4 Proven Methods to Retain Your Company’s Top Talent

While attracting top talent requires diligence, retaining them poses another challenge for young startups and large companies alike. Cultivating and nurturing talent is essential to the success of an organization, as high performing employees directly impact your business. This function is something that cannot be automated; companies that support and encourage educational development, professional growth, and overall satisfaction of their employees tend to see lower employee turnover rates. Here are a few ways to ensure that you are doing your part to keep your “All-Stars” around.

Encourage Mentorship

One of the most valuable assets for a young startup is time. Having standard operating procedures and training modules in place allows new hires to better understand the day to day requirements of the role. Having mentors with experience at an organization can help new hires with onboarding and understanding the organization better. Mentors who are currently in roles that new hires want to take on in the future can provide valuable advice on how to accelerate their personal and professional development.

Promote a Learning Culture

Forbes believes that “establishing learning and development processes, and routine coaching practices, helps ensure people are acquiring new knowledge and skill to keep up with the intensified ‘mitosis.’” Give candidates space and ability to explore and learn new ideas. A great example is companies investing in B2B online learning platform subscriptions for their employees. This gives employees the ability to learn and hone skills that can aid them in the current role and promote their professional development.

Give and receive feedback

In his book “The Hard Things about Hard Things,” Ben Horowitz explains “that the reason employees leave a company is due to lack of guidance, misaligned expectations, and questionable feedback they receive. Often times when employees resign, they are leaving their managers and not the company.” Constructive criticism and valuable feedback help show that an employee’s work has a meaningful impact and areas upon which they can improve. When giving feedback specificity, observations based on facts, and encouragement on how to improve moving forward are crucial. This helps build trust and relationships between managers and their employees. Impactful feedback is critical for employees to grow and succeed which then impacts the company as a whole.

Reward and Retain

Working at startups can be risky and equate to long hours, but rewarding your hardest working employees can help provide a balance or a sense of fairness. According to research done by FastCompany, employees who feel tired and burnt out are 31% more likely to look for a new job than those who have a great work-life balance. For smaller startups, organizing weekly lunch outings and happy hours are a quick easy way to reward employees after a hectic week or project. Asking your “A Player” employees for product input and feedback is a great way to let them know their ideas matter. It also helps when the upper management at a company is vocal about the impact that each and every employee has on the company’s vision and direction. Townhall meetings that congratulate and spotlight team members and groups based on their accomplishments is another way to ensure that employees are rewarded for their hard work. For Series A and B startups employees, perks are often rewarded based on performance and meeting goals. Some examples include bonuses, onsite gym and spa facilities, and lounge areas with games and snacks.

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