Good employee is hard to come by these days. With the companies’ turnover rate so high, it’s hard for a company to retain its best employees. However, just like everything else, it is still possible.
Let’s look at few reasons why a good employee chose to stay put in a company.
- Good pay
- Everyone needs money to survive and to get our ‘needs’ and ‘wants’.
- A good pay or remuneration package will definitely encourage people to stay in the company longer. It’ll also attract other people to join the company.
- Good employee benefits
- Benefits such as medical coverage, employee stock options and other benefits provided by the company will encourage employees to remain in the company.
- Other companies such as Google, gives allowance to its employees for doing independent projects…which in turn,promotes innovation.
- Provides training and career advancement
- Companies which provide training to its employees (soft or hard skills), normally can attract and retain good employees who are looking for ways to improve themselves.
- A good career prospect or advancement is also an important criteria. Nobody would want to stay in the same position inside a company for too long. Sooner or later, the person will get bored with the job. Thus, a proper career advancement plan is a must.
- The company has a lot of talented people working in it
- Everyone wants to work with good and talented people. That’s the way to improve oneselves.
- If a company managed to retain a lot of its good employees, it’ll definitely attract more and more people to it.
- The company respects its employees’ contributions
- This is one of the most important conditions.
- A company which cherishes the contributions from its employees will definitely retain most of them.
- Nobody wants to work for a company which doesn’t appreciate their work.
- If an employee feels he/she is contributing to the company, he/she will surely opt to stay longer in this particular company.
- Flexible working hours
- Sometimes, people have something urgent to do – family or personal matters. A company which provides flexible working hours will definitely be attractive to this group of individuals.
- The time when everyone needs to work from 9am to 5, is no longer present now (unless you need to do a lot of customer facing).
- Correct job scope
- During the interview, the interviewee will ask the details of the job description. Providing an accurate job scope is as important as the benefits and salary.
- This is because people only apply a job when they feel they can learn in that field of expertise. People wouldn’t want to be wasting their time on other fields.
- For exmaple, I’m sure nobody wants to work as a tester when he/she was supposed to be working as a customer relationship officer.
Fact is, it is never easy to retain good employees…….since other companies (maybe your competitors) will be hunting for them as well. Check out this link from EWEEK, on the best places to work in the US for year 2006 – http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2080525,00.asp
So, is your company one of those listed? 
7 comments
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January 10, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Retain your best employees | Romanian Freelancers
[...] via Alvin [...]
January 11, 2007 at 4:17 am
Dmitri Nesteruk
A fairly rational list. However, typically point #1 is rated above all else since in this instance, the employer is competing with the employee: the employer wants to pay less, the employee to earn more. This is why you’ll find that in cases of outsourcing #1 is the most important: you just need to pay a little bit more than the others, and people will come.
It’s a pity that a start-up company cannot satisfy all of those points immediately (unless it has an infinite budget).
January 11, 2007 at 7:34 am
Angie Tan
The employer also needs to be honest with the employee.
Nobody likes an employer who constantly lies to the employee. If the company is not doing well, the employer has to be honest to say, “Look here, we’re going through a rough patch but we need your help… etc..”
I don’t like it when an employer constantly tries to promise something to the employee and then, takes it back. The employee has lost the trust in the company and hence, their loyalty will falter.
January 11, 2007 at 10:34 am
Alvin
Money is always important. A normal company can always attract more people if it pays slightly higher than a company which has better prospect and benefits.
Yea, trust is always a vital key in retaining employees.
April 21, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Kevin
Found this interesting article on mallr.com! Money alone can do wonders. I totally agree with Alvin. This is a nice little article for HR managers!
April 22, 2007 at 12:03 am
Alvin
Thanks Kevin. Well, money is always one of the greatest motivations for any employees… the more commitment you have…the more money will motivate you.
August 3, 2009 at 8:44 am
Sam
Rather a good pay, I would first say: A fair pay. Pay as what your employees actually worth, without too much a big gap compared to other same job description’s employees, for starter not gradually after.
Proper tools to do the job. Some employers or companies only provide an “extreme limited” tools, say only single one, to their employees for accomplish the jobs required. Worse, is to ask employees to lie to the customers.
Also to remain loyal, is to show your appreciation, perhaps through the good Xmas bonus as such, otherwise it is all mouth, will not help at all.