One of the biggest challenges that small businesses face is keeping hold of their top performers, particularly when it is impossible to match the salary that they could command at a larger brand. While money certainly is important for employee retention, it is important to recognize that it is not everything and that there are other ways to encourage people to stay with your business. High staff turnover and losing talented employees can be costly to your business in several ways, plus when you can keep hold of your team, it can create a positive and enjoyable workplace atmosphere which everyone can benefit from. Read on for a few of the best strategies to try to retain your top performers in the long term.

Provide the Ability to Progress

Perhaps the most crucial strategy to implement is to ensure that employees can progress their career within your business. The top performers will also be the ones that have aspirations and goals to climb the ladder, so when you help them to achieve this within your own company, then you are much more likely to keep hold of them.

Involve Staff in Decision Making

Following this point, employees like to feel valued and an important part of the team. This is why a smart business leader will always ask for ideas and feedback and involve staff members in the decision making (this should also help you make smarter, more informed decisions). This will establish a democratic way of working which breaks down the barriers between management and employees (but you must still make sure that you command respect).

Provide Regular Feedback

It is amazing the difference that a simple, small piece of positive feedback can provide an employee, yet it is something that many managers are reluctant to do. Feedback should be given in performance reviews, but you should not shy away from a simple “good job” or “thanks for your hard work” from time to time, plus even constructive criticism (in private) is even useful as an employee knows where they stand and what steps need to be taken to improve their performance.

Team Building

It is not just your performance as a manager and the relationships they have with you that will determine whether they stay. People spend a vast amount of their lives at work, so the people they work with each day will have a big impact on how they feel. You cannot force people to get along, but you can encourage this with regular team building and informal events which will hopefully help create strong bonds amongst staff.

Create A Relaxed Yet Productive Atmosphere

Following this point, you will also want to create a relaxed yet productive atmosphere in the workplace so that people can feel calm and happy when they come into work each day. This can be hard to establish, but you can lead by example by having conversations with people and having some fun (but never at the expense of work).

Study of HR Management

There will always be challenge and issues that arise in the workplace when managing a team, and it is how you manage these issues, which will impact how employees feel. Studying human resource management online is smart as you will learn how to manage the various issues that often arise in a modern-day work setting, improve the workplace for your team and take the business forward.

Offer Perks

As mentioned in the introduction, salary is very important, and you will at least need to be competitive to keep hold of your top performers. You can also offer a range of perks, though, which could entice people to stay. A few options include:

• Flexible and remote work
• Shares
• Gym membership
• Extra holiday
• Bonuses
• Team events

Build A Welcoming Workspace

For staff to feel happy and comfortable when they come into work each day, you need to provide a welcoming and comfortable workspace for them. This should be somewhere which is open and spacious with tasteful decor and lots of natural light coming through, plus you need to provide the best office furniture, equipment and tech so that they can carry out their role efficiently each day. 

Hopefully, the advice in this post will help you to keep hold of your top performers. Businesses need to keep their staff and avoid high staff turnover, but this is not always easy, especially when earning more money at a larger company.