In one of my previous articles I wrote about how companies can tackle the challenges of finding staff and franchisees in a candidate’s marketplace with unemployment at its lowest rate since the 1970s.
However once you have found the people and taken them into your business, you face a further challenge. How do you keep hold of them?
Various social, cultural and economic factors mean that people are increasingly likely to jump ship and head to another organisation. You’d be justified in wondering why that is, and what you can do about it.
A culture of itchy feet
Whatever the reason, we’ve reached a point where the likelihood of an employee staying with a company for life is virtually nil. Those days are long gone.
However, as an employer you can give yourself the best chance of holding on to your valued people by identifying likely reasons for departure and, where possible, tackling those issues. So what are they?
Firstly, and most obviously, is pay. Good people deserve fair pay and are justified in looking elsewhere unless they’re suitably rewarded for their work. Ideally you’ll communicate plans for career progression throughout the recruitment process, so that staff know there’s potential for developing their career.
For extraneous requests for pay rises I’d suggest that you should weigh up the price of keeping your person satisfied, against the damage that losing them could do to your bottom line and also the cost of recruiting a replacement.
It’s worth bearing in mind team morale and the potential precedent of going outside a set salary structure. Do you want to inadvertently encourage others to follow on with demands for pay rises? Maybe it’s best to let the person in question go.
Start as you mean to go on
In this jobseeker’s market, we’re seeing a change in the things that employees look for in an employer. Factors like social responsibility, flexible working, finding a company that reflects their own values are more important to employees than ever before. At the same time, employees are more willing to call an employer out if they don’t feel these aspects are fair, or handled correctly
So there are other workplace rewards that can improve retention, apart from money. Good working culture, a feeling of appreciation, upward mobility and expert learning – all these can improve the chances of your people sticking with you.
As ever, communication is vital – you should get to know your employees, to work out what makes them tick and, crucially, how their work fits into their life outside. That way, you can offer solutions – flexible working is a great example – which makes their life easier and which improves your relationship with them in the process.
Grievances tell a tale
Across our franchise network we have noticed a sharp increase in the number of grievance procedures our business owner clients are having to deal with.
In Bristol, our franchisee has seen a year-on-year rise of 56 per cent from 2020-21 to 2021-22, largely due to the stress levels in the economy and the working environment. It’s been a tough time for everyone.
Of course, relationships which end up at the grievance procedure stage are the sharp end of the wedge. However they do illustrate the pressures on your employer-employee relationships. Our experts suggest that the demands of changing working habits, combined with wider cultural issues like managerial style, discrimination and perceived poor company cultures and values are the things causing tension. So if you want to keep hold of your people, maybe these issues are worth addressing, preferably well before they become terminal bones of contention.
