We are cautious to hire only the best staff, and once we get them, it is our desire to keep them. Obviously, for employees to securely make a long-term commitment, the employer has to give them good reasons to stay. We encourage proactive actions by employers to institute a culture that promotes solid relationships with their employees — the type that encourages a long-lasting commitment.
What are some strategies that an employer can deploy? We recommend the following three “R’s” of employee relationships:
- Responsibility. Demonstrate to your employees your trust for them by providing them responsibilities that permit them to grow. Urge them to gain new skills. Offer enough opportunities for continuing education. Recruit from within where possible, and give substantial promotions when appropriate.
- Regard. Employees desire to be appreciated and respected. People sometimes forget things said but usually remember how they are made to feel. Where managers make it a precedence to express respect for employees on a consistent basis, it leads to a formidable and lasting workplace culture as well as creates positive experiences that employees will hardly forget.
- Revenue Splitting. A portion of your employees’ remunerations should be secured to the company’s performance. This helps to line up their interests with the company’s profit goals and will work as an inherent incentive to remain with the company as it matures. By allowing the fixed cost of payroll integrally more variable under varying business conditions, you give your company more resilience and agility, while treating your employees remarkably well.
It is imperative to remember that long-term commitment demands effort from both directions. While it’s entirely comprehensible that most organizations look suspiciously at constant “hoppers,” remember that if you hope that employees will maintain a long-term commitment to your company, it is equally important that you provide them good reasons to remain.
