Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine MOMENTUM FEB 2018 | Page 19

Are You Chasing Away Your Best Employees? By: Sandy Cody Draker Cody Inc. President [email protected] It’s good news that the unemployment rate in the U.S. has dropped to 4.1 percent, but that low rate can make it challenging to hire good people. The answer is to make a concerted effort to retain your best employees. 4. Creating a boring, unchallenging work environment. Your best and brightest will want to be challenged and inspired. Ask them if there’s anything you can do to help them feel more challenged. That’s a good idea for a number of reasons. Retaining talent saves you time and money in recruiting and training new hires. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the average cost per hire is $4,129 and takes an average of 42 days to fill. 5. Having too many restrictions. Rules are important in any workplace but are they all necessary? Do some policies and practices stifle freedom and creativity and keep employees from excelling? INTENTION + ATTENTION = RETENTION Another study by Employee Benefit News found that the average cost to hire a new employee is a steep 33 percent of that worker’s annual salary. So, for example, the replacement cost is $15,000 for a worker making $45,000 a year. Creating and maintaining a workplace that helps your employees grow is possible. Like many of the important things in life, it requires intention and attention. 5 WAYS TO CHASE AWAY YOUR BEST In one of Draker Cody Inc.’s most successful retention projects, we redesigned a client’s recruitment and retention procedures to reduce turnover from 65-75 percent to 5-7 percent. Our work included providing interview skills training and a formal employee retention program. Recently an online article by Forbes contributor Michael Wood titled “How to Chase Away Your Best Employees” caught my eye. Have you experienced or observed any of the practices mentioned in the article? 1. Tolerating below-average work. Do you treat accept the less-than-acceptable work from some employees while not recognizing your high-performers for their great work? Are you doing everything you can to hire and retain the best employees? Let is know if we can help. 2. Sticking good employees in dead-end jobs. Instead, work with them to develop a clear path to advancement. 3. Engaging in discriminatory work practices. Do you treat all employees fairly across the board? For example, are you paying women or minorities less for equal or better work and responsibilities? MOMENTUM / February 2018 18