What Have You Asked Your Employees Lately?

Do you remember when you were in school and you had a question but were afraid to ask?

I remember on more than one occasion (it’s only taken me 20 years to admit it) sitting there with no clue about what was going on and thinking I was the only one. I didn’t want to say anything, because I didn’t want to appear to be dumb.

The teachers always said:

“If you have a question, ask it. Don’t be embarrassed, there are probably at least 3 other students with the same question.”

Thinking back to my school days, I thought - does this apply in business too? If Client A asks me a question, then what are the chances Client B has the same question (and probably Client C and D too)?

What Questions Are You Afraid to Ask?

Do you wake up at 3 am afraid to face the day ahead, in case yet another employee resigns?

The following is a question I hear from dozens of my clients:

My employees are being cherry picked by the competition. What do I do?

Before I can answer your question there are a few questions you must first ask yourself.

• Have you asked your employees their reasons for leaving?
• Are they going to your competition because of a higher salary?
• Better benefits?
• A shorter commute?
• Are you conducting exit interviews with each employee?

Recently I was speaking to a friend of mine who is in a senior HR position with a large company. She said that she is often approached by other companies to quit her job and work for them.

Now I always say that a happy employee is not looking for a new job.

She explained this much better than me. She said “Kimberley, why would I leave a job that I am happy with, that pays me well, with good benefits, to go to the unknown?”

Is There Such A Thing As The Perfect Job?

No, probably not. But there is such a thing as employee retention.

Here are some questions that you need to ask yourself about employee turnover:

• Is your recent issue with turnover a new problem? If so then it may be easier to correct.
• Can you identify any underlying causes?
• When did the turnover begin?
• Does it coincide with any particular event, such as the hiring of a new Department Manager or a change in corporate policy?

Survey Your Employees To Find Out What Is Important To Them.

One company I recently worked with was experiencing an uncharacteristic rise in employee turnover. It was a mass exodus! The people that were leaving were long term employees too. The company invested time and money looking into this problem and realized that those who were leaving had young families.

So what was their solution?

They offered a daycare subsidy to their employees. This was pretty avant garde at the time for a company to do. Did it work? Not really. Soon enough their employees were leaving again.

Finally they surveyed the employees. They discovered the problem wasn’t the cost of daycare, but rather the distance the employees had to travel to drop the kids to/from daycare each day.

So what was their solution this time? They opened an on-site daycare for employees. Did it work? You bet your bloomers that it did!

Asking Questions Can Save You Time & Money

If you’re like me, you are probably most honest when you know your answers are confidential. You’ll find your employees feel the same way! I recommend using an online survey tool such as Survey Monkey. Such online surveys are cheap, easy, and effective.

Once you know WHY your employees are leaving, you can then address the problem directly.

Think about it this way; imagine that you have a leaky pipe. Water is dripping all over your lovely hardwood floor.

• What is your first instinct? Contain the water (save my floor – my company, my department!).
• Will your problem be solved by placing a bucket under the leak? Sure, the water is no longer all over the floor; it is in a small contained space. But the pipe is still leaking.

To actually solve the problem you will have to call a plumber in to fix or even replace the pipe. Then the leak will have stopped and you can put the bucket away. Don’t try to fix it yourself – ask for the advice of a professional.

Please feel free to forward any questions to me via e-mail. I will include the most interesting one in my monthly newsletter!

Kimberley Dart is sassy, professional, and has a reputation for using the best methods to plan, organize, and attract the best employees for you! A consultant with Friday Professional Group, Kimberley and her team will find the most cost effective solution to your recruiting challenges. To ask Kimberley a question, or to sign up for her free monthly newsletter send her an e-mail at: [email protected]

Spend your time managing your people, not replacing them

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kimberley_Dart