Winning retention tools

In an environment where redundancy, pay
freezes, and even pay cuts, are now common, companies need to come up with
creative ideas to retain and motivate their staff.

One option is to take a fresh look at understanding
employees’ needs, and offering non-financial benefits that lock into how staff
are actually motivated.

At organisational
level, set a shared strategy and
goals with your staff in real terms. Get everyone focused on
delivering the required business outcomes by setting tangible, achievable,
goals. 

Renew your focus and
agreed behaviours. Clear behavioural principles need to be set, so
that the creative talent within your organisation still has room to flex, test
and thrive. Create a shared
understanding of what ‘good’ is. Develop a means to recognise high
performance that is clear and consistent across the organisation. Recognise the right behaviours and let staff
choose how to be rewarded: To keep employees focused on shared goals,
reward the right behaviours with a choice of relevant benefits from which
employees can choose.

At management level, involve managers. As they have a direct influence on staff performance, managers need to
buy-in to any new approach and be involved in the development of retention
mechanisms. Create development
opportunities: Look at varying opportunities for individuals to develop
their skills and their career.  Give them
an opportunity to work in another area, exposing them to different aspects of
the business.

Be flexible with
staff working hours and location: Being flexible about
where employees work, and the hours they work, is a powerful way to build
trust, shared ownership and loyalty. Establish
recognition schemes that balance team and individual achievements: This
will reinforce the notion of shared goals, and could involve certificates or
vouchers, which link the individual or team to the specific behaviour their
manager would like to reinforce.

Winning strategies
means involving staff, and being creative with your reward
strategy, you can create an environment that truly differentiates your
organisation from your competitors. These non-financial approaches can help
develop a loyal and committed workforce.

Melanie Fotiades, Consultant
ER Consultants Ltd