Going through the process of recruiting for a new hire can be tiring with some processes involving finding candidates, first interviews, second interviews and even assessment days. Then imagine going through all of that just for the person to leave as soon as they arrive.
Whereas a lot of the time this can be down to a bad hire, and you can read this blog on the true cost of a bad hire, this can also be due to the happiness of the staff you recruit (or unhappiness) with you as a business, and you may have to look in the mirror and assess the reasons why you have low staff retention.
In this blog we will go through three steps on how you can keep your staff happy which will hopefully help you retain them better in the future.
1. Providing an adequate work life balance
Whilst prioritising benefits for staff is very important, and we’ll discuss this in more detail later, one of the best ways to keep staff happy is by providing an adequate work life balance.
Ways in which you can implement a better work life balance include:
- Flexible working – allowing your staff to work at home when they need to and allowing people to adjust the hours that they work (for example coming in earlier or leaving later) to suit their life.
- Regular one-to-ones with managers – discussion between management and their staff is very important as it can help to build a positive relationship where staff feel they are valued and listened to.
- Encourage employees to take breaks and time away from work – if employees are working through their lunches, out of hours or when they’re supposed to be on annual leave, this could mean they’re overworked and eventually lead to burnout and employee dissatisfaction. You should encourage them to take breaks away from work and handover work that needs completing whilst they’re away.
2. Benefits for staff
Benefits are very important for retaining and taking on new staff. When potential candidates are looking for a new role, one of the things that may sway them into applying for a job will be the benefits that the company offers, especially if these benefits will help to improve their work life balance.
A good way to decide what benefits to provide for employees is by simply asking your current employees what they feel would improve their quality of life. You can do this by holding an office-wide survey and evaluating the results. Again, if employees feel that you are listening to them and considering their needs, this will lead to higher employee retention.
For example, here at Protocol, we try to go the extra mile with our benefits package, and this includes:
- Your Birthday off
- Early Friday finishes
- An excellent bonus structure
- Subsidised gym membership
- Flexible working
This is just a snapshot of what we offer, to find out more, head to our careers page.
3. Supportive office space
The actual office space that people work in can play a bigger role in the happiness of employees than you may expect. Working in a dark and dingy office with a lack of adequate furniture and equipment can lead to people dreading heading to the office on a daily basis.
There are many ways that an office space can be revamped to improve employee happiness, this includes:
- Providing collaborative and individual workspaces to allow people to choose their favourite style of working.
- Having a light and airy space with large windows that allow natural light through.
- Placing plants around the office space to give it a more natural feel and bring healthy air into the space.
Here at Protocol, we have recently refurbished our offices to create a brighter, more collaborative working environment for our employees, including adding personal touches such as an employee picture wall.
If you’d like to find out more about any topic discussed in this article or you’d like us to help you avoid a bad hire, contact our team today.
