Improve existing labor skills instead of replacing team members
- Monday, 05 December 2016
Employee retention is a cost-efficient practice in more ways than one. It is common to see business owners or managers grow weary of excuses when tasks are not done correctly. However, the best answer in the long run is not to continually replace team members. Learn how you can motivate existing employees so that tasks and projects can be completed successfully.
"People just don't know how to do things like I do"
"People don't care anymore, there's no commitment"
"There are no skilled construction workers left out there"
If you have thought or said one of these phrases, then you should rethink how you are motivating employees. The reality is that when it comes to getting the job done, it's not just about having the necessary hard skills, but about the soft skills as well. Try to walk a mile in your employees' shoes. If you were them, and you were working at your company, what motivates you to wake up every morning and go to work? Do you feel like your employers are taking care of you? It's not just about money. Employees need to feel respected, valued and taken care of if you want them to be truly committed to your company and projects. That said, you should seriously consider the following:
Leadership skills
Great leadership is of the utmost importance if you want your company to succeed. This may be a buzz word, but again, if you were to put yourself in your employees' shoes, would you be motivated to follow yourself as a leader? If you are not sure about the answer, a great place to start looking for it is by reading Simon Sinek's "Leaders Eat Last". This book thoroughly explains how companies who keep their employees happy and retain them, are actually more profitable in the long run than companies that have a low employee retention rate. This can only be accomplished if leaders are emotionally aware of their teams, and make them feel looked after and cared for.
Environment and communication styles
Not everyone thinks or acts the same way. Communication styles are different. If they aren't understood and taken into account, then failure is inevitable. Take the DiSC profile overview. This model includes four different communication personalities or profiles. Each one is motivated by different actions and incentives.
Corporate culture
Your company's ethos must be understood and embraced by all employees. This is a combination of establishing a great company culture coupled with outstanding leadership. This will be the setting for people to fully commit to their jobs, seek training, and over-delivering. This in turn will become a system that new-hires can easily adapt to.
Training programs
Invest in training programs for your employees. Existing employees already know how your company works. If their skills are often sharpened, then your company will be a well-oiled machine. This alternative is much more cost-effective than continuously replacing employees. New employees always need a period of time to adapt to their new environment. On-boarding processes are very important for new employees to hit the ground running. However, if this is done all the time by the majority of your work force, then you are losing valuable time and money.