Alberta is experiencing more than just a heat wave this summer. The province’s sizzling economy doesn’t look like it’ll slow down any time soon, and companies are realizing that more sustainable solutions are needed to retain employees once they are hired. Believe it or not, there are alternatives to keeping employees happier and with your company longer, and it doesn’t always have to involve outrageous salary expectations and promises.

Long-Term Relationships Cost Less

Companies have to first change the way they think about and approach employee retention. On a certain level, employees are like customers. They need to be treated with the same respect and attention that you give to your customers; if you don’t address their intrinsic needs, they’ll start to feel neglected. Can you afford to let them walk away from your company and give their loyalty to someone else? Think about how much time and money you have invested in making your workers more skilled. The bottom line is that retaining employees costs less than losing them. 

Offer Quality Instead of Add-Ons

Companies that offer elaborate bonus, rewards, and training when business is good, face having these same employees, especially skilled ones, become de-motivated when these practices are cut back during slow periods. Don’t assume that employees just want more money. Deep down, we all want to work, given that basic conditions are in place. We want work that is meaningful, that promotes personal growth, that gives us responsibility, and that produces valuable outcomes. Spend some time finding out what motivates each of your employees through coaching and career conversations, and then help your employees find ways to fulfill these motivations in their work. This approach fosters pride, passion, and purpose in employees. If they have a better idea of their purpose and love their job, they will naturally perform better. You can also work together to improve their job description so that it better fits their core motivations.

Transfer Ownership

Employees want to feel that they are an active part of the company and take ownership for their contributions. They are more committed than those who just carry out orders. Include employees in strategy planning and visioning. Try and leave decision-making about how to perform roles to employees as much as possible. Companies may determine the "what" of the role, but let the employee figure out the "how". Such employees are more committed and productive.

Nurture Loyalty

Companies need to spend more time making employees feel valuable. Showing appreciation for employees often, and not just when they perform well, is a genuine, highly effective, and still uncommonly used, retention strategy. Employees try to do their best, but in the end, they are people. They have lives outside of work, and they will have good and bad days. Treat them with courtesy, decency, flexibility, and most importantly, ensure they have the tools they need to do their job well. Employees decide to stay or leave based on these little details.

They Already Love It

Many retention problems can be avoided at the start by hiring the right type of employees for the right reasons. A company can quickly train to fill competence gaps in motivated learners who are interested in the work. Retention is much less of an issue when companies have accounted for passion in recruitment.

When it comes down to it, it takes as much work to retain employees as it does customers. Employees won’t come back to work day after day if their needs aren’t satisfied at the basic level, just like customers won’t come back if you choose to provide services or products that don’t meet their demands. You have to work constantly at retention to build a sustainable relationship and also loyalty that will last during both good times and bad. Your company’s long-term growth and health depends on it.

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