These strategies will help to retain your best staff

If you push your staff too hard, they will end up stressed and unproductive

When it comes to managing people, it’s important to get the correct balance between keeping employees engaged and motivated and ensuring they are happy and productive. If you push your staff too hard, they will end up stressed and unproductive, while if you don’t push then hard enough, they will feel unchallenged and unmotivated.

Here are some simple tips to help you keep hold of your star employees and ensure they remain happy and productive members of your team.

Pay them competitively

This might seem obvious, but you’d be amazed how many companies try to get away with paying the minimum they can in certain roles. It’s important to ensure you remain competitive, or even the most dedicated staff will soon be looking for better paying opportunities. Check out industry bodies and online resources to find out what the average salaries are in your industry for your region. You don’t need to be the top payer, but you certainly don’t want to be one of the lowest ones. As well as actual salary, there are also other ways you can bump up your employees’ income, through childcare schemes, season ticket loans, reduced gym membership and a whole host of other options.

Promote work-life balance

This is easier said than done, but it’s vital if you want a happy, motivated and productive workforce. Lead by example, and make sure employees see senior members of the team taking time out and leaving on time. Encourage employees to leave work on time and take proper lunch breaks. If there is a culture of working long, unpaid hours in your business, make it clear that this is not necessary and will not be rewarded. Speak to individuals if you notice the same faces remaining at their desks when everyone else has gone home, and find out if there is a problem with their workload or time management skills.

Train and develop your staff

Constantly training and developing your staff not only keeps them motivated and constantly striving to better themselves – it also gives you a highly skilled workforce. If you work in an industry without a clearly defined professional development path, speak to staff and find out what they would like to learn. While on-the-job training in relevant areas is obviously the most popular option for supported development in the workplace, you might like to offer to sponsor employees through other education. Perhaps you have a team member who didn’t get the chance to gain all the qualifications they wanted when they were younger, or maybe you could do with someone who can speak a certain language from time to time. Even if there aren’t any professional development courses directly related to your area of business, there is always room to improve and develop your team.

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The British Institute of Recruiters is the Professional Body operating The Recruitment Certification Scheme

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