This time I’d like to talk to you about keeping your top performers on board. You can put together the best team in the industry – but if you can’t keep them, your reputation suffers, your “product” is never stable, and you can spend most of your valuable time recruiting.
I will show you your most sure-fire way of ensuring that your employees are happy and don’t even think of leaving your company. It’s not a fancy new benefits package, an extra day off or a beefed-up bonus plan. It’s something every manager can do, in every department, in companies big and small. It doesn’t take any time at all. It’s not complicated to explain, and it doesn’t cost any money. It’s called “appreciation.”
People love to be told they are important – that they are needed. Yes, appreciation is the thing – and not just when they’re hired. They need to be told often just how important their efforts are to the team. That’s right: there is nothing you can do to hold on to your employees that is more effective than sincere words of praise when appropriate. These words make people feel appreciated and wanted – a crucial reason to stay with your company.
Here are some tips you can employ right away to get the message to your staff:
Stay in contact
I had a manager once tell me: “You will never have to wait for a performance review to see how you’re doing. You’ll get constant feedback from me on what’s going right and what needs to be improved. You’ll always know where you stand.” And I did always know. His criticisms were prompt and constructive, and his praise was sincere and often times shared with fellow employees. He was a very good manager, and I enjoyed every minute of working on his team. I got calls from recruiters while I was with that company, but I was never even slightly tempted to leave.
Praise – for the little things
You don’t have to wait until your account executive hits his quota levels or makes the President’s Club to tell him he’s doing a fine job. If your staffers have a great phone technique or a special way of getting prospects to engage in the sales process, tell them. If your production manager is constantly coming in under budget and on-time with projects, thank her for her diligence.
A note of thanks
When was the last time you hand-wrote a note to thank someone for something? If you write it, I guarantee it won’t get tossed in the trash. Committing yourself to the written word is a great thing – and your staff will appreciate it.
We often write here about the mechanics of finding and hiring great employees, and the process is certainly important. But, all of your hard work in bringing great people to your company can be lost in a heartbeat if you don’t pay attention to the human side of the equation. In all the years I’ve been recruiting, I’ve never had a candidate say to me: “The people I work with love me and the work I do. I’m looking to make a job change.”
Above all, remember, as the song says: “You gotta have heart – miles and miles and miles of heart.” Words of praise and recognition have to come from inside and ring sincerely. For most of us, we feel it but don’t say it. Or, we think we can’t say it right. So we just forget about it. When it comes to holding on to your staff, there’s no stronger glue than steady appreciation.
Philip Kemper is founder/president of Kemper Associates, a 35-year-old, Chicago-based national executive search firm specializing in permanent and contract staffing for tradeshows and exhibits, staging and equipment rental, business meetings and events production, video, training and incentives and more. His more complete bio is on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/philip-kemper/2/795/308/. You may view Kemper Associates’ website at www.Kemperassociates.net and contact Phil with questions, comments and employment needs at Kemperassoc@hotmail.com or his private phone line: (312) 944-6551.
