As a small business owner, you know being able to retain your employees is crucial to staying on schedule and budget. Hiring and training new employees can be an expensive venture and when they leave, your business is set back while you hire and train a new employee. Customers notice when you have a continuous churn of employees and that can reflect poorly on your business. Unexpected absences also throw a curve ball into your work schedule, and could impact your ability to finish jobs and bill for them. This is especially true for businesses with few employees that can’t rearrange their schedules at a moment’s notice. Being good to your employees will not only resonate within your organization, but it also shows your clients you are committed to being the best. While there are many reasons for employee turn-over, some of which you can’t control, here are 3 ways to build a more loyal and dedicated team.
- Offer competitive pay to attract top-quality candidates:
Competitive pay is an important aspect of employee retention. Paying your employees for their skill level, education, certifications and number of years in the field or with your company matters. Ensuring that your employees are paid well for the job they do will increase respect and loyalty for your business. It will increase retention and let your employees know that you appreciate the time and effort they put into your business.
- Create incentives to motivate employees:
Attendance incentives come in many different forms, but serve to be a popular and solid business practice. These types of incentives reduce the amount of unexpected time off by incentivizing the employee for perfect attendance over a particular period of time. This can be as simple as giving gas cards each month, or giving monetary bonuses quarterly. You could also give additional paid time off to be scheduled later as an incentive. These programs are especially effective during busy times of the year when you need all hands on deck. However, remember that you don’t want to encourage your employees to come to work sick just to receive the incentive.
- Provide quality benefits to help retain employees:
Benefits packages are valuable to employees. Most job-seekers are looking at what benefits you offer before they are asking about salary. As the cost of healthcare continues to rise, workers want to ensure that they can pay their bills in the event that they have an accident or become ill. Offering a healthcare option as well as other benefits such as life insurance, accident insurance and employee discount programs go a long way toward creating a solid foundation for your employee retention.
While it may appear that investing in additional employee benefits will increase your overall cost of doing business, that is likely not the case. According to HSD Metrics, losing an employee can cost over $10,000. This cost multiplies if you include the amount of time lost to search for and train new employees and the potential cost of lost jobs and schedule delays. Investing in your good employees makes sense for the continuity of your business and your bottom line. Employees really are the lifeblood of your business.