4 Ways to Attract Good Employees and Keep Them

Are your clients’ employees planning to stick around? Turnover can negatively impact a company’s morale and profits. So how do you avoid losing good team members?

The secret is simple: Keep employees engaged in the workplace. A recent article in Forbes highlights how disengaged employees can spell big trouble for companies. The article notes that companies with disengaged employees can have 30-50% higher turnover than companies with more engaged staff. That turnover directly translates to lost client revenue. Engaged employees, however, can increase a company’s bottom line by up to 19%!

So, exactly what can employers do to keep their employees engaged?

1. Hire smart. Having engaged employees starts with hiring the right candidates. No employee wants to start a new position only to feel misled; if the position doesn’t match up with the description and expectations communicated during the hiring process, then it’s more likely he or she will leave. Be clear and accurate in job descriptions and postings, and provide well-defined expectations for the role to ensure both the employer and employee are a good fit for each other. The HR Support Center has examples and forms your clients can use to make sure their job descriptions will attract the ideal candidates.

2. Communicate well and often. Frequent and consistent communication with employees is essential to engagement. The most engaged employees have a clear sense of how their work impacts the organization and contributes to the company’s goals. The Performance Management Quick Guide in the HR Support Center provides examples of performance reviews and other employee communications your clients can use to enhance their interactions. In addition to providing feedback, fostering an environment that allows employees to share how they feel and contribute to the company dialog in an actionable way keeps engagement levels soaring.

3. Be consistent. Consistency is vital to making employees feel like they’re part of a team. Company policies should be applied fairly and consistently across the entire organization. There should also be a process to ensure policies are reviewed frequently and that any changes are communicated clearly.

4. Don’t wait to appreciate. Feeling appreciated and valued is a major factor in keeping employees engaged. Good benefits help, but showing appreciation goes far beyond that. To be effective, employee appreciation needs to be frequent, specific, and timely. Don’t wait until the annual company meeting to recognize employee successes that may have occurred weeks or months before! Immediate recognition connects the achievement with the appreciation in a more meaningful way and boosts motivation.

Keeping employees engaged at work is more important than ever to the health and success of every business. Employees are no longer content to have just any job; today’s workers need to feel valued and connected to their company’s goals to be engaged and committed long-term.

HRAnswerLink Training On-Demand can teach your clients how to incorporate engagement-building practices into their business — and that’s just one of the subjects this valuable resource covers. Ensure that disengagement doesn’t cost your clients their key employees — or hurt their bottom line.

[cta]Questions or comments? Let us know your thoughts. Contact HRAnswerLink on our website, by phone at (877) 882-2237, or by email.[/cta]