Dear Business Owner, the COVID-19 pandemic caused absolute havoc. Most businesses were barely surviving, and others had to close their doors and struggled to retain talent in the workplace. This meant that employees had to look for other ways to make a living, most of which looked to working remotely, online, or joining in on the influencer trend.
Now when businesses are adapting to the new normal, finding and retaining talent is hard. Experienced workers now have plenty of job options to choose from, and people tend to choose the best one.
So as a business owner, how do you go about solving this issue you might be having, or even worse,
how do you ensure that you retain talent in the workplace without constantly needing to offer raises?
We don’t want you to settle for someone who sort of knows and will provide the bare minimum or just about get by with a bit of training. No, your business is far too important to us to let you settle for the bare minimum.
Let’s start with attracting talent. This is no longer just an HR function, it requires critical thinking and should be part of your strategic planning. Having an experienced and qualified workforce can be what sets your business apart and will give you a competitive edge. You need to make sure that your business is infused with fresh ideas and dynamic energy and that the synergy flows from management to customer.
Start by taking leveraging the right job boards, with so many people turning to working remotely, you too can take advantage of that. Using platforms like Fiverr can connect you to a multitude of freelancers worldwide who will be able to offer their services and impart their knowledge.
People nowadays are no longer settling for any job that comes by but are rather drawn to businesses that foster a positive culture.
Investing in your company’s culture will help you retain talent in the workplace through a culture that has a definitive mission and values, encourages diversity, innovation, and creation, prioritizes employee wellbeing, and protects from workplace harassment.
While doing this, you need to refine your EVP (Employee Value Proposition) which is a set of unique benefits you offer your employees. This goes beyond finances, it includes aspects such as career progression, opportunities, and flexible working arrangements (if that is what you offer).
Investing in your employees is another great way to attract talent.
Offer training courses (specifically related to your business) to help them understand what your company does through internal training courses.
Teachable is a great platform to create short courses and offer them to your employees. You could even use this as a way of putting your business out there with how-to courses (but that’s a conversation for another day).
When it comes to retaining talent in the workplace, which now is more about offering attractive raises, this becomes a people-management issue. You need to understand what drives your employees’ motivation.
Make sure that their development is encouraged
Allow your employees to grow and where you see an opportunity to help them develop any talent you see within them and encourage them to bring forward any ideas they may have.
Recognize a job well done
Letting an employee know when they have done a good job is sometimes all the motivation they need. It will reassure them that you see them and you see the effort they’re putting in. That pat on the back does more good than people realize.
Learn what people have to say about what would keep them at any place of employment. This can be achieved by a simple focus group. Take advantage of Addy and Mark’s Survey Squad where honest opinions will give you the insight you need.
In closing, attracting talent is not an easy task but taking the actions needed is necessary to ensure you have the right people in your corner, and retaining your workforce requires in-depth knowledge about what your company needs from your employees and what they need from you.
Asking the right questions will help solve this conundrum, just make sure you are involving everyone not just your HR department. Be transparent about your business needs. The right person in the right position can make all the difference.
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