Keeping your top talent: Cost effective ways to keep valued employees engaged

In our previous post, ‘Your guide to the great talent hunt’, we explored the challenges UK SMEs face in the current talent war, sharing ideas for how you can compete against high salaries and costly benefits packages.

And fear not… when it comes to valued employees engagement and retention it also isn’t just about the size of the pay cheque. In this post, we’ll delve into cost-effective strategies to keep your valued employees engaged, motivated, and less likely to jump ship if they spot another opportunity or if a recruiter comes calling.

Here are our top areas to focus on:

1. Nurture a thriving workplace culture:

• Open communication: You must encourage transparent communication across your entire business. This means regular and consistent team meetings, one-on-one check-ins, and anonymous feedback channels, these can all foster a sense of belonging and trust. Have team-wide consultations ahead of changes being implemented to get buy-in or further ideas. Have an annual engagement survey to check how everyone is feeling. You want to avoid a ‘them and us’ culture at all costs, instead harvest a linear structure where everyone knows what they’re contributing to the business and feels empowered to give ideas and feedback. This can include simple things like open-door policies and not having management always hidden away in their own offices.
• Recognition and appreciation: Celebrate achievements, both big and small. A simple “thank you” note, a shout-out in a meeting, or a small gift card can go a long way in making employees feel valued. And it is really about the small things here over big costly gestures.
• Team building: Invest time and activities that strengthen team bonds. Think escape rooms, volunteering days, or even just casual after-work socials. A strong team spirit can boost morale and make your workplace a more enjoyable place to be. If people are reluctant to join in, you need to make sure that what you’re suggesting appeals to the audience and isn’t just your idea of a good time. What do the team members enjoy doing outside of work, could that be incorporated? And don’t expect people to give up their spare time to join in. They might be willing to do so down the line, but you need to gain their engagement before this might be possible. And don’t forget you might have different neurotypes within the team, you need to make your plans accessible to all.

2. Empower through growth and development:

• Mentorship programs: These don’t have to be complex; you can pair junior or less experienced employees with more experienced people within the company – maybe doing the same role, or in an area valued employees want to progress into. This not only facilitates knowledge transfer but also fosters a supportive culture and creates a sense of investment are caring about an employee’s future. And this doesn’t realty cost anything. Depending on the development someone wants, you could also look outside of your organisation for possible mentors, or for offering mentorships. Again, it’s a time-over-cost investment but can lead to enhanced relationships, PR opportunities, increased retention and brand awareness – which all bolster your employability.
• Skill-building workshops: Offer workshops or training sessions on relevant topics. This could be anything from leadership skills to software proficiency. Investing in your valued employees development shows you care about their career growth. If you make these fully accessible to all employees, you’ll also get a great sense of who wants access to development opportunities.
• Job shadowing: Different to mentoring, you could allow employees to shadow colleagues in different departments to help broaden their understanding of the company and to potentially open new career paths and development opportunities for them within your business. Again, this is a time-over-cost investment, but one that could really pay off.

3. Foster work-life balance:

• Flexible work arrangements: If you’re not already, consider offering flexible hours, remote work options, or compressed work weeks. This can significantly improve employee satisfaction and well-being.
• Generous time-off policies: Ensure your employees have ample time to recharge. Offer generous annual leave, encourage taking breaks throughout the day, and respect their personal time. If someone has done a week of extended hours due to workload, acknowledge it with an early finish or day off.  Encourage people to take their full annual leave allowance too, some people don’t, and this isn’t always a healthy option and could lead to burnout.
• Wellness initiatives: Promote physical and mental well-being. This could be walking meetings, lunch meetings in the park, or more formal things like lunchtime yoga sessions, and gym membership discounts. It could also be access to mental health resources and helplines, or apps headspace. There are lots of options here to fit any budget.
• Protected hours: It says a lot about an organisation when they respect work and life boundaries. Most people are quite happy to put in extra hours to get a project or piece of work over the line from time to time, but if it becomes the norm this can erode trust and impact mental health and overall productivity. Maybe encourage having working hours on email footers to set expectations, or if sending emails outside of usual working hours state that a reply isn’t expected until the next day. If people are regularly working longer than contracted hours this should be flagged and explored, never expected or become the norm. This only really works in a business when it comes from the top down and expectations are set and stuck to.

4. Succession planning: grow your own talent:

• Identify high-potential employees: Look for individuals who exceed expectations or show natural leadership potential, or maybe people who are asking for more responsibility or development opportunities. Nurture their talents and aspirations through training and development programs.
• Create clear career paths: Outline potential career trajectories for the roles within your company. This gives employees something to aspire to and a reason to stay. However, it is also fine for people to be quite happy where they are, these people are also of huge value and this needs to be acknowledged.
• Promote from within: When vacancies arise, it’s a great idea to prioritise internal candidates for promotion or sideways moves. This not only saves on recruitment costs but also boosts morale and loyalty among existing employees.

Remember:

Engaging your employees doesn’t have to break the bank. You’ll get the most value from investing time and interest rather than money, every time. By focusing on creating a positive work environment, operating with trust, investing in development, and offering flexibility and support, you can build a loyal and motivated team that’s less likely to have their heads turned by the promise of a bigger paycheque or perks.

We recruit throughout the East Midlands covering Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Rutland and the surrounding areas, especially Market Harborough, Lutterworth, Leicester, Corby and Kettering. We help people find their perfect job and match suitable job seekers with businesses looking to hire the best candidates across our five specialisms – Sales, Marketing, Accountancy & Finance, HR and Office