Attracting the best talent to create loyalty in your team

 

One of the first things a candidate looks for in a job posting is the salary!

Salary and benefits could be the deciding factor at the time of selecting between two offers.

Ideally as an organization you are conducting a market analysis every two years to make sure you are remaining competitive in your industry, however if you don’t want to go to those extremes, it’s simple, look to your competitors and find out how much they offer their employees. Then offer more!
To retain your best employees and attract those out there, you will need to invest. Paying your staff is the best investing decision you can make as an organization because in the end the benefits will be in your favor. 

And when paying, make sure you are rewarding longevity and loyalty! One of the biggest mistakes I have witnessed organizations make, especially after the COVID19 pandemic, is when leaders do not reward those who have remain with the organization for a long time. Perhaps they do not realize how much a high turnover can cost an organization. Let’s dive into it for a bit.

A turnover is the number of employees that leave a team in a specific period, which typically is a year (www.Bamboohr.com) divided by the number of employees that work for the team, multiplied by 100. For example, if 5 employees left your team last year and you have a total of 20 employees, your turnover rate is 25%. According to indeed.com the ideal turnover rate is as close to zero as possible, with very low performers exceeding the 10%. Go ahead an calculate your turnover rate, I’ll wait!

 

If your turnover rate is less than 10% you are doing something right and may not need to read on after all. But if you are like many leaders out there and your turnover rate exceeds 10% stay tuned. To find out how you can retain employees you need to find out why they leave in the first place. This is especially true in times of a pandemic, to learn more about those click here

 While there are many reasons why someone may choose to leave an organization, many times they leave for a better opportunity. A better opportunity does not always translate more money, but more benefits to the candidate. Benefits can include health plan coverage, PTO and other perks.

 

So if you are a leader in a relatively “small” organization, in other words you cannot compete with the higher payors, then consider making the benefit package appealing to your candidates. For instance, while salary may attract candidates to that posting, the benefits along with the salary you offer will help them choose you and stay with you. Let’s consider a receptionist who has an offer from company A for $15 hourly rate, and from company B for $13 hourly rate. Company A may offer more money, however their health plan will cost the employee more than $100 per paycheck, while company B will provide with free health plan. In this case it’s a no brainer! Company B pays less, but in long run it’s the best deal for the candidate. In addition, PTO will provide the employee with a more balanced life and thus companies should consider more PTO hours for their employees. I guess what I’m saying is, if your company like many others in these times of a pandemic is facing staffing shortages, high turnover and has no money to compete with the big fishes out-there, consider instead of offering sign on bonuses or increasing hourly rates, to make the entire benefit package more appealing to your prospective candidates.

Rewarding your employees for their loyalty, will be easier and cheaper than finding a replacement for them. A great way to keep them is showing the appreciation for their longevity. Consider, a yearly increase or annual bonus on the day of their anniversary. I've seen companies pay a bonus that equals the number of years of employment in the thousands. For example, on the employee's 5th year anniversary they get $5,000. I've also seen companies give a $1 hourly increase every year starting on the year of their anniversary. Again, it all depends on the financial state of the organization as well as the willingness to consider a rewards program that allows for employee retention. At the time of determining what is the best decision to make when wanting to reward loyalty, consider the employees in your team and their own desires and personal goals. For one employee a growth opportunity is sufficient to reward their loyalty, for another it might be the possibility of spending more family time, and thus more PTO will be more appropriate. This may be dependent on the generations within your workforce. For more information on how to reward based on generational particularities click here. 

That being said all the benefits of the world will do no good, if your organization does not offer a healthy work environment for their employees! Read this article  to learn how the mental health of the employee is impacted by the work-environment and why organization success is dependent on it. 

 

Staff retention in times of a pandemic

 Thank you! 

Two words with a powerful effect! 
That's no different in the corporate world. In times where we are all struggling to retain our best employees, and it seems harder than ever to secure new hires, it is more crucial than ever to show our appreciation to those who have remained loyal to the organization. I know I do not have to get into how much it costs organizations to replace employees, or to retain new ones, because I'm certain you are very aware of the negative effects of high turnovers. I do however, what you to retain your best staff! 

After all a company's most precious resources is that the humans! Your staff should be your #1 priority. They can break or make your organization and if you have not already considered that, it is in your best interest you start soon. Regardless of the industry, if you take care of your staff, they will take care of your clients. It is much easier to train happy, satisfied staff in customer service than it is training someone who has no intentions of staying long or putting their best efforts into the job. 

When you ask someone what they need to be satisfied at work their answers most times will fall into these categories: salary, growth opportunities, benefits, work-life balance, work environment and appreciation (Spector, & Spector, 1985). While I hope to create a series of blogs that will investigate each category extensively, I hope today you end this reading with a good idea of how you can retain your staff. 

To retain your best staff, you must provide them a compatible salary to begin with. Now let me say this because it is a source of frustration for me and many I know. If you are posting an opened position and instead of the actual salary, you are entering the words "compatible salary," you do not offer a compatible salary for that position. Be opened with your prospective candidates, it will save you and them a whole lot of time. Post the salary! If you have not done a market analysis do one soon. The competitors have and if they offer better benefits than you, while you may still fill your vacant positions, chances are you will always have vacant positions. For more about how to offer better benefits check out another blog on offering the right salary. 

Here's another important aspect of employee satisfaction, growth opportunities. You want to give them the opportunities to learn, grow and move on. If you have an employee who has been doing the same position now for years, you need to reconsider whether you truly offer growth opportunities in your organization. Also, before bringing someone in from outside of the organization, consider those that you currently have in your team. Even if you do not currently have any leadership positions available you should be training current employees who have presented either the desire to grow or you feel have leadership abilities into leadership positions. 

 

In these very difficult times, it is important to not just offer a good salary to employees, but a good health plan that won't break their bank. If you as an organization are not covering or contributing to their health plan, you need to reconsider as soon as possible. The most satisfied employees report having a good PTO plan with their organization (Spector, & Spector, 1985). Allowing your team to take time off to regroup and reconnect is essential for a healthy team. Which brings me to the next point, work-life balance. Your staff should not have to jump through hoops to be able to take 2 hours off one day to attend their children's open houses. Nor should they feel like they need to miss out on their children's lives to work for someone that has no compassion. If someone needs to change their work schedule slightly to be able to attend their loved one’s special occasions, so be it! Trust me, you'll have someone a lot more dedicated and devoted to the company's goals if they can balance their work responsibilities with their personal ones. 

Create an environment at work where no one is dreading coming in every day to work. This will help your attendance issues and productivity as well. Personally, I make it my responsibility to hear my team laugh daily. Walking through the halls and hearing someone laugh is music to my ears. If they can laugh at work, I know we're doing something well. Everyone is struggling with something in their personal lives and if the time they spend at work can bring them any opportunity to take a breather, then I'm happy. 

 

Staff appreciation is so important! Many people link appreciation to job satisfaction. No one likes working their butt off for someone who's only form of appreciation to their employees is the paycheck they get. If you are one of those who thinks by paying them, you're appreciating them, understand that you will always get out of them exactly what you pay them for. Depending on what industry you are in, to get your staff to do what they are paid for will cost you in the long run. If people come in and do just what is expected of them and then go home, your ship will eventually sink my friend. You want to empower them to do more, you want to instill creativity that will create ways of doing things differently, better, more efficiently. That will come with appreciation. Whether it's a handwritten thank you note, calling them out in a meeting for their extra effort or a gift card for going the extra mile, there are endless ways to show your staff you appreciate them and you do not need to go bankrupt to do so. 

Stay tuned for more information on how you can grow in each of these areas above to retain your best staff and create the best environment for your team. 

references

Spector, P. E., & Spector, P. E. (1985). Job Satisfaction Survey. American Journal of Community Psychology, 13(6), 693–713.