If you have employees, you are going to want them to be loyal to you. After all, you have taken the time to train them and teach them about your business, plus it costs a lot more to hire new staff than it does to retain current ones. Loyalty is therefore hugely important, but how can you keep your employees loyal when there is so much competition, and when people no longer tend to stick with just one job for life, but change much more often? Here are some useful tips.
Training
Something that will always help to inspire greater loyalty is offering your employees plenty of training. If they feel that you are looking out for them and encouraging them to go above and beyond what they might otherwise feel they are capable of, they will appreciate it and want to stay with you for longer.
Training could be linked to specific processes within your business, but you can expand the scope if needs be. If an employee requires time off to study ms statistics online, you should be able to offer it to them as it will benefit the company as a whole later on, for example.
A Great Company Culture
Company culture refers to the working environment and the interaction between employees and managers. It is about personalities and attitude, and ensuring that the two mix well.
A good company culture will depend on the business and the types of people working within it. In some cases it might be offering flexible working and large, open plan office spaces, and in other situations it might be more about the social aspect of what happens after work.
Fostering the right company culture and keeping your employees happy will encourage loyalty. It will also help them to feel valued, and therefore they will want to work much harder.
Avoid Micromanagement
You hired your team because you thought they were the best people for the jobs you wanted them to do. Why, then, micromanage them? It’s much better to train them properly in the first place and then let them work without constantly checking up on them. Micromanagement helps no one, and stops you from doing your own work. It certainly doesn’t create a healthy atmosphere of loyalty.
Of course, it is also important to ensure your team knows they can come to you with any questions they may have. They should know you are there to give advice and help out when needed. This fine balance is crucial, but once you have got it right, your business should run smoothly.
Act On Feedback
Since your employees are the ones actually carrying out the work, they are the ones who are going to be most alert to the challenges it brings. Therefore, asking for feedback and taking it on board is always going to be useful; you can make important changes that make everyone’s working lives much easier, and enhance your business at the same time.
When employee feedback is acted upon, feelings of loyalty can flourish. It is important not to act on everything that is brought to you, however; as some of them won’t be ideas that will benefit your business.