4 elements of successful staff retention
Staff shortages are affecting almost every industry right now, in Tasmania and across Australia. Covid cases and isolation rules, low number of working-holiday makers and new visa hurdles are amongst some factors contributing to the lack of skilled workers.
Industries particularly impacted are hospitality, tourism and retail. Not being able to work from home whilst isolating is a big hurdle for these businesses as Covid cases rise.
Whilst these issues are challenging with no quick fix in the current climate, it’s important for business owners to take a birds-eye approach to review your working environment and move towards a better staff retention rate.
Michael, MDH Accounting Director, shares four key elements to a happy, healthy environment for your team.
Meet your staff where they are at
One of the biggest hurdles in staff retention is establishing a work schedule that fits with both employer and employee. Over the last 15 years, the MDH team has been made up of people from many different life stages; grandparents, parents, pre-retirees, university graduates, post-high school trainees and more. Each person has a unique schedule based on their needs and lifestyle. Whether they need to care for others or make time for sport or community commitments, remaining flexible encourages staff to pursue their goals both at work and in other areas of life. We also encourage staff to regularly review their values and goals to ensure their work/life balance reflects those values.
2. Values-driven environment
Creating space for your staff to engage with and contribute to your business values is vital. Productivity, loyalty and the wellbeing of staff hinge on their employers recognising and celebrating their unique contribution to the business.
At MDH, we’ve run multiple workshops over the years with Life in Colour to understand our personal values and strengths and how they contribute to our vision as a business. Here’s an example of our individual values (on the left) and what our staff enjoy about being part of MDH (on the right) which we’ve placed on a wall in our office working space.
3. Leadership and accountability
Belonging and purpose is so important for genuine connection in the workplace. MDH Accounting operates as one united team, with many smaller specialty teams working in their unique fields. These small teams generate accountability and encourage leadership growth for all staff, not just named leaders. If you have a smaller number of staff, sharing the responsibilities can be really helpful in fostering leadership. That could look like passing around the leading of team meetings to different staff members each month or delegating key tasks to each of your staff for a greater sense of purpose within the business.
4. Growth mindset
If your staff can clearly see the vision and growth of your business - it's easy to buy into that. Communicating your goals, vision and ideas for your business is key to staff retention. If your staff can get on board with your mission - great! That’s a win for both parties and encourages a growth mindset across your organisation. This could look like quarterly email updates or meetings to keep your team in the loop as they envision themselves in your long term business plans.
We hope these elements of managing and encouraging a team have been helpful. Remember, your staff are people who want to be engaged and empowered by their employer and colleagues, and find satisfaction and fulfilment within and outside of work - like all of us!