Never Fear Unwanted Employee Resignations Again
The labor market has been changed like nothing we’ve seen in recent years. No one knows if these changes will be permanent or temporary, but certainly for the long term, we’re in a tight and ever shifting labor market. That means it will be tougher to hire and tougher to keep employees. For the near future.
For small businesses, the strength of their company can be directly related to the quality of their team. It will be critical to implement smart strategies that will ensure you retain core staff and attract new employees in 2022. Remember, other employers are looking to hire your best people!
We’ve compiled 6 simple strategies you can easily implement before the new year approaches, which will help drive employee retention and loyalty.
Pay Your Employees Well
Obviously, the pressures on wages have been building for a long time and recently exacerbated by the Covid relief efforts. You can’t ignore the fact that wages are up, and the coming minimum wage increase in CA will create even more pressure. It’s time to assess your wage levels for 2022. Unfortunately, the inflation pressures in every sector of the economy leave very few unaffected, and increasing wages is just a reality at this point.
Create an Attractive Benefit Plan
Not every business can afford a complete health insurance program, but aside from health insurance, providing lesser benefits like dental, vision, life, and voluntary supplemental plans (think AFLAC) can go a long way towards creating employee contentment. If possible, contribute a flat amount, or a percentage towards these voluntary benefits.
Start a 401k
2022 will usher in the requirement that most businesses with 5 employees or more implement a qualified retirement plan or adopt the state sponsored plan. Why wait? You can start your own plan with very little investment. Starting your own plan gives you the freedom to customize matching contributions and even profit sharing. Small cost to the company but tremendous benefit to the employee.
Define and Improve Your Company Culture
It might be a good time to take an assessment of your culture, and even ask the staff for their input. When you understand what’s important, you can improve what is lacking. Consider making your workplace more flexible, more communicative, and more positive. What about monthly luncheons, weekly Starbucks ventures, or even a refrigerator stocked with good snacks? Employees spend a lot of time in your workplace, make it a great place to stay.
Work/Life Balance
How restrictive are you with time management? Are you on a tight clock schedule? Do you expect staff to be available around the clock? A healthy work-life balance is essential to job satisfaction and your employee’s health and wellbeing. People have lives outside of work — and smart companies will recognize this and deliberately ensure there is balance and equity. Make sure you set boundaries for ongoing overtime and that employees are taking vacation.
Bonus and Performance Plans
In this era where wages and salaries have undertaken a significant increase, what can you do to counter that effectively, and mitigate long term expense commitments? Create a performance bonus plan! One of the best ways to motivate employees and reward them for great performance is to create a short and long-term bonus or incentive plan. Think about tying specific performance and profit goals to a bonus plan that employees can understand and see results. Be transparent and make sure employees understand the plan and how their performance contributes to the company’s success.
Conclusion
Every workplace is different. Some businesses are unable to provide time flexibility or offer bonus plans because of tight margins. But the important thing is to do something. Be creative and deliberate, seek to build a better workplace. The investment you make will pay back in dividends from happier employees, which will result in better production and quality as well as long term stability.
If you need ideas or assistance on what you can do and how Infinium can help, please don’t hesitate to speak with one of our HR pros.