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The demand for the best talent is higher than ever and there is enormous pressure to attract and retain the best talent in order to maintain your company's competitiveness and attractiveness to customers and clients.
Top talent has many options when it comes to choosing the right company in terms of compensation, location, benefits, culture and work environment. Losing a talented team member can be costly and disruptive to the company. For owners of smaller companies with limited financial resources, retaining those resources can be especially difficult. It is critical for owners to know the best practices they can use to avoid losing valuable team members to other companies.
Below I will explain five key strategies for developing and retaining talent.
Related: 14 Strategies to Retain Top Talent and Build Championship Teams
1. Personalized learning paths
According to a report by McKinsey, over 40% of employees leave their current employer because there were few opportunities for development and career advancement. Prioritizing the development of your team is a great way to benefit both the company and the employee. While most companies offer some form of training or development for employees, they often lack personalization that matches employees' specific career goals.
The reality is that everyone needs something different when it comes to professional development. By assessing each team member's career goals, your company can create a personalized mix of online courses, mentoring, and on-the-job training to help them get where they want to go. This ensures that employees feel valued and that the company is investing in their professional development. This not only leads to happier and more productive employees, but also supports long-term retention.
2. Flexibility in awarding contracts
Keeping employees motivated is extremely difficult. In today's business environment, stagnation is a recipe for burnout. Companies can offer a rotation program that allows employees to gain insight and experience in different departments for a period of time. This not only challenges them and learns new skills, but also gives them a broader perspective on the company's operations and goals. This also contributes to a more diverse and valuable team, reduces the risk of skills gaps, and improves cross-training.
If your team is small, consider making the collaboration available to other related and non-competing companies, perhaps an association or group of which your company is a member.
3. Mentoring programs
Mentorship programs are essential to guide and support new employees and junior employees looking to advance their careers. By providing experienced mentors to your employees, your company can facilitate knowledge transfer and improve the overall strength of the team. Mentorship programs are also a great way for employees to build connections with the leadership team, which can foster a culture of belonging and loyalty.
And remember that mentoring is a two-way learning program. Your experienced mentors can undoubtedly learn a lot from your new and younger employees.
Related: 6 reasons why leaders should implement formal mentoring programs
4. Promote a culture of creativity
As an owner, your goal is to attract and retain highly creative talent. It's important that you don't stifle your creative culture by constantly bombarding your team with non-creative tasks and activities. This will ultimately drive them to seek employment at a company where they can keep their creativity flowing.
Instead, give your employees the freedom to spend part of the week focusing on innovative ideas or learning opportunities outside of their regular duties. This approach has been successfully implemented at many large technology companies, such as Google's “20% time” policy. This time provides a relaxing break from routine tasks while also providing the opportunity to discover new innovative products or solutions for your company.
5. Prioritize work-life balance and well-being
When employees start to feel stressed and overwhelmed, it often leads them to look for other employment in the hopes of finding a better work-life balance. As a business owner, putting your team's health and well-being first can help keep them motivated and less prone to burnout.
A good place to start is by offering flexible working arrangements, such as flexible hours or remote work. Not only will this give you access to a larger talent pool, but it can also increase job satisfaction among your existing team. You can also offer additional perks like mental health days, gym memberships, and other employee wellness resources.
Retaining talent requires continuous improvement
Retaining your top talent should start and end with employee feedback. Business owners should start by identifying their organization's current needs through employee surveys, focus groups, and retention interviews. This can give you a sense of what types of initiatives would be most impactful with your team. Once you've heard from the team, you can set clear goals and define success metrics for each program. Most importantly, be responsive to the feedback you receive. Inaction sends the team the message that you don't care about them.
Not all programs will be successful. Take the time to regularly review the effectiveness of each initiative using feedback and performance metrics. Feel free to end any programs that aren't resonating well with the team. Successes that work will be highlighted by employees celebrating their successes and encouraging continued participation. Through continuous improvement, you will discover the best ways to change your culture and environment so that people look forward to coming to work every day and doing their best.
Related: 5 essential steps to foster a culture of continuous improvement
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