Holding on to Good Employees

Quality products and services can’t be delivered without quality people. For businesses to thrive in today's economy they need to have strong stable workforce. The knowledge, skills, relationships and camaraderie that your employees posses are valuable assets. When you loose a good employee it can cost you more than you may realize. So, investing in your employees is one of the best investments you can make.

The Cost of Employee Turnover

Every time you loose a good employee there are immediate and long term costs. It is estimated that it costs 30 – 50% of and employee's salary to replace them. For an $8 per hour employee that would be $4,000. But, there are other costs that you may not realize. The following is a list of some costs that you experience when you loose a good employee.

• Loss of product knowledge and customer relationships
• Hiring costs
• Training costs
• Lowered productivity during the transition
• Remaining staff become overworked
• Employee morale suffers
• Customer perception is affected
• What Can You Do to Retain Good Employees

To retain good employees you need to have a strategy in place. Employee retention isn't all about higher wages and benefits. Employees need to feel successful, secure and appreciated. There are 4 key elements to a sound employee retention program; performance, communication, loyalty and competitive advantage.

1. Performance: People need to feel that they are succeeding in their job and that their efforts are contributing. By establishing clear and measurable objectives for each employee, you give them a goal to work towards. This helps them gauge their performance and gives them the satisfaction of achieving a goal.
2. Communication: There should be regular two-way communication with your employees. You want to establish a non-threatening environment where employees can voice their opinions. It is also important to let employees know how their contributions are having an impact. A good communication strategy will keep you in-tune with the employee's morale and how they feel about the company.
3. Loyalty: Employee loyalty can't be enforced. Employers earn the loyalty of their employees over time. By trusting, respecting and showing them you appreciation them, your employees you will reciprocate with commitment and loyalty to the business.
4. Competitive Advantage: People want to be a part of a winning team. Make sure your employees know what differentiates your business. Take time to inform them about your company's unique competitive advantage and how you and your employees are making a difference.

Employee Retention can Pay Dividends

Tara's founder, Marshall Richardson, has always believed his employees were the key to building a successful company. Early on, he utilized the 4 elements listed above to ensure that his employees felt connected to the company's success. Tara's company culture is our strongest asset. Employees believe in the company and work hard to maintain the high level of quality and service we are known for. Several of our employees who started with the company nearly 30 years ago are still with us. Half of our employees have been with us at least 10 years. These employees are extremely dedicated. Each year a majority of our employees earn perfect attendance awards. Despite the physical demands of their jobs, they have a commitment to the company and their job. I asked Tara's most senior employee, Ed Busam, what is it that motivated him to stick with this company for over 30 years. His response was “Marshall stood by his promise to take care of me. He has gone far beyond what I expected.” He doesn’t think he would be where he is today without Tara and we feel the same way about Ed.