Your hiring process worked, you’ve taken on a great team, and now your focus switches from finding great team members to retaining great employees.
It’s a bit of a no-brainer that you want to keep your team members; they do a fab job, and you want them to continue doing a fab job for you and your business; you want them to enjoy working for you, feel appreciated, and feel fulfilled, so they don’t go elsewhere. But where do you start?!
The world of work as we know it has changed immeasurably over the past decade. Flexible working hours, remote and hybrid positions, and the gig economy are all features of the new norm.
Why employees are leaving their roles
I guess let’s start here to really hone in on what employees don’t want, so you can then turn this around and focus on creating that employee experience that makes employees want to stay.
According to a 2022 Flexjobs study, the most common reasons given for quitting a job were:
- Toxic company culture
- Poor management
- Not allowing remote work
- No flexibility
- Limited career progression
- Burnout
- Lack of work/life balance
- Low salary
So now that we’re clear on what employees don’t want, we can turn this around to create a business that employees want to work for.
Retaining employees
For us at PPF, the number one factor for our team’s success is culture. My motto has always been to treat my team as I’d have liked to be treated by my employer. Driven by our values (lifestyle, excellence, and simplicity), we’ve built a strong, flexible, and positive culture. Every interaction and event during an employee’s working life shapes their experience, and I want that to be a great and positive one for each of my team members.
I’ve always given my team the flexibility to work as and where they want, but we’ve taken this further over the last few years and given the authority back to the employees. They decide where and when they work; they don’t have to ask permission to work certain hours or have a shorter day here and a longer day there. Or even request a holiday? No way—we’re all adults, and my team is treated as such. We have a holiday policy that sets out the parameters, and the team self-approves within this. We are looking to make this an official ROWE (Results Only Working Environment) in 2023 to give it an official title.
I also believe that team bonding is sooo important, especially if you are a remote team, or mostly remote. They all need to get to know each other and understand how each other works, so they can work effectively together, and not have misunderstandings.
At PPF, we have weekly team meetings, which are usually about 10 minutes work related, then we spend the rest of the time chatting about anything and everything. It may feel like wasted time, but it’s actually bonding time. If you add up all those “water cooler” moments if you were in an office, I’m sure it would be much longer than our 50 or so minutes each week. But it’s an integral part of getting to know each other and bonding.
We also have monthly work together in person days where those who are local and able to get together at our local co-working space (The Residence Bishops Stortford – check it out – it’s a fab place to work!) can get together and work together as if we were in the same office.
We also have a full team day all together annually in January, where we review the prior year, go over the goals for the year, etc., followed by a team outing the next day. This year, we’re going to Monopoly Life-sized, and we can’t wait!
Ensuring your business goals and your team goals are aligned is another great way to motivate your team and give them that positive experience. We review our annual goals and look at how PPF can help our team achieve these goals. Working together for that mutual intention helps to continually drive everyone and the business forward. Win win!
Tell your team you appreciate them! This one should go without saying, but I’m sure it is something that gets overlooked so often. My team is thanked, told they’re doing a great job, told they’re appreciated, and so on, regularly, so they know it. Their wins are celebrated, no matter how small, by the whole team; we all appreciate and acknowledge each other. Those little words really do go a long way and will help with job satisfaction and your team feeling like they have a purpose.
And lastly, career progression This may seem impossible in a small business—there just aren’t the opportunities or “progression ladders” like in larger corporations. But that doesn’t mean your team can’t grow, learn, and develop. As your company expands, so will your team, and with it, new opportunities.But you can also nurture your team along the way, give them additional responsibilities, and you’ll be able to then build a SLT, managers, departments, and so on. It’s nice to have a clear plan, but as long as they know the bigger picture and that there is progression in there and they’re part of something, then they will have the progression they want. Hey, they’re with you for a reason; they want to build your business with you, so remember that—you don’t have to compete with the large businesses.
But what I would say is that it all goes back to what your employees want, so find out what they want from you as their employer and give it to them! Just like you do with your customers 🙂
Benefits for employers
A positive workplace experience leads to higher employee engagement. The benefits for businesses are vast:
- Companies with the most engaged employees reported 21% higher profits.
- There is a 41% reduction in absenteeism among engaged employees.
- More engaged teams will sell 20% more compared to those with lower engagement.
70% of employees in a McKinsey study declared that their workplace defines their sense of purpose. Therefore, making sure that your employees feel respected, valued, and engaged is the foundation of an irresistible employee experience.
Well, to sum up, a happy team will help your business go from strength to strength. You can’t do it without a team around you, and a thriving team will all work together to achieve your goals.
If you need any help with hiring and managing your team or building a culture, then we’re here to help. Our HR Services are a bit different to most HR companies (just like everything about Pink Pig really!), we focus on culture and ‘prevention over cure’ when it comes to HR. We’d love to talk to you about your business and your team; pop over to our Get Started page, complete the quick questionnaire, and let’s get a call in the diary.
(Figures throughout this blog are from Staff Circle’s Employee Retention Guide 2022.)
