Some professionals (architects and engineers in particular) are currently experiencing a serious labour shortage. This means that employees are mindful of alternate options, competitors are doing their best to poach your best and openings are that much harder to fill.
In fact, the key to inspiring employee loyalty is to adopt a fresh perspective on how you lead, manage, mentor, respond to lifestyle requirements and plan for careers:
By relentlessly focusing on tasks and goals, an executive or company can damage performance. Overachievers tend to command and coerce, stifling subordinates… leaders who created high-performing and energizing climates got more lasting results by using a broad range of styles, choosing different ones for different circumstances. Rather than order people around, they provided vision, sought buy-in and commitment, and coached. If you’re an overachiever seeking to broaden your range, you can study your actions and ask your team, peers, and manager to give you honest feedback. You can adopt specific new behaviors, such as engaging your team in a discussion of how to achieve goals, rather than issuing a set of directives. The company as a whole can play a part, too: Organizations must learn when to draw on the achievement drive and when to rein it in.
Management style
A reliable, respectful and open management style can play a major role in maintaining employee loyalty, as is noted in the article Creating Loyal Employees on Entrepreneur.com:
…The important thing to remember is that it’s all about you—how you behave, how you treat your employees, how you perform as a manager…
…if an issue arises in which you don’t have the knowledge or skills to develop a solution, then you have to be honest about your lack of ability and seek input from others…
When you encounter an employee who’s made a mistake or has had an error in judgment, the boss who wants to build loyalty will correct the errant behavior in a manner that doesn’t demean the employee, but rather helps them learn what the problem was and how to correct it in the future. Better yet, the boss who helps their employee identify the issue before it becomes a problem or results in an error will gain that employee’s appreciation, respect and loyalty.
Finally, when it comes to developing a loyal workforce, it’s important that you be as open with your employees as possible. Do you easily share information and ideas with your employees?…
Coaching, mentoring & continuing education
Creating Loyal Employees on News Wire makes a key point about the need to:
Invest. Educate and develop people in the skills and behaviors required to perform the job well.
A benefit that goes a long way towards demonstrating your commitment to your employees and one that also encourages them to renew their interest in their own professional development.
Continuing education can be offered in the form of seminars, conferences or alternatively through a formalized coaching or mentoring program within your own practice. Last but not least, the old-fashioned open door policy works wonders as well.
Lifestyle, perks & benefits
Create loyal employees with creative benefits and unique perks on Ceridian Connection speaks to the opportunity to respond creatively to the new needs and desires of today’s workforce in a manner that is sure to deliver a reputation as a preferred employer. Popular ideas discussed include non-traditional scheduling, flextime, virtual offices and job-sharing. On the more innovative side, there are also examples of companies that have generously offered resources to new moms and dads, team-building outings, health club memberships and even concierge services to assist with time consuming personal errands.
Other ideas I have come across include nutrition and wellness programs. I have even heard of the occasional nap room, a trend that would be of particular interest to our Nutritionist readers!
Career path
Destination CRM.com adds one final key point to this discussion with Creating Loyal Employees:
Over the past year truly loyal employees have participated in 360 feedback, career planning, training classes, and mentor programs. The number one driver is promotions.
Nap rooms! That’s a great idea that I’ve enjoyed in previous companies.
PS. Thanks for adapting my model as well 🙂