How to Keep Your Best Employees from Walking Out the Door

So, why do talented employees leave?

While it is definitely one of the top contributing factors, most research has shown that money is rarely the only reason an employee chooses to leave a company. It is usually a combination of a variety of other reasons that often has the biggest influence on a talented worker’s decision to seek new opportunities. In order to keep your best and brightest from walking out the door, it’s important to understand some of the non-money related causes of employee turnover.

Here are some ways you can address management issues to start retaining great employees, improve your bottom line and re-engage your workforce:

1) Clarity of Purpose and Direction. Understanding the vision, mission, road map and direction of the organization is critical. Employees want a clear sense of what their organization stands for and wants to accomplish. Employees want to know their exact roles and responsibilities and the roles of others in the organization. With clarity, everyone will be more willing to pull together for a common cause.

2) Ideas and Opinions Matter.  Employees need to be encouraged to speak freely and leaders must effective communication channels in place throughout the organization. Communication is critical. Formalized feedback options include things such as a benchmarking study and using questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, surveys, 360 leadership reviews, town hall meetings, comment boxes.

3) Proper Tools and Resources to perform the job. Your employees need certain things to get the job done – you may not always be aware that they are missing something. The only way to be sure that the proper equipment, materials, tools and potential resources are always available is to create a communication link between staff and management. With everything they need to complete the job at hand, production goes up and so do profits.

4) Workplace Wellness, that includes a caring organization and work-life balance. Research has proven that employee engagement dramatically increases when an organization demonstrates that it is authentically concerned about the wellness and development of its employees. Every organization has to find a balance between operations and the wellness of its staff, if it wants to keep them fully engaged.

5) Recognition and Appreciation.  Where employees are recognized, rewarded, appreciated, and enjoy a fair compensation package. Everyone wants a little recognition for their achievements – it is, perhaps, one of the most primal of human needs. Employee recognition reinforces individual and team accomplishments and encourages more of the same behavior. When rewards are matched with employees needs the sky is the limit.

6) Work is Fun and there is a genuine love for the job and organization. People who love their jobs never, ever say that they love it for the paycheck. Employees that say the love their jobs are really saying that they are engaged by their work and gain meaning from it. Workplace fun increases employee morale and creativity while also decreasing absenteeism – perhaps because people hate to miss out on fun.

7) Opportunities to constantly Learn and Grow.  Are your organization’s learning, training and career development plans working as expected? Ask your employees what they think is missing, what needs to be clarified for them. Every learning opportunity that you make available to your people should benefit them directly in what they do. You’ll only find out what those things are by listening to your people.

8) Freedom to Unleash Passion and Creative Potential by contributing through special talents, skills and passion. Employees want to work with an organization that fully engages their unique talents, that encourages their passion, and that feeds their energy and drive.

9) High-trust Environment where there is mutual trust and support to take calculated risks. Employees have to be trusted to do what is expected of them, to make decisions that are best for the organization based on the guidelines in place. Employees also have to be able to trust management to communicate effectively and with integrity. When a team really clicks and is productive and in harmony, it is clear that they truly trust one another.

10) Making Progress in One’s Work through meaningful tasks and making headway on a day-to-day basis. When employees are making progress in their job, a goal and receive support they can more easily overcome obstacles. Research shows over and over that the number one motivation factor for employees isn’t money – it is progress.

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