Happy employees in a team environment.

Hiring and retaining great talent is traditionally, one of the most challenging aspects of growing a business. It’s no secret, businesses are known for losing employees. Sometimes, it’s like a revolving door of employees and it can be extremely frustrating for business owners who train people, only to watch them turn around and quit.

If you’re a business owner, you’re painfully aware that at any moment, your top salesmen can leave for your biggest competitor, or any one of your promising employees can leave for greener pastures. Or, one of your best workers who you’ve invested a lot of training in may leave to start their own company and compete with you.

It’s a fact, employees come and go. It happens to all companies, not just the little fish. Even the biggest companies lose their high-ranking employees to competitors. So, why do employees leave? Is it the promise of a higher paycheck? Not always. Most of the time, it comes down to culture.

You can throw money around and give out generous pay raises, but if your employees don’t enjoy working for you, if they don’t feel inspired, you’ll have a hard time keeping them, especially when they’re being teased by tempting offers. You’re not a mind reader, so what do you do? You start by becoming more emotionally aware. You need to listen, and give your employees the atmosphere and perks that are important to them.

Start By Listening

If you’re like most of our coaching clients, you get a lot of fulfilment from your employee family. Perhaps one of the most satisfying parts of being a leader is how you get to positively impact your employees’ lives. But when your employees start to leave, you can’t help but wonder what the other employers are offering that you weren’t giving them.

The task is to improve your listening skills. Ask for your employees’ opinions, consider them carefully, take them to heart, and treat your employees with respect. While you won’t become close with every employee, it’s important that employees feel valued and heard. After all, a personal touch and showing that you care go a long way.

Want to create a culture that your employees love? Follow these tips so when the headhunters come knocking, your employees won’t be curious if the grass is greener on the other side:

  1. Get to Know Your Employees

How well do you know your employees? Do you know their passions? Do you know what lights them up? Do you know what triggers them? Take the time to learn each employee’s name, and get to know them. It doesn’t have to be a time-intensive process, but it is smart to make them feel genuinely valued, especially by the owner of the company.

We’re not saying to quiz the employees. Rather, get to know them as individuals. In a world where business owners and CEOs are so busy, a little extra effort to make employees feel valued and appreciated can make all the difference.

  1. Give Employees Decision-Making Power

Part of building a successful business is being able to hand over the reins to trusted employees and letting them run with it. Once an employee has proven himself or herself, let them make important decisions and watch and see how they handle their power. Their response will say a lot. It will show you how your team handles real responsibility.

  1. Put Your Mission in Writing

It’s pointless to expect employees to follow unwritten rules. Our coaches’ advice is to write down company policies and rules, and make sure you set a good example by following them yourself. Employees are drawn to companies that have clear mission statements, but only if they are genuine and the executives are actually living by them.

  1. If You Don’t Know, Ask

Your employees are a goldmine of information. If you don’t know what they want, don’t hesitate to ask. You can email a companywide survey, or pass one out at a meeting. Ask the employees what’s important to them. Do they want free coffee, snacks, or lunches? In-house childcare? Do they want a company gym? Company outings? Financial rewards for making quarterly goals?

You can give them multiple choices, but it’s also a good idea to leave a section blank so employees can make suggestions. Once you find out which perks are most important, see what you can do to make them happen. The idea is to listen, and to take action. This shows employees you care about them, and that creating an environment they love is one of your priorities.

We must remember that happy employees translates to happy customers. Customers can sense when employees are happy, so when you can create a thriving company culture, it’s only going to have a positive impact on the customer experience. To learn more about creating an incredible company culture, contact us to start a conversation with a business coach.