Keys to keeping your employees happy
Retaining employees isn't just about money
With the job market showing improvement, it might be time to re-evaluate if you are doing your utmost at keeping your best employees happy so they don’t go elsewhere.
Linda Henman, president of Henman Performance Group and author of Challenge the Ordinary and Landing in the Executive Chair, said the smartest way to keep employees happy is to create an environment where they want to work.
Easier said than done.
In a recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, U.S. workers are quitting their jobs in increasing numbers, with the percentage of voluntary separations up by 14 percent in November 2013 compared with November 2012.
At Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, leadership has been working to improve its retention. Rhonda Larimore, vice president of human resources, said just seven years ago their employee turnover was approximately 16 percent and nursing turnover was approximately 12 percent. Now it’s about 10 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
Larimore said in her experience, the most important tactic to keeping employees is simply to listen.
“Too many times we as leaders think we know how to fix an issue – how to make it better for our employees,” said Larimore. “Many times, we are not close enough to the issue.”
How does a hospital keep top performers from jumping ship? For starters, Henman suggests:
- Pay workers a fair salary
- Give them good managers
- Give them opportunities to advance in position or knowledge
- Don't annoy them with inconsequential policies and rules
- Build a brand they can be proud of (cutting edge research, best patient satisfaction scores, for example)
- Set higher-than-industry standards in critical areas so top performers in those areas will be proud to play for the "A" team
- Have aggressive improvement goals each year and communicate to each person his or her role in achieving them
