Remember the good old days when a person could spend an entire career working for just one company? When an employee could become a “lifer,” essentially going from graduation to gold watch retirement—spanning an entire adulthood—with one employer? In today’s job market it’s not hard to realize that those days are long gone. And this reality not only has an effect on employees, but also on employers.
Employee turnover can have a monetary impact, costing companies millions in lost productivity, training, team disruption and quality control issues. Many businesses report that the total cost of losing an employee can range from tens of thousands of dollars to 1.5-2 times annual salary. A study by AMA (American Management Association) reports a range of between 25 percent and 250 percent of annual salary per exiting employee. The cost varies greatly, depending on the industry and job type and the impact can be far more significant than just financial.
Once you’ve found a successful employee—one you want to go the distance with—how can you motivate them to stay on? I can sum it up in two simple words: you matter. When an employee feels that they matter, the positive side effects are almost limitless, including loyalty, job satisfaction and increased productivity. A McKinsey Quarterly survey showed that workers were more motivated by praise from managers (67%), recognition from company leaders (63%) or opportunities to lead projects (62%) than cash, bonuses, or options. Here are some ways you can show an employee they matter:
Share your organization’s vision—Align company strategies with your employee’s goals. Goal alignment is critical for business success. It ensures that each person within an organization can see the direction for the business and know how their job fits in with the grand scheme of things. When you clearly understand your individual goals and how they relate to the larger goals of the company, you become more engaged with work. Helping an employee to understand their role in terms of the big picture can give them a clear sense of purpose. It will make them feel valued which in turn will lead to stimulating productivity. Win-win!
Offer encouragement and productive feedback on a regular basis—People need to know that they’re being noticed. The best part about this type of motivation is that there is no cost: it’s free to compliment, encourage and offer supportive feedback. Keep an open line of communication and an environment that fosters transparency. This lets employees know what’s working and how they can improve.
Consider more flexibility—We’re all in search of that elusive work-life balance. With all of the advances in technology, consider opportunities that allow people to take advantage of the ability to work anytime, anywhere (as long as there’s an internet connection). You may be able to offer flexible scheduling or occasional telecommuting as long as the performance is consistent, which will help build trust and meet a successful employee’s desire for flexibility. Also consider the importance of vacations as an essential ingredient for employee satisfaction. Coming back refreshed with a good attitude after vacation can help an employee appreciate their work even more—a key to retaining the best employees.
Self-direction makes a difference—Telling an employee what to do and how to do it essentially turns people into robots. Management with too much control doesn’t motivate or retain successful, thinking employees. Self-direction is a valuable motivator, so when possible, allow employees the opportunity to work at a pace and with a method that suits them the best.
Offer continuing education and professional development—Most successful employees want to advance by continuing to grow and develop their skills. Bringing in speakers or encouraging employees to attend leadership conferences is a top professional priority.
Make time for personal projects—Companies such as Google and 3M like to offer employees time to work on personal projects that resonate with them individually. This not only helps them feel more engaged, but also has the effect of boosting creativity in the workplace, too. “On a regular basis, allow team members to work on whatever they want,” says Tim Elmore, the founder and president of Growing Leaders, a non-profit dedicated to youth leadership development. “This allows employees to take initiative, be creative and produce something on their own.”
Employees are a company’s greatest asset – they’re your competitive advantage. You want to attract and retain the best; provide them with encouragement, stimulus, and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company’s mission.” ― Anne M. Mulcah
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Kaylaa T. Blackwell is an IT Professional working @ Itron, Inc. and a student @ Southern New Hampshire University with a penchant for writing, researching and helping others resolve real world issues. She has a great interest in technology, business and psychology and how they impact each other. The views and opinions expressed in this article belongs to Kaylaa and do not represent the opinions of her employer. Learn more about her here.
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Exactly 🙂 . Consequently, we have to change our thinking and actions to do things differently to be successful in the current job market and changing economies of scale. Most importantly, it is vital that we make the right moves to engage and reward good employees or we will lose or sacrifice them. While if we are the employee, its super essential that we don’t sell ourselves short.
Well said!
Thank you for stopping by 🙂 .
My pleasure 🙂
Great points! In this bad economy, companies are trying to keep afloat. Engaging and retaining employees is not a priority. Besides there is this thing called internship. Companies don’t have to worry about investing much on employees:(
Yes…it’s really unfortunate that some companies look at it that way. They will be in very bad shape if they don’t start valuing good employees. Especially in a “bad economy”, because they lose a lot of money trying to re-train new employees, if they err with the ones they already have. This losing them to the competitor.
Plus internship while good, does not replace employees with experience and expertise. For the latter is needed to make critical business decisions on the fly, while doing their daily jobs under pressure and during challenging and changing times (that can make or break a company). Thanks for stopping by, and adding value to the conversation. Hope you are enjoying the New Year so far :).
Wonderful points. This is exactly the type of conversations and points we try to bring up all the time at IT4Recruiters.com. I often have seen the failure to engage employees reflected not only by companies and managers, but during the recruitment process during onboarding as well.
We offer many solutions and ideas to help you with this problem in our articles: checkout 4 ways to build the right team(https://it4recruiters.com/members/?p=140), 3 Ways To Improve Work Satisfaction (https://it4recruiters.com/members/?p=109), and Streamlining the hiring process (https://it4recruiters.com/members/?p=600). These are just a few articles we offer that provide alternative ways to ensure that a new or existing employee stays happy and engaged.
Thank you Michael for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. It is great that you encourage this kind of conversation and collaboration to find solutions at your company. I popped by and had a quick look at your company website and services. Will be returning to check it out in more details 🙂 .