Best Practices in Keeping and Motivating Employees:

Best Practices in Keeping and Motivating Employees:

Research and human resource practices provide us with a number of recommendations to increase employee retention. Each recommendation contributes to employee retention. Combined, they produce synergy.

1)    Develop an attractive employee value proposition:

An employee value proposition means that your company has something attractive to offer that is perceived as valuable to an employee. As an employer, you must understand what makes your organization attractive to potential recruits and current employees. Branding yourself as an employer of choice is not just a slick set of marketing tactics. The best advocates for an employer’s brand are its current employees. What messages do they send to others about their employer? Are they honestly saying and believing that, “This is a great place to work.”

2)    Create a total reward structure that includes more than compensation:

     Every company should have all the normal compensation mechanisms common to their type of employment. Yet, total rewards packages go far beyond money. While money might temporarily retain employees, it does not always equate with engagement. People want a chance to make a difference and realize themselves. That self-realization is multi-dimensional and different for each employee. The total reward structure should include, in addition to compensation, support for employees to attain their personal objectives aligned with the goals of their organization.

3)    Give feedback on employee performance on a regular basis:

Most managers and employees are not enamored with the performance appraisal process in their organization. Yet, an effective performance management process serves many purposes. Ongoing performance feedback allows employees to better know where they stand, gives them a formal means to provide input and indicates that their managers pay attention to them and that their performance matters. This feedback contributes to employee engagement and retention.

4)    Be flexible in terms of work-life balance:

Workers more and more value a balance between work and life. They want more flexible ways to engage with their employer. To attract and retain workers with different work and career expectations, organizations have to be more flexible in structuring work and its expectations. It calls for a different managerial mindset and practices that involve letting go of old ways of controlling workers’ time and attendance in favor of result criteria such as output, productivity and quality.

5)    Create a culture of engagement:

Employees have become more connected with others in the organization (and the broader supply-and-customer chain) through project-based team work and process management activities. Employees are shifting their loyalty to people, teams and projects and away from company loyalty. It is organizations that create the culture and climate that allow people, processes and projects to become fully connected and engaged with one another. Engaged employees are more likely to stay with their employer.

6)     Train managers to be effective:

Exit interviews consistently show that “poor and bad” management practices greatly contribute to an employee’s decision to leave a company. It is imperative to provide supervisors and managers with adequate tools to become effective managers since we cannot assume that these competencies are innate. Professor Patrick Connor, recently retired after teaching 25 years at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management, is famous among MBA students and alumni for his ‘Connorisms.’ He told them, “Your employees do not work for you, they work for themselves.” When I teach my students about managing organizations, I have them reflect on what really matters to employees and what they are constantly asking of their managers and their organizations. In the end, what employees expect of their managers is fairly simple: Can I trust you? Are you committed to excellence? Do you care about me? What people constantly ask of their organization is: Do you tell the truth? Do you keep promises? Do you act fairly? Do you respect me? Managers and organizations that keep these questions in mind will have a competitive advantage over others in retaining their employees.

Following Topics  have helped organizations to retain Employees and realize their productivity goals :

A :: Top Performer Profiling

B :: Orientation and On Boarding

C :: Performance Reviews

D :: Career Pathing and The Two-Way Value

       Proposition

E :: Communication and Employee Engagement

F :: Morale Boosting

G :: Competitive Compensation

H :: Non-monetary Reward and Recognition

I :: Employee Surveys

J :: Exit Interviews

K :: The Boomerang Effect

A :: Top Performer Profiles:

“Knowing how to select the right people, and in fact, actually selecting them is essential to successful performance.” - Bill Pollock, “People Are Everything” It is important that both the organization and the employee know what they want to get out of the job. The goal for any recruitment strategy should be to attract a top performer who will stay with the company for as long as possible. In order to hire those “near perfect” individuals, an ideal role profile should be created

B :: Orientation and Onboarding:

The orientation process must provide a clear understanding of the role and the performance targets necessary to attain to complete the role successfully. By establishing these targets from the outset, the employee will not be faced with surprise expectations, instilling both confidence and reliability. Many employers have experienced the frustration of hiring seemingly ideal candidates for specific positions only to have them leave immediately after the orientation session . So, to gain the highest productivity and the greatest longevity, wise employers should engage their new hires with an extensive, in-depth onboarding process.Issues may be addressed in person and the human interaction is ideal for reinforcing success within the company.

C :: Performance Reviews:

Positive feedback on a regular basis does more to propel success in an individual than any other performance related tactic. Performance reviews are a chance to formally communicate an employee’s contribution to the company. Performance Reviews increase the chance of an underperforming employee improving their performance. Today’s workplace requires that criticism must come with support and a sense that the company is there to assist the employee in achieving and attaining success. Always recognize successes and never berate an employee who works hard but whose work lacks company standards.

D :: Career Pathing and the Two-Way Value

Proposition:

Motivation is vital for long term retention. Employers must balance company goals with employee’s personal goals. It stands

to reason that a happy, content employee has an equal mix of successful professional and personal lives.

The key to this plan is to marry the company’s goals with personal goals, in essence, the real nuts and bolts of employee engagement. Assisting individual staff members in finding new positions within the company may be the best and most direct way to influence them to stay.

Outsourcing internal applications and transferring to a solutions company can streamline this process from the application stage and help to fill the vacancies created from relocation or transfer.

E :: Communication and Employee Engagement:

Nurturing staff should be ongoing, a day-to-day activity. Clear and open communication is the best foundation for nurturing staff. The active listener appreciates the employee’s feelings, input and concerns which can be the most cost-effective way to acknowledge people. More companies are devising communication plans to keep employees apprised of company performance and business objectives. Technology plays a critical role in communicating corporate messages to the ranks. For instance, through the internet, employees can learn about employment benefits, job openings and the latest product initiatives, many companies are enjoying the benefits of web conferencing tools to facilitate company wide meetings. Picture Talk will let the audience and meeting hosts intermix in real time regardless of location.

F :: Morale:

Morale directly affects the bottom line through its impact on productivity, customer service (and therefore customer loyalty), turnover, absenteeism and litigation. In fact, when such events and programs contradict workers’ daily experience of not being respected, valued or appreciated, these approaches often lead to an increase in cynicism, distrust and eventual turnover.

 What does lead to high morale is an intrinsically rewarding work experience where:

● Employees feel respected, valued, and appreciated

● Employees get to be players and not just hired hands

● Employees get to make a difference

G :: Competitive Compensation, Benefits and Incentive Program:

Competitive compensation and benefit packages including salary, bonuses, stock options, and the traditional health insurance and retirement packages are tools that some companies use to help keep employees onboard. Salary increases should be structured to stay competitive within your market sector, geography and the position. Carefully developed bonus or profit sharing programs provide encouraging, goal-oriented initiatives for employees to aim towards. The goals for success set out by the manager and the employee are more attainable if realistic and practical incentives are firmly in place.

H :: Non-Monetary Reward Recognition:

Reward systems that are person-based are proving to be effective especially when recognition is linked to personal desires or needs such as:

● Time Off

● Flexible work hours

● Job-sharing

● Office Space

● Home Office

● Special Projects, Committee Involvement

● Public Acknowledgment

● Career development and training

● Community and Charity Involvement

I :: Employee Surveys:

Collecting survey data and understanding concerns is only the first step. Managers need to craft and implement policies that meet employee concerns head-on. Organize company-wide communication sessions that feed back survey responses and associated actions, this lets employees know they are being heard and that their issues are being addressed. Employee surveys are best delivered by a third party consultative company such as Drake which can deliver an objective evaluation and encourage candid responses.

J :: Exit Interviews:

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” Aldous Huxley It is unrealistic to think that good people can be trapped. So, when people do leave it is important to know why and adjust hiring profiles, policies and practices within the company to address the concerns. A structured exit interview program can play an integral role in employee retention. Remember it is important to learn from the information gleaned in these interviews. Consider using a 3rd party organization to create and conduct your exit interviews. HR consulting experts which encourage employees to act more openly and honestly with their answers. The information collated from these interviews is excellent for developing and adjusting job profiles and refining the position for the next candidate further improving the chances of retention. As you create your company’s exit interview questionnaire it is important to strike the right balance between the need for information and survey length.

K :: The Boomerang Effect:

The word ‘boomerang’ has recently been used to describe employees who return to an organization. Boomerang employees are usually very committed to their position and the company and are therefore can become the some of your best recruiters for new talent and mentors for existing employees. The time they have spent away from the organization has given them the additional knowledge of the market, and they have personally experienced that perhaps the grass isn’t greener on the other side.