Love is in the air

Is love really in the air? (I’m not talking about the current season of MAFS!)

In case you have missed it – Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. But who needs a valentine when your employees love you . . . right?

Did you respond – “You’re dreaming Melissa. (And besides, I love chocolates)”?

I know that dream can be a reality and, making that dream a reality for you will make a huge difference for your business.

Your relationship with your employees (individually and as a team) is a key success factor for your business outcomes.

This is particularly true of the employee retention rates for your team. Remember – employees leave bosses they don’t like.

So, if you are one of the many businesses trying to recruit now due to a resignation, you are probably doubting you will find ‘the perfect match’. The “one” will be out there but you need to be strategic and success won’t come from your usual approach.

Much like the dating world has changed with apps and ??? (I actually don’t know, it’s been 10 years), attracting employees now involves a few different approaches.

1. Having a process to assess internal applicants – there is nothing more demotivating when one of your employees seeing a job advertised they were keen to be considered for. 
2. Posting your Seek advertisement making sure you structure the ad around ‘what is in it for them’.
3. Promoting the opportunity through your customers and network including socials. 
4. Asking your team for anyone they know who would suit the role.
5. If it suits your business, search LinkedIn and reach out and connect with possible candidates. You just never know who might be looking.

For more tips, check out our blog Attracting Employees & Top Talent.

What is really underestimated is the impact of your employer brand on employee attraction. 

If you are sitting there thinking ‘WTF is employer branding?’ then listen in. Just like attracting new customers, you need a strategy to show your employee market why they should want to work for you. 

An employee value proposition (EVP) is a great place to start.

It’s essentially another arm of marketing but with a focus on your internal customers, employees. It needs to be  –

• communicated through your recruitment process,
• used to measure the performance of potential and current staff, and
• reflected in  your business KPIs.

But we all know, when it comes to a relationship, one day of appreciation will not go far. Employee retention is all about delivering on the promises made on that first date/interview. It also makes no sense when we spend so much time and money recruiting and training, not to concentrate on retention.

When it comes to employee retention, a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach doesn’t work.  Here are some tips:

• Deliver on your EVP. Do what you say you are going to do.  We expect that from our employees, they should see that from us as business leaders.
• Skill up your people leaders. Overwhelmingly, both in current research and my experience, management and leadership culture drives employee and business performance. If management culture is sh%t, your employee experience will reflect that.
• Have conversations with your employees, informal and formal.  Don’t underestimate the power of a one-on-one regular catch up.  Understand what drives them, what is happening at home, what are their barriers to  performing, where can they improve, work  colleagues, the list goes on. It doesn’t have to be covered in every conversation, just touch on these regularly. Check out the HR Coach white paper on Cultivating Management Culture.
• Have a retention strategy for your key talent. Again, like an important client, having a strategy around how to engage and retain your key staff is vital.  I’m not talking about a “the customer employee is always right” attitude. (That creates its own problems!). It’s a concentrated and deliberate effort to understand each employee’s workplace experience and their plans. You don’t need to do this all yourself. I use retention interviews to help you understand what this looks like. A very powerful tool.

For more tips on employee retention, download my Boosting Employee Retention Tips.

Finally,  we all know that having a team is hard. The balls we have to juggle as business owners and leaders are numerous and sometimes, heavy. But if you have a team that is engaged, employees you trust and me to help you figure out what can work for your business, it could be Valentines Day 365 of the year (including the chocolates!).

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