Employee Retention

When I think about employee retention or employee engagement, I often think of it this way: “How ‘all in’ are your employees?” The answer to this question is very important.  

1. Listen.

The first step to answering this question is critical: listen to your employees. Employee retention starts with asking hard questions. What we do with a lot of our clients is to survey their employees. These surveys are always anonymous, benchmarkable, short, and electronic. In fact, right now I’m surveying a company that has well over 100 employees. We’ve created questions, including some open-ended questions, that ask, “If you could sit down with the owner of the company and he asked you how to improve the company, what would you suggest?” Other questions will be statements with the possible responses: agree, disagree, strongly agree/disagree, etc. Including benchmarkable questions allows us to compare results from multiple companies’ surveys. From the results we create a summary to compare the results from previous years, to compare the results to other organizations, and to track trends. Then our client conducts an off-site management review to look at these results. I have seen many of these employee surveys over the years, and sometimes the results can be brutal. Employees typically have a lot to say about your business, their role, issues in the company, and their managers. Sometimes the truth is difficult to face, but you can’t run from it. A healthy company is one that is committed to looking itself in the mirror and asking:

• “How do we treat our employees?”
• “How do our employees perceive the company?”
• “Are they happy working for us?”
• ““Are we trustworthy?”
• “Are we communicating effectively?”
• “Do we provide proper training?”

 

2. Act.

So the first key to retaining employees is to listen. But listening means nothing if you are not going to act on what you heard. The worst thing that a company can do is to ask for feedback and then do nothing with that feedback. The best way to make the most of your employee surveys is to compile the results and determine what actions you will take for each point. Then report back to your employees. You need to let them know that you heard what they had to say and that you are serious about acting on what you’ve learned. This is the type of company culture that retains employees and keeps them engaged. When was the last time you surveyed your employees? Have you wanted to survey your employees but don’t know where to start? Broad Insights is here to help you improve your business so that you can maximize your potential. Get started today! Give us a call at (864) 243-7579 to set up an appointment.