| High employee turnover is one of the leading factors in the failure of many small businesses. Are you doing everything you can to keep your talented employee pool? Besides for the obvious reasons of higher salary and better benefits, employees leave for different reasons. Money isn't everything. Improving the work environment and offering little incentives as an appreciation for work well done goes a long way. Warning: Be Flexible: Retain Those Interns Because of school and possible other part-time jobs, intern schedules are very sporadic. Being flexible and willing to adjust will help you retain those interns. With every new school semester or quarter, their school schedule will change.
Here are a few tips for keeping good employees: Offer office perks Provide free snacks and soda. You can even bring in baked goods and breakfast bagels once in a while. Schedule Friday lunches Buy lunch for the office. This costs only an extra $4 to $6 per employee, and it's a great way to start the weekend and to say thank you for the hard work during the week. It's also a good way to get everyone together to talk about what's going right and what's going wrong each week. It's great for brainstorming. Be flexible With family schedules and other commitments, some employees need a flexible schedule. For some, it's not about the money, but the time. Keeping their at-home life happy translates into a happy workplace. If you're flexible, your employees will bend over backward to go the extra mile. Provide comfort Give your employees comfortable chairs and good lighting. Imagine spending all day sitting in an uncomfortable chair: It could be worse than sitting on an airplane. This will also reduce worker's compensation. Listen to your employees Listening to their ideas and points of view will help them feel like they are part of the team. Who knows? An employee might come up with that winning strategy. (It often happens!) Offer incentives Develop one-time incentive programs and goals, either individual based or project based. This will give your employees a sense of ownership and pride. Reduce employee friction Keep your ears to the ground. Employee friction can cause stress and tension in the whole office. Reduce friction by attacking the issues head on and early. Gossip can kill your company. Focus job duties Create job duties that are a good match for employees. Some companies encourage their employees to apply for other positions within the company if they don't like theirs or want a new challenge. This way, you keep your employees within the same company. This can be a great value because these people are already familiar with the company and process. Foster trust Build trust between employees and management. Management should be approachable. New ideas and issues will never float to the top if employees don't feel that they can speak to their management team. Talk to your employees Stop them in the hall and ask how they are doing. Show them you care how they are doing. Encourage growth Make room for your talent to grow. Continuously challenge employees and let them strive for advancement. Other top reasons for people leaving their jobs are that they are not challenged, there is no room for growth, and they are bored with what they are doing.
Remember, it costs less to offer little incentives than it does to find, hire, and train a new employee. If you follow the advice and instructions we have provided here for your Yahoo! store, you will be well on your way to succeeding with your Yahoo! business. |
