TEN TIPS FOR KEEPING GOOD EMPLOYEES

The baby boomers are retiring. The labor shortage is coming. This means that management will have to work harder to attract and keep top quality employees. But, where do you start? Here are ten tips to help managers keep quality employees:

1. Make sure your organization’s leaders have integrity. Often, the integrity of an organization’s leaders (or lack thereof) is revealed by how employees are treated. Many of the companies identified as today’s employers of choice are being led by CEO’s with a passion for taking care of their employees as people.

2. The lifeblood of leadership is trust. Employees cannot be lead by managers they don’t trust. In order to gain employees’ trust, you need to be open, fair, honest and consistent. As the saying goes, people don’t leave jobs, they leave bad supervisors.

3. Employees want and need regular recognition and rewards. Be generous with your praise and make sure the rewards you provide are meaningful to your employees. If you don’t know how your employees would like to be rewarded, ask.

4. Pay attention to the career goals of your employees. One of the most common reasons employees cite for leaving their jobs is lack of opportunity for career growth or advancement. Discover what your employees are passionate about.

5. Evaluate employees consistently and fairly. An annual performance evaluation is not enough. Employees should receive coaching and feedback on a regular basis and should not be ‘ambushed’ by negative evaluations. The individual strengths and specific talents of employees should be used as effectively and creatively as possible.

6. Make sure employees have the support they need to be as productive as possible. It won’t matter how motivated your employees are if support resources aren’t available to them. Listen to your employees’ wants and needs, even if they seem small and insignificant. Respond to employee requests quickly. Don’t wait for them to nag.

7. Make sure your organization has a plan to re-engage disengaged employees. A disengaged employee is one who has mentally left the organization, but is still physically there. As another saying goes, some employees quit and leave, others quit and stay.

8. Make sure your employees are a ‘good fit’ in your organizational culture. A company’s culture represents the core values and shared meaning of the majority of its employees. Avoid desperation hiring. Today’s hiring mistake is tomorrow’s headache.

9. Get to know your employees personally. Have you considered their family needs?
An employee without an adequate home life is a highly stressed employee. Think creatively about how you can help your employees to have a better work/life balance. Most of us need a job and all of us want a life. We should be able to have both.

10. Are you comfortable dealing with personal stress issues and conflict in the
workplace? Conflicts must be handled in a professional, non-threatening way. Remember that your employees are complete people, with personal lives, emotions and distinct personalities.



Heather Uczynski, M.A.

Heather Uczynski is founder and owner of Leading Edge Business Consulting, specializing in helping organizations to become more psychologically healthy.