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Employees are the face of your brand, guardians of your intellectual property and ideas, and the biggest driver of business growth.

Not only is employee turnover disruptive, stressful and time-consuming, it’s also incredibly expensive. When an employee leaves your business, you’re left out of pocket until you hire and train someone else. There can also be implications for your remaining employees such as increased stress and tension, reduced morale and decreased productivity. Here are some ways to retain your valued employees.

Give your employees autonomy

Employees like to feel they have some ownership over their output. Even the smallest tasks can be rewarding if they feel empowered and in control of their own work.

Try to empower your team members by giving them the authority and space to plan their own work. Always be accessible and open to problem solving, whether it’s brainstorming the next steps or overcoming obstacles. Make sure your staff are coached and supported to do a good job.

Improve your communication

Good communication is about sharing business objectives, taking on feedback, and actively listening to your employees. If your employees are frequently left out of the loop, they could start to feel isolated and disconnected.

Ask questions to find out how they are finding their jobs and where they think improvements can be made. Listen and take steps to rectify problems when an employee raises a concern with you. Hold regular staff meetings where business goals are shared and success is recognised.

Be consistent

Regardless of what an employee’s role or responsibilities are, they should know what’s going to happen if they achieve or if they fail.

Establish clear metrics for evaluating an employee’s contribution, review performance against agreed metrics on a regular basis and openly talk about work that missed the mark while being supportive and understanding.

Provide real opportunities

Most employees are interested in professional growth and building a career. Allow employees to work on a special project or conduct research. Enable employees to develop their skills by providing additional responsibility, leadership opportunities, or represent your business at networking or industry events.

Providing a budget for training and development, such as workshops and courses will also improve employee loyalty.

Pay bonuses

Being a great business to work for is important, as well as a competitive pay packet and benefits. Paying a one-off bonus for completing a challenging project or securing an important contract will be appreciated. You could increase pay as the result of more responsibilities or pay higher than the industry average.

Offering staff a stake in the business in the form of a partnership or shares is a long-term consideration to retain key employees.

Provide non-financial incentives

There are creative ways you can reward employees for a truly excellent performance. It could be as simple as allowing them to go home early, acknowledging an employees’ start-date anniversary, closing early before a holiday, or offering staff the ability to work from home or part-time leave.