It’s a great feeling when you visit a business and recognize the people working there. It feels even better when they recognize and remember you. The more comfortable your customers feel when they visit your business, the more likely they are to keep coming back. When you remember their buying habits and can offer targeted suggestions for other things they may also like, you can increase sales. The key element in all of this is employee retention. If your customers see a new face every time they come in you aren’t going to be able to build the relationships that you need to grow your business. Today, we’re going to offer some employee retention tips to help you. Did you know one easy way to retain employees is to make their jobs easier? With this in mind, have you tried our free small business inventory system?
Many experts recommend offering a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and other monetary perks. While those are all great ideas, they cost money and sometimes that just isn’t in the budget for your small business. This is one of those times that the big guys with their deeper pockets have a decided advantage. That doesn’t mean that you are out of luck, however. We’ve compiled a list of tips that are low cost but should still provide big incentives for your employees to stay.
Make them feel like part of the family. Treat employees the way that you would want to be treated. Show them that you care about them and their families and that you value their work. When employees feel respected they are more likely to stick it out, even with things aren’t so great at work. They need to see you as more than just their employer. If they understand why you can’t give them a raise or bonuses they are less likely to quit in frustration because they aren’t getting paid the amount they feel they deserve.
Communciate. All too often, we only question employees about why they are leaving. We don’t think to ask them why they’ve stayed. Talk to your employees and find out what they like best about working for you. Their answers may surprise you. Once you know what means the most to them, you’ll have a better idea of what to do to keep them long term.
Make their jobs easier whenever possible. If there are tools available to make an employee’s job easier, invest in them. Employees will appreciate the extra effort on your part, they may be healthier and thus take fewer sick days, and they will be more efficient allowing them to accomplish more in a given amount of time. It’s a win-win for everyone. As we've already mentioned, you really need to give our free small business inventory system a whirl. It'll make life much easier. Happy. Happy. Happy.
Make work fun. Try to add an element of fun, especially when the task at hand isn’t that fun. If there’s not a safe way to make the job itself more fun, try building a contest around the task. For instance, if employees are cleaning out a seldom used backroom, you could offer “prizes” for the most unusual item found or the oldest piece of advertising uncovered. You can also create employee contests for sales, offer prizes for signing up new loyalty card members or just about anything else that you can think of. The prizes don’t have to be big or expensive, most times the recognition is incentive enough to motivate employees.
Teach employees new skills. When employees feel like they are learning and growing, they typically express higher feelings of job satisfaction. Not only will they be happier, they will appreciate the time and effort that you spent training them which will make them less likely to leave. Let them know that there will be continued opportunities to learn new skills whenever possible. This will also stave off boredom over time. Employee morale can plummet when the job becomes tedious or boring.
Treat them. You don’t have to buy lunch for everyone or host a fancy dinner. Bringing in a treat such as snacks or baked goods from time to time can be enough to show that you care. Make sure that you are aware of any food sensitivities before you plan your treat. A good idea can quickly go awry if you bring something that one of your employees can’t have. Not only will an unexpected treat brighten everyone’s mood, it can increase productivity since everyone will have access to a pick-me-up when they get hungry.
Employee retention does more than save you the time and money associated with training new employees. It can significantly boost your customer retention efforts as well. Without a doubt, it is well worth the effort to keep the employees you have.
Going back to making their jobs easier, if you have inventory - your employees want you to have Stockpile. Stockpile is a FREE small business inventory system, easy to use inventory management system that will streamline the way that you deal with inventory. Getting set up is quick and easy and once you start using our free small business inventory system, you’ll wonder how you ever got by without it. Track inventory within your store and across locations. Access data anytime from anywhere. Try Stockpile today. Trust us, your employees will thank you!
