Carl Witton highlights 10 effective ways to cut talent turnover.
The most valuable commodity of any business is your talent. Keeping a great team together to cut talent turnover is of paramount importance. The cost of recruitment and training can create challenges for any business. When this is constantly repeating, it becomes prohibitive.
To compete in the market, company rates of pay need to reflect the quality of the employees. However, money for most people is not the only priority. Any good advertising team needs to be exactly that – a team!
Here are the top 10 ways to ensure that your team stays contented so you can avoid talent turnover.
1. Cultivate Team Culture
Team-building takes a bit of time and effort, but the results in the long term are very rewarding. Everyone likes to be valued. By feeling like equal team members, your staff will be more content. Internal competition is not always the way to go. People start to feel as though they are working against each other rather than collectively. Bonuses based on achieving company-wide objectives work best. Offering incentives for staff collaboration achieves positive results. As knowledge is shared among your employees, the desire to look for other placements diminishes.
In a recent post, we took a look at how agencies protected team culture during COVID.
2. Communication is a 2-Way Street
Your priority should always be to your talent. Without them, you don’t have a business. Communicate your requirements to them clearly but always listen to their needs. A problem shared is a problem halved. By being an understanding boss, your employees will feel more valued and as a result, perform better. You get to cut talent turnover, so everyone benefits.
3. Use Good System Tools
Agencies should constantly be looking for ways to improve the way they work. By systemising your working methods, you will speed up workflow and reduce frustration among your workers. The time saved will assist with some of the other ideas in this article.
At Tangram we can help you find the tools that will make life easier for you and your employees.
4. Mental Health
The world is a very different place in these post-COVID days. Today your leadership skills are more crucial than ever. The mental health of both you and your staff has never been so tested. Always be open to learning new techniques. There are some excellent videos available to point the way to better mental health. Tom Oxley gave an excellent talk on this matter, quite timely as it was delivered just a year before the COVID outbreak.
Organisations like Mental Health First Aid Australia provide courses to empower businesses to support colleagues should the need arise.
5. Stay Informed on Talent Performance
By constantly collecting and reviewing data on staff performance levels, you will make better decisions. Work together with your staff to build a thorough understanding of their performance. Both quantitative and qualitative data are important. An example of quantitative data would be the time taken on assignments, whereas qualitative data can be obtained by regularly surveying staff.
6. Your Talent is Your Extended Family
Yes, I know this can sound a bit cheesy, but it works. Always be aware of your employees’ family circumstances. If they have work-life balance issues, they will soon become your problem. Staff with young families value every minute spent with them. If you can do anything to maximise that time, it will guarantee that you cut talent turnover.
7. Their Creativity is Your Profitability
One of the best examples of a company that values the pursuit of creativity is Google. They have created a culture that encourages and rewards free thinking. Sometimes the craziest ideas are the best. However, unless your staff feels uninhibited, they will not share them. Encourage and sponsor classes that help them to develop ideas and express themselves.
8. Offer Work Breaks
This might seem a little risky when the goal is to keep your staff in your employ, but it works. Everyone at some point feels stressed out. We all have life goals that we wish to fulfill. Whether it’s trekking to Machu Picchu or backpacking around South East Asia. By demonstrating your trust in your talent and allowing them to tick something off their bucket list, you will guarantee a long-term reduction in talent turnover. Allow them to take a work break, and they will return refreshed and more loyal than ever.
9. Don't Be Scared of Entrepreneurship
If you have a worker dreaming of creating something for themselves, show interest and even give support. If you create an incubator space for them, you become part of their future. This will benefit you both. They still draw a salary as they develop their business idea, and you share in the future profits.
10. General Fitness
General health should be a no-brainer. If your staff are fit and healthy, they will take less time off and feel able to better carry out their duties. If you are in a position to offer exercise facilities on your premises that is great. Alternatively, there are some very good deals for company membership of professional gyms.
At first glance, some of these measures may appear difficult to achieve. However, with a long-term approach and an open mind, most are surprisingly easy. It is often said that people don’t leave a company they leave a manager. Be aware of your people’s feelings and problems. Furthermore, always be open to learning. By understanding why people leave their jobs, you will cut talent turnover.
Work with us
To find out more about Tangram’s services and how we can work with your agency, contact us.
This article first appeared as an opinion piece by Carl Witton on LinkedIn, April 2021.
