Keeping your Employees through the Great Resignation

If you’ve made it past the headline, you’re likely facing the challenges of being under-staffed that have come with the recent recession in the workplace. But you’re not alone: Gallup’s research on the topic shows that the number of businesses dealing with staffing issues is at a staggeringly high percentage. Everyone seems to be looking for ways to get their employees to stay.

Honestly? You can’t force your employees to stay. But you can create a company that they want to stick around at for more than a payday.

The Keys To Keeping Your Employees

As mentioned by Gallup (and many other sources you can find online), the increased rate of resignations has more to do with workplace satisfaction levels than with paycheque size. In essence, it has more to do with how happy they are with the company they work for than the dollar amount they’re getting paid.

Instead of increasing pay, try these things first:

Create Effective Company Culture

The most effective workplaces avoid drama as much as possible by keeping to a team player atmosphere and staying away from sugar-coated communication. Interestingly, my company had very few issues with employee retention and my instinct was to find out why.

When I spoke with my employees about it, I discovered that the method of No Bull Sh*t communication and teamwork that I employ was one of the major contributing factors. We keep company communication 100% brutally honest and work together to find solutions to problems – and never blame any singular person.

Take Care Of Them

Find the little ways to take care of your employees and show them that they are an intrinsic part of your company.

For example, when my guards have to stay on-site over a meal break, we often bring them a meal to remind them that we appreciate what we’re asking them to do and we are here to take care of them so together we all take care of our clients.

Additionally, big gestures are effective when called for. We once had a guard on a site that the client didn’t like and wanted to be replaced. We immediately called the guard to remove him from the site and take care of the client’s needs, but we also paid him 2 weeks’ worth of pay while he was searching for another job because we knew it was unexpected and he needed time and financial stability to find something else.

Later, I found out that the two weeks of PTO we gave him to find his job endeared us to our other employees even further. They said that it showed them that we take care of our staff, and motivated them to care about us, their employer. The guard we let go even informed us that he would happily return to working for us if the opportunity arose in the future.

Communicate Clearly From The Start

Part of employee retention comes from how well you communicate and that communication starts before you even pay them a dime. Be completely honest and clear with potential employees about what you’re going to be expecting them to do in the position. Individuals who show up on-site and know exactly what they’re expected to do are far more likely to stick around than those who are expecting to do one job and end up doing something else.

Not only do you take a higher ethical stance, but your clear communication helps employees to trust you. The greater their trust in you, the less likely they are to leave your company.

If You’ve Already Lost Employees

You are currently in triage. Something is making them leave, so it’s now your job to find out what it is and change that. My suggestion, based on the actions I’ve taken which have kept employees around, is to start hosting emergency meetings and stay atop communication with your employees.

The emergency meetings should be centered around how the employees feel about your company, and what would spark a desire in them to stay. Find out if there’s a personality issue with different employees, or if there are rules making it harder to do their jobs.

Initially, they might not feel comfortable telling you exactly what they’re dissatisfied with, that is where communication comes into play. If you’re staying on top of communication and checking in on a daily basis, they’re far more likely to believe that you have their best interests at heart and be willing to speak up. 

It’s More Than Just A Paycheque

As I mentioned before, keeping your employees around is less about how much you’re paying them and more about how satisfied they are working for you. If you show that you genuinely want to take care of them, they are more likely to want to take care of you; I know because I discovered it in my company. 

The workplace has gone beyond being a separate part of people’s lives, and satisfaction at work is more important than ever. If you can create a satisfying workplace, you’ll find that your employees are more likely to stay.