Struggling to Retain Talent for Your Small Business? These Tips Can Help

It can be incredibly tricky for small businesses to find the best possible talent. And even when you eventually find the perfect fit for your company, there is a real threat that eventually, these fine people will move on to pastures new.

The impact constant employee turnover can have on your business is not to be underestimated, either. It’s costly, causes a multitude of productivity problems, and can even destroy morale in the firm.

Make no mistake about it, if you can retain those high-quality candidates and encourage them to stick around for a long time, your business will benefit as a result. But how, exactly, can small businesses keep hold of exceptional talent? We’re going to help you out with a few savvy suggestions, so read on to find out more.

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Make them feel like an asset

It’s human nature to want to feel like you are useful. And ultimately, if your staff feel like they don’t have a stake in your company, or you treat them like they are drones - or worse, slaves - the chances are they won’t be around for long. Use their names, tell them when they have contributed, and ask them their opinions on things like rule changes, performance issues, and company results. It’s such a simple thing to put in place, yet surprisingly few bosses treat their employees with this kind of respect.

Openness and honesty

Just as you would expect in any other kind of relationship, it’s important that you are open and honest with your employees. When push comes to shove, you don’t have the resources to compete with the major players in your industry, but you do have something more to offer: being a small company you can actually listen to your employees, take heed of their concerns, and provide a lot of guidance. Plus, of course, you have the opportunity to communicate everything in a much better and more open way - rumours tend to be less of an issue in a small business with honest communications, than a large company full of faceless leaders and stockholders.

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Training and self-development

Make sure your employees know there is wiggle room when it comes to their careers. At the end of the day, people need to develop themselves, and there are benefits of staff training for your business, too. Let’s say you are a small engineering firm. You hire a bunch of graduates who are all keen to learn, but if there is nowhere else for them to go, they will soon leave for a bigger firm, where those opportunities exist. But what if you allowed them to take up the best postgraduate online courses engineering has to offer? A Master’s degree, perhaps? Straight away you will be giving them a chance to shine and develop themselves, but your engineering firm will also benefit from up to date, advanced skills and knowledge.

Recognise good work

FInally, if someone does something of value, tell them. While money is necessary, of course, ultimately people want recognition of their successes, too. You have to make your employees feel valued and appreciated, or they will look to find work somewhere else.

Good luck with the new retention strategy!