the job is one thing, but you’ll also want to make sure that their general disposition fits in with the employees you already have. Failure to do so may result in a new hire that drives away a portion of your established workforce, which ultimately negates any previous steps you’ve taken in an attempt to reduce the overall turnover rate.
Recognize Achievements and Address Shortcomings
This may seem like an obvious step, especially since it’s something that most managers do on a regular basis, but doing so on a consistent basis will almost certainly lead to a decreased turnover rate. Successful or highly productive workers should receive recognition — at least a simple acknowledgement — in a timely manner. Conversely, any bottlenecks in productivity or individual employee weaknesses, when addressed in a professional and authoritative manner, can typically be resolved without affecting day-to-day operations in a major way.
Offer Competitive Compensation
This refers both to employee wages as well as any additional benefits such as vacation time, 401(k) and more. If the wages you offer aren’t up to par with the industry, or even the local community, you’re sure to suffer from a high turnover rate as your qualified employees seek appropriate compensation elsewhere. In order to curb this, make sure to research other companies in your area in order to ensure the wages and benefits you’re offering are in alignment with the rest of the industry. Taking the time to research the wages and benefits offered from other, similar companies can help to reduce the turnover rate of your workforce before it even becomes a problem.
Promote Social Interaction Within the Workplace
While your employees certainly don’t need to spend the whole day talking to one another, an appropriate amount of social interaction can go a long way in securing your workforce in the long term. Not only does it give your staff members the chance to meet one another and get to know each other, but it also gives them the opportunity to develop strong professional relationships in the workplace. Furthermore, promoting a high level of social interaction between your staff members usually extends to customers as well, which ultimately leads to improved customer satisfaction, increased sales and, of course, a lower turnover rate amongst your staff.
