One of the biggest challenges many employers will face is keeping their good employees. It can be hugely costly to a business to lose the best-performing team members, especially when you factor in that this will involve hiring someone else, which costs money to do. Not only that, but when your top talent leaves, it can harm the overall morale of your other employees, causing them to question their position and perhaps cause them to leave. 

It makes sense for business owners to try to retain as many of their good employees as possible in this case. It will benefit the business and employees if you have the right tools and incentives. With that in mind, here are some of the best ways to retain your excellent employees to ensure the health and growth of your business. 

Photo by cotton-bro studio

Provide Competitive Compensation 

Although money is not the only thing that will persuade someone to stay at a job or leave it, it will be a consideration, and for some, it will certainly be more important than other factors. If you have employees, you must pay them fairly, and perhaps even more than your competitors (it only needs to be a little more if this is something you want to consider). 

Don’t just think of the weekly or monthly salary you’re paying someone. In some cases, you might be able to pay a little less (or the same) as your rivals but still retain your best team members because of the benefits and perks you offer. You might give free gym membership, or you might have unlimited vacation time. Perhaps you pay for lunch on a Friday or have great sickness benefits. Maybe it’s the fact that you offer a 4-10 work schedule or hybrid working. Whatever it is, if it makes your employees happy and it is a benefit they can’t get elsewhere, you’re more likely to retain them (although their pay must also be fair). 

Recognize And Reward Achievements for the Best Employees For Your Business

Employees will always want to be sure that their hard work is paying off and that it is appreciated. What is the point of working as hard as possible if no one else seems to notice what you do? In many cases, this would make someone want to leave a place of employment. 

If you want to keep your best employees, you need to remember this, and you’ll want to put plans in place to recognize and reward any achievements that people do for you. Of course, you can’t give people a prize every time they complete a project if that’s their job, but you can tell them you’re pleased with their work. This will show them that they have been acknowledged and will prove that they are doing the right thing – they’re on the right track. They’ll be more confident going forward in their jobs and become even more proficient. 

However, if they go above and beyond, you could offer something more tangible, like an extra vacation day or a pay bonus. It might even be something as simple as a mention in an internal newsletter. 

Whatever they do and however you choose to reward it, doing so will help retain your staff members. If they know you appreciate their hard work and effort, they won’t want to go somewhere else where that effort may not be noticed. 

Create A Positive Work Environment 

The work environment greatly impacts whether or not an employee will stay in a job. If the work environment is unpleasant, a lot of the time, it won’t matter what the other perks and benefits are. It often won’t matter how much they are being paid (although, as we said, this will depend on the individual). The point is that people spend a lot of time at work and need to be comfortable wherever their workplace environment happens. 

If you run a hybrid or office-based business, controlling the work environment and making it more positive will be easier. You’ll be able to see if there is a personnel problem and if issues like bullying come up. You’ll know if people are physically uncomfortable because of the office’s chairs or desks or lack of natural light. You can make any changes you need to make to ensure everyone is comfortable and create a positive work environment simultaneously. 

If you run a remote business, creating a positive work environment might not be something you think you need to concern yourself with; after all, everyone will use their own desks and chairs, and because they are by themselves, they won’t have to deal with any office politics or bullying. This is not the case. You need to care for your remote employees just as much as your in-house ones. Otherwise, you are going to lose them. 

Regarding physical comfort, you might offer ergonomic furniture for those setting up a home office, although this will depend on your budget. You can certainly ensure you check in with everyone on a one-to-one basis and let them know – just as you would in a face-to-face office environment – that they can come to you with any issues they might have. Knowing this can be the difference between an employee leaving and staying. 

Provide Challenging Work 

It might sound strange to say that if you make employees work harder, they are more likely to stay, but it’s true – the more challenging the work is (as long as it’s not impossible), the more interesting the workplace will be. Your great employees won’t get bored because they feel their skills and expertise aren’t being used. 

If someone is bored at work, they will likely start looking around for something else to do – something that will challenge them more than the work they are currently doing well. Being bored at work is a catalyst for change, and that change might be to leave, so you must ensure that each employee can be challenged each day and use their particular skills to do good work. 

There is a balance to be drawn, of course. Too challenging, and your employee might start to become frustrated and even begin to doubt their own abilities. This could make them choose to leave as well. 

Determining where the middle ground lies can be hard, so asking for feedback is a good idea. Find out what level of work you need to provide (and remember, it will be different for each person) and what skills people have that they want to bring to the workplace and use where they can. 

Lead By Example to Retain the Best Employees For Your Business

Unfairness at work is why people want to leave and find a different job. If they see someone being treated differently, this can make them uneasy. If they see someone behaving in a way they have been told not to and not receive any feedback about it, that can be problematic too. If this person is the boss, that’s even worse. 

To retain the best talent, you need to lead by example. Work and behave how you want your team to work and behave, and everything will be much fairer.