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Six Ways to Keep Your Best Employees
By Diane
Gallo, Chief Human Resources Officer, Vistage International
Talented and experienced employees always have more job options than the
position they are currently have. As a CEO or business owner, it’s worth
taking a minute to think about your best employee. You know that he or she
can go wherever they want because they are exceptional. If you don’t want to
lose them, here are six ways to keep your best employees:
Keep up with
technology
Treat technology like you treat your products and services—always try to
stay ahead of your competitors.
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Offer your
employees time to listen to podcasts or webinars to continue their
education.
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Give them
cameras for their laptops so they can “attend” a meeting regardless of
their location.
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Use
instant messaging in your work place—Skype is a great free option.
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Allow
certain employees to attend one technology conference per year.
Encourage a
healthy work/life balance
A healthy workplace is a happy and productive workplace!
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Offer
flex-time and telecommuting—less time in traffic equates to happier more
productive employees.
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Offer
juices and healthy snacks, instead of just coffee and soda.
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Offer yoga
or mediation at lunch or before work.
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Encourage
a healthy lifestyle and exercise by starting company softball, soccer or
volleyball league teams.
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Take
vacations and really let go of stress. If you do, employees will too.
Customize
motivation
Changing workforce demographics has eliminated the “one size fits all”
approach to employee motivation. What works for some won’t work for many.
Baby boomers thrive on their own accomplishments, Gen X loves independence
and likes to be recognized in ways that foster their ability to solve
problems on their own, Gen Y likes to take multiple approaches and is
creative, tech savvy, and thrives on consistent and lavish praise. Consider
the generation when giving awards. For example:
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Reward a
Gen Y superstar with an e-mail blast to the company about her good work.
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Reward Gen
X with the opportunity to work remotely where all people can’t interrupt
them.
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Reward
Boomers with a tangible award to put on their desk.
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Additionally, let employees reward each other with “company bucks”—fake
money that can be cashed in for food, products or gift certificates.
Manage
expectations
In a workforce saturated with employees who want immediate gratification,
are you making sure you’re giving that gratification to those you want to
retain? Here are some tips:
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Make room
in your salary structure to reward superstars with substantial raises and
bonuses.
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Offer your
top performers extra vacation time to be used during slow periods.
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Offer
non-monetary perks (movie tickets, prizes, gift cards, food, etc.) that
create loyalty and fun but don’t cost much.
Act as the
company’s moral compass
Employees don’t leave companies they leave managers. Are people staying with
you? Training managers and leaders in soft skills benefits everyone. Take
time to train your leadership on conflict resolution skills, listening
skills and the ability to set clear expectations with their staff. Do a
refresher course yourself. Everyone’s morale will be better, including
yours.
Raise the
level and cull the low-performers
Sometimes during economic slowdowns people who should move on don’t. It’s up
to you to create clear and new expectations for their performance. And keep
resetting the goals. Higher standards and expectations support the movement
of those who can’t keep up out of the business. You have every right to say
that what was excellent performance or productivity in one business
situation is mediocre at best in the current one.
The demand
for superstars in the workplace isn’t minimized by a slowing economy. If you
have great employees, be alert and keep them engaged. As a CEO you’re always
in recruitment mode.
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