Why do employees stay? How to build employee loyalty

The easiest way you can cut your recruitment spend (yes, we are a recruitment agency, but we really do want the best for you) is to build up strong employee loyalty.

This helps to keep your existing team and it aids your recruitment if you do need to add to your team.

No matter what level we are in a business we are all largely motivated by the same things. We all want to feel appreciated, part of something and listened to. We don’t want the large chunk of our lives we spend at work to be for nothing or at least feel like it is.

Having an engaged workforce all working towards a common goal will boost productivity and employee loyalty. And all of this starts at the top of a business and works its way down.

Leadership

Leadership is so much more than just being a manager. Leadership and being a good leader is a skill and having the right leaders in your business can transform the productivity and bottom line of your business.

The leaders/managers in your business at all levels need to have the time to invest in their team. They need to be leading by example; be a positive role model, setting the tone of the team.
Any team issues need to be nipped in the bud and resolved to help people move forward. The team need to feel included and considered but also led and guided. It can be a very tricky balancing act but one that is important to have the time to get right.

Development

Every team is made up of people with different goals and dreams. The leaders in your business need to know what each individual in their team wants to achieve. Some of them will be happy to master the job at hand and be the expert in their field, some will want to climb the ladder or explore other areas.
If you can tailor each employee’s opportunities to match their drivers, they will feel valued and want to stay with your business. It might be training courses, or it might be training others. It doesn’t have to cost anything as there are lots of free programmes out there too.

Regular and meaningful 121’s

All leaders and managers should aim to have regular one to one meetings with each member of their team. It can help if you devise a form or structure for each meeting so you can track the progress of these meetings. It is a good idea to have a section where you explore how their work is progressing and then move on to any issues. But to also cover development, goals, progression, feedback etc.
To ask in this meeting for feedback on your management of them as an individual is also a good idea. This allows them to have an open dialogue with you rather than you providing all the feedback.
At the end of each session, you also need to agree to any actions between then and the next meeting. You will show from this that you care and they have a voice and are important to you and the business.

Team meetings

Regular team meetings, either a quick huddle every morning, a once a week half-hour, or a bigger monthly get together is also really important for engagement within your team. It’s your chance to tell everyone at the same time about how the business is doing, how the team are performing as a whole, recognise and reward effort and set the agenda for the next period.
If any special projects come up you also pitch them at the team meeting and ask for volunteers to pick them up.

Flexibility and trust

As leaders, it can be hard if you need to bend the rules for one employee because you don’t want to set a precedent. However, if you are open, where you can be, and people get to understand that the business’s approach is fair, a bit of flexibility can pay dividends in the long run.

Saying no to a request for someone to leave early one day to do something very important to them could actually un-engage them with the business and ultimately push them to look for another job.

If you trust your team and they know they have your trust and they know you have their back, more often than not, you get that trust and loyalty returned back to you.

Ultimately, we’re all after the same. Feeling included, appreciated, listened to, trusted, guided, integral. And if we get that, we’ll give back our loyalty and hard work.

We have a Values Survey that you could use within your business. Just get in touch and we’ll send you a copy.

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