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How To Keep Good Staff From Leaving The Seven Reasons Employees Leave and How To Counteract It!

How To Keep Good Staff From Leaving | The Seven Reasons Employees Leave and How To Counteract It!

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How To Keep Good Staff From Leaving The Seven Reasons Employees Leave and How To Counteract It!

As a training provider and employment specialist, our mission at Pathway Group is to get more people into work, successfully.

That means when they find a job, it is the right match between individual and business, and that person stays with the company for a meaningful length of time and contributes to that business.

Retaining staff is vital. The costs in time and money to an organisation when they cannot hold onto their staff is significant.

Think for a moment about the recruiting costs, the management time in recruiting, the time it takes for staff to learn and be trained in their new job. Holding on to you staff therefore, needs to be one of the key business focuses for any business, whatever their size.

They are:• The need for trust – In the company to deliver on its promises

and to be open in their communication

• The need for hope – To believe that you can develop your skills and advance your career with this business

• The need to feel a sense of worth –To know that if you

contribute in a meaningful way you will be rewarded accordingly, and that your work makes a difference

• The need to feel competent –Expecting to be matched with a job that suits your skill set and gives you a challenge

There is a seminal piece of work by Leigh Branham entitled ‘the Seven hidden reasons employees leave’ In her book Branham begins by looking at the basic needs of any staff member; these needs set the tone for the

seven reasons why staff leave.

With these in mind, let’s look at the seven reasons Branham gives for why staff leave, and explore what businesses can do to prevent this from happening:

1. The job or the workplace is not as expected:

So often, a new team member joins and finds that the job and the business has been mis-sold to them. What they thought they were coming in to do is not the main part of their role and the work environment is different from what was described.

In order to address this issue, businesses need to be open about the workplace and the job from the outset and create realistic job descriptions. If you have a difficult team environment that this person will be addressing, let them know in interview.

The job or the workplace is not as expected: Continued

If the first few months of the job are going to be getting the right systems in place, then this needs to be part of the job description. Do this and the right people will join you.

Getting team members involved in the interview process can help with this, as you will get a better view of chemistry and whether the person will fit in with the group. Another way, is to hire from within. This inevitably reduces the possible issues regarding team and job expectations.

2. A mismatch between the job and the person:

In Branham’s book she points to research showing that 80% of staff aren’t using their skills on a daily basis! The research suggests that this is down to managers not understanding the skills a person has and then matching that with jobs within the business.

This can be improved by having a commitment to upgrading talent, meaning businesses should be consistently looking to improve the talent of the people they have and add talent where it is needed.

A mismatch between the job and the person: Continued

When recruiting and interviewing, it’s important to cast a wide net for your talent, and to conduct a rigorous interview procedure. Managers, and anyone else involved in recruiting should be trained in this area, but also be clear on what skills or talent are required for the role.

Tracking the success of recruitment is also important, not just how much it costs, but the results of that recruitment for your business. This way, your recruitment continually improves.

3. Too little coaching and feedbackFor employees to be engaged with the company and its success, their effort’s need to be aligned with the company’s goals. In order to achieve this a culture of feedback and coaching needs to be instilled in a business.

For new hires, this should be an intensive process. When an employee joins the business, getting that person on board with what the company is looking to achieve and working with them to have feedback in both directions is vital. This early stage coaching and feedback will set the staff member off in the right direction.

Managers who are giving feedback and coaching need to be trained. If you had a new piece of equipment worth £30,000, would you let a member of staff work with that equipment without giving them training..., not training your managers correctly is the equivalent of doing exactly that.

4. Too few growth opportunitiesIf a staff member cannot see how they can grow them selves or further their career, then it is likely they will leave.

In order to address this, businesses need to commit to ‘growing employees’. This can be by providing training opportunities, by being clear on possible career progressions in the business and by keeping staff informed of business plans.

Hiring from within also dangles a real carrot of opportunity for many staff. If people can see that they can progress internally as others have done, this example keep employeesengaged and asking how they can achieve this growth.

Don’t fear training staff who might then leave; instead consider the effects on the business if you don’t train them and they stay.

5. Feeling devalued and unrecognizedOne of the most underused words in business is ‘Thanks’ This small but important word issignificant. It shows staff that you have noticed their work and are pleased by it. It shows that you recognise that what they are doing is valuable.

In order to make staff feel valued, businesses should offer good wages – ‘ you pay peanuts you get...’ it’s not that the people you employ aren’t capable when you pay poorly, just that they are less motivated to work hard for you.

It’s important to reward achievements with financial rewards, immediately. Small bonuses say a huge amount and make staff feel that you place a real value on the work they have done. Waiting six months disassociates the achievement from the bonus and devalues it – even if it is bigger.

Feeling devalued and unrecognised: Continued

Engaging with your staff is another important tool for employee motivation. It’s important to ask for employee input, and when you get that input, it’s even more important to listen to it and act upon it. In addition, to really engage with staff well and make them feel valued, sharing information within the business, generates a real cultural difference.

Last but not least, give your staff the tools they need to do the job well. Staff members often feel devalued when they don’t have the right tools for the job. It is an investment in your staff and your business.

6. Stress from being overworked and having poor work-life balance

People often look to the team members who start early, finish late and work through lunchas examples for others to follow. It’s not to say they can’t be, but often this isn’t a good sign. Very often you will observe their frustration at this situation coming out in strange ways – whether that’s their relationship with team members or how their personality changes.

In order to keep your staff on a long term basis, you need to ensure that they have abalance. Working hard for your business is great, but not if they don’t last.

Stress from being overworked and having poor work-life balance: Continued

Provide your staff with flexibility; that could be flexible benefits such as extra holiday days or more flexible work practices like working from home.

In addition, small things such as a comfortable and rewarding office environment can be a huge factor in showing that you recognise the people in your business work hard, but that you appreciate that. Work towards giving your employees better life balance and you will get hard working employees, which stay with you.

7. A loss of trust and confidence in the Leaders

If your staff don’t believe in your ability as a leader to follow up what you say with what you do, or that you have the capability and competence to actually deliver the results – then you will lose staff. In short – staff need to believe in their leaders and managers.

• Employees want to know that the organisation will be successful – This is important for their job security and their wealth. Leaders need to create and deliver a workable plan for growing the business, only then will staff follow.

• Do what you say you are going to do – If you back up your words with meaningful actions, then your staff will have no reason for cynicism.

• Trust your staff by giving them real responsibility – You can significantly increase people’s value by trusting them to deliver. Don’t give them the authority but then undermine them, give full responsibility and you will create an empowered and powerful workforce.

Pathway Group work with organisations of all sizes to recruit and retain the best staff for their business.

To find out more visit: www.pathwaygroup.co.uk Call: 0121 707 0550 E-mail: [email protected]