As anyone who works in the business world knows, getting top talent can be very hard because they are valued by a lot of companies! However, once you manage to hire the top talent, the new challenge becomes retaining them.
Whether they leave your company because something better came along, because they don’t feel welcome, or for any other reason, you are under constant threat of dealing with employee turnover with your top talent, and that can be a problem because replacing those at the top is not easy.
However, there are several ways to retain top talent without spending a lot of money or taking a ton of time out of your business.
Here are some small ideas that will make sure the top talent stays with you for the long haul.
Make Sure They Aren’t Stagnant
The people at the top are at the top because they aren’t satisfied with anything but the top. They want to keep climbing, learning, and growing, and the first thing that you can do to make sure that top talent leaves you very fast is to stick them in a dead-end and stagnant position!
While your company might have room to grow and the facilities to do so (after all, you wouldn’t be hiring top talent if you weren’t looking to grow), make sure to encourage the growth of your top talent. They could feel like your business is a complete and total land of opportunity because if they don’t, they will start looking at the next business that is.
Make Sure They Have Autonomy
While you might need to micromanage some of the other aspects of your company, especially when it comes to new hires, the top talent of your company is pretty much going to be able to manage themselves and take on tasks by themselves pretty efficiently. So offering the top talent the flexibility they need to get things done and taking a hands-off approach will make your top talent feel respected.
Additionally, it will help you as a manager as well because the top talent is just something you keep your hands off of, and they will do their job and do it well. Plus, many top employees tend to expect some level of flexibility in their work so they can flex their creativity and productivity while still maintaining their life and any other products they have.
Thoughtful Recognition of Employees’ Contributions and Achievements
Your top talent should be recognized. They are going to do a lot for your business, and they will probably bring you in a lot of cash and other work. However, nothing causes a top talent employee to leave faster than feeling like the hard work they are bringing to your company is going unrecognized.
Don’t take the top talent for granted, and don’t accept they are working for your company for nothing. Pay them well, sure, but also focus on making sure you recognize your top talent and all your employees. If you are out of ideas to recognize your employees, then here are some things you can do.
First, let them know that you appreciate them and that they are doing a fantastic job for you. When your top employees go above and beyond in their work and give you unexpectedly positive results, you need to tell them that their work is helping you out and that they are valued for it.
Recognize what the top talent is doing for you, and tell them that you appreciate it. Go through your employee’s work and point out specifics because paying out earnest compliments costs you nothing and comes back with a lot of good investments. The top talent will stick with you if they know that they are recognized.
Give Them Benefits The Longer They Stay
Do something special to celebrate your six-month or one-year anniversary working with the top talent by giving them a raise or giving them some extra time off or another small gift. You want to let your top-talent employee know that they will be rewarded for the length of their stay and the work they do.
Plus, keeping in mind how long they have worked for you is something that further makes your employees feel valued as well.
Make sure that you are showing appreciation when they do good work because it will make your top talent want to do even more good work for you. Again, taking a small amount of time to show some appreciation will always pay off big in the long run, don’t ever doubt that.
Start Trickling This Down To Your Other Employees As Well
Finally, as you start treating your top talent with more respect and communicating with them whenever they do a good job, you will see some positive impacts on retention. You can easily ensure this goes down to the rest of your employees by recognizing them and their accomplishments in your business.
Communicating to your employees when things are going well and recognizing the people making your business go so well are things that can keep your employees around and also improve the morale of your workplace.
Building up your office’s morale and making sure that your team knows that it is appreciated might just be the thing that turns another of your employees into some serious top talent for your company. Because we all need a little encouragement and recognition that we are doing a good job nowadays.
Start small, and you will notice a big impact, and with how easy some of these ideas are, you might be kicking yourself once the benefits roll in. After all, why couldn’t you have done these things and gotten the growth that much sooner, right?