By Princess Jones
Employee turnover is expensive. No matter what business you’re in, it costs more to hire and train a new employee than to retain seasoned, dependable ones. Depending on your business, employee turnover may just be a part of the industry. Hospitality and retail experience high levels of employee turnover that are par for the course.
But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do about it. If you make it a point to hire loyal employees, you’ll see less turnover and a big difference in your bottom line.
Hire Employees with a History of Loyalty
The truth is that some people are just naturally more loyal than others. If you want a loyal workforce, you should start with the most loyal job candidates. But how do you do that when you’re just meeting the candidates for the first time?
Well, you can get a lot of information from their work histories. Do they leave positions every two years without much explanation? Does their work history show stability and a logical trajectory? How do they speak about their former employers? Even if they are describing a negative situation, are they using respectful and tactful language? What do their former employers have to say about them?
Ask the right questions, listen carefully, and you’ll get a good idea about how your job candidates feel about company loyalty.
Keep an Open Door Policy
It’s a proven fact that employees that feel valued will show loyalty to their employers. Value can be expressed in a lot of ways — compensation packages, promotion opportunities, etc. But a basic way to show value is to keep an open door policy with your employees. Allow them to speak up about ways to improve your products, your processes, and your overall business. If your employees feel like they’re being heard, they are much more likely to be loyal to their job.
And don’t limit the lines of communications to just your management or inner circle. Anyone who works for your business should be able to make suggestions or comments at any time. If you’ve got a twenty person business, that could be as simple as making it a point to spend more time in the office with everyone. But if you’ve got a bigger business, it can be more difficult. Consider making your email address available to all employees or having open office hours once a month.
Invest in Employee Success
If you’re having a problem with employee loyalty, ask yourself this question: Do you care about your employees or do you feel like you can just replace them at a moment’s notice? Replaceable employees aren’t known for their loyalty.
It may seem simple but if your employees know that you want them to succeed, they’ll want you and your business to succeed, too. That means mentoring them as much as you can. (If you’ve got a larger business, consider setting up a mentoring program so that older employees can share knowledge and experience with the newer ones.) You can also sponsor employee education initiatives. Share with them your passion for your work, invest in their futures, and you’ll get loyalty in return.
