Employee Retention

Top Tips

10 Tips for Retaining Good Employees

In rural communities, where recruitment can be extremely difficult, keeping good employees is critical. The trend in the labor market is for people to hold positions for shorter and shorter periods of time. Employees who leave cost the organization in terms of recruitment, training time and lost productivity. You can create an environment that helps employees motivate themselves to stay in your organization.
Many managers assume that money is the biggest motivator for employees. However, surveys have shown that appreciation, feedback and opportunities for growth are larger motivating factors than salary. Also, individuals have different motivations, so it is a mistake to assume that everyone within your organization is motivated by the same things.

What Can You Do?

1. Think about what motivates you. This will not only help you improve your performance, but will also introduce you to the process of helping employees identify their own motivators.
2. Find out what motivates each of your employees. There are assessments that employees can complete (see Website Resources), or you can ask them simple questions. For example, ask “In order for you to feel valued and appreciated, what must I do?” Keep a list of the things that motivate each of your employees and help ensure that the motivators are present. If an employee is motivated by public recognition, announce one of his/her recent accomplishments in a staff meeting.
3. Ask what news skills your employees want to develop. Help them build their skills through training and new projects. Career advancement opportunities help keep employees motivated.
4. Create/modify organizational policies and procedures so they help employees motivate themselves. Besides compensation, look at performance reviews, work schedules, celebrations, and other organizational policies/procedures. Do they promote or prevent employee retention?
5. Recognize and reward a job well done. Shortly after your employee has done something well, express your appreciation. Be specific and focus on the behavior.
6. Help employees see how their efforts contribute to the organization’s goals. This is especially important for support positions (e.g., administrative assistants, maintenance personnel). Involve employees in creating the organization’s mission, procedures, etc.
7. Create a physical environment for your employees that is safe, comfortable, pleasant and organized.
8. Celebrate achievements, both individual and organizational. We are so busy that we often move on to the next activity, without celebrating our last accomplishment. Small office celebrations can improve the morale of employees.
9. Consider incentive or recognition programs to increase morale and productivity.
10. Find out what employees do best and what they enjoy doing. Help them make these activities become the majority of their workload. This will improve performance and employee motivation.

Online Tools and Resources

About.com
http://humanresources.about.com/od/retention/
Retention of Employees tips and tools.

The Internet Nonprofit Center
http://www.nonprofits.org/
Offers information for and about nonprofit organizations in the United States. They present information on a wide range of topics of interest to leaders and managers of nonprofit organizations, including personnel issues.

The Electronic Recruiting Exchange
www.erexchange.com
Features articles on recruitment and retention, as well as a discussion board and job board.

Energize, Inc.
www.energizeinc.com/index.html
An international training, consulting and publishing firm specializing in volunteerism. Their website contains links to articles, book reviews, survey findings and tips on volunteer management.

© Public Health Institute, Center for Civic Partnerships 2006

Back to top