For today’s businesses, one of the biggest challenges is to attract employees and retain a skilled workforce. In this article, we’ll explain 5 tips for attracting and keeping employees for your business. Since these tips increase employee satisfaction, it will lower your recruiting costs and improve the productivity of your company.
Today’s younger workers have a very different attitude about work than the older workers who are nearing retirement. Therefore, employers are facing more and more challenges with finding skilled workers. In fact, one recent study revealed that 85% of HR execs claim the greatest challenge they face is the inability to recruit and retain good employees and managers.
However, it is possible to attract and retain good employees, improving productivity- simply follow these 5 steps:
- P- provide a positive environment to work in
- R- recognize, reward, & reinforce good behaviors
- I- involve and engage
- D- develop skills & potential
- E- evaluate & measure
Running a business can be hard, but Orcutt & Co. can help. If your business is based in Cincinnati, we can handle your accounting, payroll, bookkeeping, and tax planning tasks.
Provide a Positive Environment to Work In
Think about this: have you ever had a bad boss? One of the primary reasons that people quit is the relationship with their direct supervisor. Most supervisors and managers don’t realize that their actions and decisions have an effect on employee turnover. One of the major aspects of retention is manager training. When managers are properly trained, it plays a critical role in effective recruitment and retention. Managers need the knowledge, skills, and tools to understand the needs of their employees and to put a retention plan in place to increase employee engagement.
Recognize, Reward, & Reinforce Good Behaviors
Things like money and benefits get people to come in, but you need something more to keep them from leaving. People need to have a sense of pride in the work they are doing, and they need to feel like they are appreciated. A recognition and reward program can meet that need and it really doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.
Involve and Engage
You may have dutiful employees who show up for work every day. However, are they engaged and productive? When you allow your employees to contribute their own ideas and suggestions, they will be more committed to and engaged with the company because it gives them a feeling of ownership.
Develop Skills & Potential
For most people, a career opportunity is just as important as how much they are making at work. One study revealed that 40% of workers would be willing to leave their current employer for another job with the same benefits- if the new job was more challenging and offered room to grow and advance.
A skilled worker is not going to hold on to a job if they don’t feel like they have a future in it. In order to prevent workers from feeling like they are in a dead-end job, you should have an individual development plan tied to every position.
Evaluate & Measure
The final step in this system is continuous evaluation and improvement. The purpose of the evaluation portion is to measure progress and determine what is satisfying versus what is not satisfying to your workforce. It includes a measurement of attitudes, engagement, turnover, and morale of your workforce. Here are a few items that you need to include in your evaluation and measurement:
- Annual employee satisfaction surveys
- Interviews/surveys to determine the reasons that people are drawn to, and the reasons people leave your company
- Improve hiring process to align employees’ talents with job requirements
- Offer flexible hours for older employees as well as those who are parents
- Make managers responsible for retaining employees within their own departments
- Determine what turnover is costing you
- Take a closer look at the positions that have the most impact on profitability & productivity
- Take a closer look at the departments with the highest turnover
- Create an effective employee orientation program
Conclusion
One of the biggest challenges for today’s business owners is attracting and keeping skilled employees. However, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Simply remember the acronym P.R.I.D.E. to help you understand how to attract and keep your employees. Also, consider hiring Orcutt & Co. if you have a business in Cincinnati. We can handle all of the financial needs of your business- which will free you up to deal with employee attraction and retention.
