The Secret to Keeping Your Best Employees

You have great employees - but how do you keep them? What can you do to ensure your top performers stay motived? So they don't look around for "greener pastures?"

Building loyal employees occurs over time. It is the many small and large things that leaders do to daily create loyalty.

Creating loyalty is like putting money into a bank account. If you put a little in every day, you'll be able to make withdrawals and there is still loyalty.

Withdrawals from the loyal bank account could be a forgotten opportunity for recognition or an unkind word. If there are enough loyalty deposits in the bank account, then a leader does not have to be perfect to maintain loyalty.

Deposits in the loyalty account include:

1. Ask employees for their ideas - and really listen. Employees know when you are pretending to listen and when you truly consider their opinions. A town I worked with had a popular mayor because he often asked the roads crew what they thought of the strategic plan.

2. Treat all employees as valuable - regardless of their tenure or title. Don't give responsibilities like cleaning the kitchen only to the administrative staff. I have seen organizations where everyone is responsible for washing dishes, including the President. It creates amazing camaraderie when you see the CEO with his hands in a sink full of soapy water!

3. Lead by example - walk your talk. At one organization they said leaders did not "walk the talk," they "stumbled the mumble." Employees don't believe leaders if they aren't sharing in both the pain & the gain. At one company the management were telling people to cut costs & get rid of waste. Yet, they wouldn't give up the fresh flowers that were delivered weekly to the executive floor.

4. Create a great company culture - one people enjoy & motivates them. Develop a culture that is unique to you. Don't copy someone else's culture. What works for IT companies in California probably won't translate to a transportation company in Western Canada.

5. Recognize contributions - large & small. It does not cost money to sincerely thank people for their contributions. An email cc'd to their boss, a hand written note, or a half-day off goes a long way.

The secret to keeping your best employees is to make daily deposits into their loyalty account.

If you are interested in keeping your best employees you might also want to click on "6 Ways to Decrease Turnover."

Contact Me Valerie.MacLeod@HainesCentre.com