Employee retention: Love and care for them

Many organizations struggle against the loss of good people all the time. The real art of keeping an organization is one of the biggest difficulties in any company. It just makes it difficult to train employees, and then have them leave, not to mention the cost associated with replacing them, then the loss of shifting work schedules and workload to those who stay. Employers need better alternatives to losing good people.

I know to suggest an employer love their employees is mushy, but what it really means is stated by Murrell-Jones in his article A Spiritually Based Leadership Approach in the Retail in Morale and Retention, “The spiritually-based management approach to leading a team emphasizes key parts of the human experience that impact employee perception and productivity. These key aspects include caring, hope, kindness, love, optimism, personal aspirations, goals, values, and ethics.

 I know it said spiritual, but even Kaye and Jordan-Evans in their book Love’Em or Lose’Em stated something very similar. Their greatest suggestion was to always keep the doors of communication open. Why? Because employers need to ask employees important questions that show the organization cares:

 ·         “What will keep you here?

 ·         What might entice you away?

 ·         What is most energizing about your work?

 ·         Are we fully utilizing your talents?

 ·         What is inhibiting your success?

 ·         What can I do differently to best assist you?

 It becomes important for employers to stop guessing what makes their employees happy. Employers need to set aside time to just talk to their employees. We have all heard of the Frederick Experiment, right? You remember, the employer decided to do an experiment by increasing the light around those in the sewing group. The employees started increasing their production with brighter light. Hmmm. It was not the light. It was the fact that the management kept coming around checking on them and asking them how they were doing. Also, take the term “The Walk About,” not from the “outback.” It was something that a top manager at a major organization did by walking around to his employees, just talking, without agendas, just chatting:

“How’s the family? How are you feeling? Is there anything I can do for you? What can we do to help you?”

 Trust me, pay attention to the little things and open up those channels of communication. It says you love them and care. Try it, they’ll like it. 

 The writer, David Pollitt is a well-known author in leadership and educational circles. His articles and his books can be viewed on smashwords.com. He is also known for his Christian Science fiction and secular science fiction books.