Posted: July 27, 2021
There are so many different factors that go into creating a successful company. To succeed, a company needs a great product, clever marketing campaigns, quick fulfillment processes, and much more. But what do all of these factors have in common? They all require people. This means that the most important factor (by far) for a company's success is the quality of the people who work there. At the end of the day, people are responsible for creating new ideas and making sure that a business runs smoothly. That said, retaining talented employees can be a significant challenge. Let’s take a look at three ways that executives can retain top talent. Keep your employees challenged Regardless of specific role, all employees should feel both able to accomplish, yet challenged with, the work that they are doing so that they are constantly engaged. In addition to providing fulfilling tasks and workload, the Harvard Business Review has found that providing feedback on performance is one of the biggest factors in employee satisfaction. This will help employees understand what they do well, what they need to improve on, and prevent them from simply showing up and punching the clock. Keeping employees engaged, challenged and fulfilled will also help them feel like the work that they are doing is important. This brings us to our second point. Let people know that their work matters Another important aspect of employee retention is letting people know that their work matters. This is especially true for younger generations (Millenials and Gen Z) who have often exclaimed that they want their work to have meaning. As cliche as it sounds, there is no job too small and every employee is a vital spoke in the wheel that drives a given company forward. This was made clear during the COVID-19 pandemic when hourly workers at places like grocery stores suddenly found themselves essential in keeping both aspects of daily life and crucial parts of the global economy functioning. Always grasp an opportunity to praise employees for their work, regardless of how small the task was. Let the money talk Even though people will work at a company for a host of different reasons, at the end of the day, people show up to work because they need to get paid. Apart from just offering the occasional raise, incentives like retention bonuses or stock ownership can go a very long way in making sure employees stick with the company. Offer employees retention bonuses that kick in after six months, a year, three years, or five years to ensure that people are committed to the organization and are in it for the long haul. The same is true for stock ownership that won’t truly become valuable until after a given company’s share price has appreciated adequately. Research by the Consumer Technology Association has found that offering incentive based pay such as bonuses are so crucial in retaining employees that 9 out of 10 companies plan to implement these strategies over the next 5 years. To learn more about maximizing executive compensation, visit our Contact Page, or contact us directly by email at fglassner@veritasecc.com or by phone at 415-618-6060.