Article by Peter Taylor, 2020 Business Consulting

The national unemployment figures for January were released last week (17th February), which showed unemployment steady at 4.2%. While at this level, we are not considered to be at full employment, it is getting close. Most businesses who are trying to hire staff will agree that attracting the right labour is very difficult currently.

When conditions for hiring new staff are as tight as they are now, it is even more important to ensure you are doing everything you can to retain your best employees. Contrary to popular belief, compensation is not the number one determinate of a motivated and contented staff member, although their compensation should be in line with industry expectations.

The top 5 strategies to retain your staff are:

  • Communication – the pandemic has underscored the importance of clear, concise and regular communication. In the absence of communication from the leaders, staff will fill the void with their own interpretation of what is happening. That is rarely a positive thing.
  • Continuous feedback on performance – the days of the annual performance review, while not dead, are certainly changing rapidly. The current trend is for frequent one to one meetings to help promote timely, constructive and positive communication across the entire team, including on-site and remote employees. This will also help get a sense of staff workload and job satisfaction.
  • Training and development – this goes hand in hand with the previous point. Helping your staff to upskill, particularly in areas which align with their professional goals aids their professional development, while also providing you with a more valuable and competent staff member.
  • Recognition and reward systems – everyone wants to feel appreciated. Be sure you thank your staff who go the extra mile, and do it publicly. Recognition and reward systems can be formal or informal and can be structured to any budget. The important thing is to make sure your best staff know their work is appreciated.
  • Work life balance/Flexible work arrangements – the pandemic has again spotlighted how important it is to be flexible in how we organise our workforce in order to keep the wheels turning. However, with more people continuing to work from home, the ability to balance work and life has been clouded even further. Encouraging staff to have strong boundaries around work time and personal time will show you understand that a healthy work/life balance is essential to job satisfaction.