As business becomes more and more competitive, simply filling open positions isn’t enough. You need serious talent. And you want serious talent that will stick around.
Increasing employee retention is becoming more and more difficult. In fact, a MetLife survey found that only 66% of employees are looking to be in their same job in 12 months.
So how do you win those coveted, quality candidates? And get them to stay?
Here are 10 steps to building and maintaining a winning team:
1. Know what drives them— Make sure that your employees have at least one part of their job that gets them fired up. Discover that passion and encourage its pursuit. In doing so, you’ll create a situation that is fulfilling and rewarding. And hard to walk away from.
2. Challenge them intellectually— Smart, creative people love solving problems and trying new things. Take away these things and they can become bored or uninspired. Create an environment filled with a healthy dose of challenge to keep your team engaged and inspired.
3. Give them ownership— Hard-working employees love making an impact, and being empowered to make things happen. Staff will get way more excited about something they helped create than something that was simply dropped on their desks.
4. Develop their skills— The best talent isn’t happy standing still. Or falling behind. These employees crave career development. One study showed that 46% of employees said limited opportunities to learn new skills was the top reason they were bored in their current roles.
5. Listen— Those with the strongest talent may also have the strongest opinions. It takes a confident leader be comfortable giving their employees a legitimate voice. Allow this to happen in your company and you will have the admiration of everyone in it. This doesn’t mean you make every decision by consensus. It just means you need to listen before you decide.
6. Get to know people— Take a genuine interest in each employee. Get to know what makes them tick. Learn what motivates them, and what makes them feel bad. See your staff members as people first and employees second, and you will earn their respect, appreciation, and loyalty.
7. Reward their efforts— This means more than just not taking employees for granted. It means taking the time to actively acknowledge the hard work and effort your team puts in every day. It also means accepting that not all recognition is created equal. What works well for one person may not mean much to another (see #6 above).
8. Be fair— Nothing destroys loyalty faster than favoritism. Employees want to know that everyone is being treated equally. Create a culture of fairness and consistency. Whether you’re talking about company rules or rewards, make sure your policies are applied evenly to all.
9. Follow Through— Trust is critical to your ability to cultivate talent and build loyalty. To earn it, you’ve got to have integrity. Do what you say and say what you mean. Be honest. If you make a promise, keep it. If you make a mistake, take responsibility.
10. Be a leader— No matter how strong their talent, most people are hesitant about going somewhere new on their own. If you have the courage to take your company (and your employees!) to new places, your team will follow you almost anywhere.
Photo by WAYHOME studio
