Marketing to employees has become more important than ever. More than 47 million Americans quit their jobs in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
So how do you keep employees from leaving during the great resignation? 🤔
As an extension of my clients’ companies, I see many of them struggling with the shift in employee and employer relationships. The pandemic has changed the dynamic, and recreating your culture is key.
5 Ways to Help Retain Your Skilled Employees.
1. Create a trust culture. – You have spent endless hours recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, and training your employee and have provided them with the tools and resources they need to succeed.
Now trust them to do their jobs and get out of the way.
Get everyone on the same page – communicate over and over what the company is trying to accomplish, the company vision, and how each employee contributes. Encourage and practice transparency – trust cannot happen without being honest and open.
2. Recognize employees and show your appreciation. This comes in many forms – a simple thank you, public recognition from leadership for achieving an accomplishment, or receiving a customer compliment. Catch employees doing good things and acknowledge it. Support peer recognition with thank you cards, tokens of appreciation, or gift cards.
3. Help employees build connections with one another. This has been one of the biggest challenges for companies during the pandemic. Building close relationships with colleagues is the most significant factor in determining job satisfaction, according to a recent study by the Institute of Leadership and Management. Regularly connect with employees on a personal level one-on-one. Make time for employees to spend more non-work time together at company outings and gatherings.
4. Employees want a healthy, future-oriented way of working. Companies and leaders must soon realize that when people want more freedom and what they value most is flexibility —
The flexibility about both where they work and when they work, flexibility to take time off to explore, flexibility to start a side-hustle or launch a small company.
Many employees are now advocating for the work lives they want.
Allow some flexibility within the workday for employees to take care of what they need. Create a system for employees to partner with other employees to act as backups when they’re out. Allow some grace for productivity to decline, work hours to be shortened, or additional time off for employees dealing with “life.”
5. Put yourself in your employees’ shoes and create a place where you would like to work. Bad jobs with long hours, low pay, no training, and mean bosses are out. When unemployment is high, many people have to take such jobs. But as the labor market tightens, people pay more attention to their ideas about what could be, alternative ways of working, and better jobs.
Trust, appreciation, connection, and flexibility are the foundation of a strong culture. What can you implement today to sure up your foundation? Marketing to your employees helps them understand what you are doing to improve the working environment, job satisfaction, and their lives.
