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.