Following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a dramatic shift occurred within the workplace, with employees recognising their own worth, the value of their mental health and the need to separate themselves from their workplace. With many "quiet quitting" or resigning, the term "Great Resignation" was coined [1].
Over two thirds of those leaving a role in 2021 or 2022 did so to find a job that was more fulfilling. Many were seeking a better work life balance, more flexibility, a greater range of career development opportunities and better engagement with their employer. As we enter 2023, sales remains a challenging recruitment environment, with more vacancies available than there are talented salespeople to fill them, so retaining high-performing, loyal employees is more important now than ever before.
Existing staff offer a multitude of benefits to an organisation. They are a part of its culture, they understand the processes needed to be productive, they represent an existing investment in training and they share the values and vision of the organisation. Each new hire costs time and money and comes with the risk that they could disrupt this fragile ecosystem. This is why creating an environment that your staff don't wish to leave is essential.
1. Work life balance.
Many people will leave a job when the stresses associated with achieving their outcomes outweigh the satisfaction that they get from a job well done. This can be due to a toxic work culture, inadequate or outdated technology, processes or infrastructure or the inability to work at a time and place that suits them. Ensuring that staff are happy with their work life balance and that their free time is respected is a powerful motivator for them to stay.
2. Flexibility.
With people valuing their free time more highly now than ever before, giving staff the ability to work in a flexible way is essential to retaining them. This may be allowing them to work outside of the traditional 9-5, or enabling cloud technology for home-workers to be connected to the office from a more convenient location. Building flexibility in the way in which work is delivered improves productivity and job satisfaction.
3. Career development opportunities.
Many people leave in search of a job that offers progression. Offering that progression within the organisation keeps talent in-house. Nurturing and developing internal talent creates a culture of empowerment and success which not only supports retention rates but is highly attractive for new recruits.
4. Employer engagement.
There is little use in guessing what your employees want from you. You need to engage with them and be open to them engaging with you. Processes should exist to allow for honest and transparent two way communication, with each party informing and learning from the other. Only in this way can progress truly be made and employees be heard.
5. Salary and benefits.
Staff need to be adequately recompensed for the effort that they put in. This goes above and beyond a competitive salary to the core of what is important to the individual. Salespeople can generate immense profits for their organisation and rewarding that success with a targeted bonus scheme can deliver the motivation they need. However, it is important to remember that financial benefits are not the be-all and end-all. Many employees prefer benefits that speak to them as an individual. Paying for professional development training, offering shadowing and mentoring opportunities and providing gym membership are some examples of these potential benefits.
Keeping your existing team happy and motivated not only improves your retention rates but it reduces the likelihood of needing to recruit to backfill gaps in the workforce, maintaining productivity and profits.
If you would like a free audit of your recruitment process, why not book a free discovery call with the team at Venditio today. We can identify key areas of vulnerability in your existing HR processes and create an optimised recruitment plan and cost savings report, together with a no-obligation quote for ongoing support.
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