So you have identified A+ candidates and they have accepted your job offer. Awesome. Now the trick is keeping them with you for the long haul.
Since everyone is after A+ employees, and you’ve done all the work of finding them, your competitors might start recruiting them. Makes sense. When all is said and done, it costs about $3,500 to replace an $8 per hour employee.
Is the solution to throw more money at the problem? What if you genuinely can’t afford to pay your employees more?
Don’t panic. Even though employees think they’re interested in getting a raise, Daniel Pink has found that employees are not motivated by money (unless they’re in physical labor). In fact, some employees actually perform worse when incentivized with money. According to Pink, here’s what you can do to keep your A+ talent around without increasing salaries:
Provide Autonomy
Employees are more motivated when they have control over their day-to-day life at work. Allow them to decide when they work, how they work, who they work with, and what they do. The more freedom and control they have over their own career, the more fulfilled they’ll feel.
Allow Mastery
A+ employees want to be great at what they do. They strive to get better every single day. Empower them to be better as often as possible. Build a culture of clear goals and immediate feedback, but allow room for experimentation.
For example, set a goal of 1,000 new customers by the end of the month. Then allow your employees to create strategies independently. As they experiment with their new ideas, provide instant feedback and coach them along the way.
Give Purpose
Humans naturally want to contribute to the greater good. Make sure you have a powerful vision for the company and spread it whenever you can. Create posters and hang them around the office. Tie all of the major projects to this vision, and show how what they’re doing is pushing the company closer to its big goals.
Attracting and retaining A+ talent is a top priority for every company. Putting the proper strategies in place to keep employees engaged, happy and independent are keys to long term employee retention.
What methods do you use to retain top talent?