© netwomen.co | Women In Networking
I dislike starting off a blog post with ‘due to the global pandemic’ because Covid-19 has
caused A LOT- right?! But seriously- the pandemic has caused a tidal wave of people
to revaluate their lives and rethink their priorities. Due to this, we are seeing the rise of the
Great Resignation. Everyone is looking to hire because everywhere is losing people.
According to Joe Galvin (Chief Research Officer at Vistage), going into 2022, 76% of small
and midsize business CEOs planned to increase headcount. This is the highest amount
on record since they began the quarterly survey at Galvin’s workplace, Vistage, in 2003.
Simultaneously, 62% of CEOs say their top concerns are related to people: hiring, retention,
development, leadership, and culture. This is what brings us to the key point of this blog
post:
Before a leader can increase headcount, they must first stabilize headcount.
Here are a few ways to ensure you are allowing your current employees to thrive in their
working environment.
Provide plenty of training opportunities
The saying goes ‘People rarely quit jobs, they quit their managers’. This is why it is vital to
invest in various training courses for your managers so they can keep up to date with the
best work practices and stay motivated. Learning opportunities for all employees should be
offered as well. Staff will feel valued if they can see that the business actively invests in
them. Training practices have come a long way in recent years and can include short free
courses online to 3 day trips. You can’t overtrain someone! Here at Netwomen.co we offer
individual memberships and/or a Corporate Membership which helps you attract, retain and
elevate female leaders to bridge the gender and ethnicity gap. We also offer an Inclusive
Leadership Program. This is to help organisations who also care about bridging the gender
gap and want a 50/50 split at management level and above. Check it out!
Revisit Current Salaries
NaturalHR say the best policy is to “Put your money where your mouth is: pay as well as you
can afford to”. Take the initiative to increase pay based on their performance, experience
and time with the company. It won’t go unnoticed and employees will feel valued for their
ongoing efforts. Raises, promotions, and salary adjustments save in the long run compared
to the hiring process. This is because when a talented employee quits, it inevitably takes
longer and costs more to hire someone with less experience.
Avoid Favouritism
Treat everyone equally. Favouritism can all too easily rear its ugly head. This can happen
innocently or because you spent a lot of time with one employee in particular. Think of it
from their perspective which might be: ‘My boss is spending all their time and effort with
Julie over there, why should I bother if my efforts keep going unnoticed? I think I will leave
and go somewhere where I am appreciated.’
It decreases morale and motivation and so favouritism is to be avoided at all costs.
This brings us perfectly to our next retention tip.
The importance of “How’s it going?”
Establish an open culture that values employee feedback above everything else. This way
there’ll be no place for underlying tensions to hide. If the importance of dealing with issues
as and when they arise is neglected, the consequences of this are going to last and make a
noticeable impact. This is why you should ensure regular review meetings. These could be
casual or formal, every week or every day. They are worth the time and don’t
underestimate the positive effects they will have on your business!
In conclusion, keeping in mind the Great Resignation, it is now a fiercely competitive job
market environment that offers limitless opportunities for anyone looking to change jobs. It
has never been more crucial that your employees need to feel very valued if you’re to
prevent them from looking elsewhere. Keep these retention tips in mind and by joining
netwomen.co either via individual or corporate membership, will ensure you’re in the best
position possible to retain your talented employees and win at the business game.
By Farlan- netwomen ambassador
© netwomen.co | Women In Networking
