Employee retention is a top priority for managers. The team you know and trust is among the most valuable assets you can have and it’s critically important to keep them, and their institutional knowledge and abilities, under your roof. But it can be challenging, especially if employees feel like the grass might be greener in some other pasture.

It’s not an impossible task, however, to retain your team and keep them energized, committed, focused and enthusiastic. Here are some tips on how you can inspire loyalty and keep retention numbers high.

Be supportive and communicative.

Create a habit of talking with your team. Find out what they like about their jobs, what’s troubling them, what their career goals are. Check-in on a regular basis to see how they’re feeling in their current position and if there’s anything they need in order to feel more fulfilled – or more challenged, especially if they’ve been doing the same tasks for a while. Let them know that there can be opportunities for advancement, or for learning new skills, within your company, without needing to look for new employment elsewhere, and that might help reinvigorate your team to come to work with a spring in their step.

Be mindful of changes in attitude and productivity.

Regular check-ins will help open the lines of communication, but pay attention to how people are acting as well. If someone who has never taken a sick day starts coming in late, or calling off, that might be a red flag that a change is brewing. It could be a personal matter at home, or it might be a sign of someone looking to make a big personal career change. Either way, checking in and having a conversation shows you’re concerned and invested in your employee as a whole person, inside of work and out, can go a long way toward keeping your team feeling valued and important, which leads to retention.

Invest in your company’s culture.

Take a moment to look around your workspace. What is the expression on people’s faces? Are they happy? Are people talking to each other? Or is it quiet, somber, all serious all the time? When your team interacts with each other, is the tone positive, friendly, and collaborative, or is it unnecessarily tense? Company culture isn’t just a buzzword; the way people feel when they’re at work, whether they feel respected and welcomed, whether they feel like their work is valued and that they have something to contribute, makes a big difference in whether someone decides to stay in a position or look for opportunities elsewhere. It’s worth investing in your company’s culture, spending the time to make sure it’s a positive, healthy, supportive one. Embrace the Aloha spirit and make sure people have the support they need when they need it, also making sure to take time to celebrate milestones and victories, no matter how small. If you’ve ever said your work team is like a family, remember that families stick together through the good and the bad; families support each other and pull together when someone needs help.

Listen to feedback.

Employees who feel like their voices aren’t being heard, or are willfully being ignored, will start looking for a way out. Just as you would be deliberate when providing feedback to your team, listen very carefully and thoughtfully when your team mentions their concerns, any troubles they’re having, any stumbling blocks they’ve run into. Try to work together to find a solution and to put in place new systems or methods for handling projects or work assignments to ensure everyone has just as much as they can handle, without someone always volunteering to shoulder the extra burden. If an employee confides in you that they’re having a conflict with someone else, work diligently but discreetly to solve it and find a way forward in which people either get along or don’t have to interact with each other too much. This is also a great way to boost morale, as employees will understand that their input is both valid and valued. If you don’t want to dive right in with one-on-one conversations, start with an anonymous survey about working conditions and employee concerns and establish ways to address all responses, even the negative ones, and to continue building on the positive attributes.

Learn from exit interviews.

Ultimately you won’t be able to keep everyone. But when someone does leave, have a heartfelt and open conversation about why they decided to go. It might be something out of your control — maybe a spouse or partner is taking a job somewhere other than Hawaii or on another island and they need to move; maybe another company is able to offer a benefit that you just can’t match. But if there’s something that you can learn from this employee’s departure, take the needed steps to address where the company fell short. If commuting is a problem, consider whether remote or hybrid working hours could be implemented. If insurance is too expensive, see if it’s possible to work with another company to secure a better rate. If the person leaving said there was a lack of professional growth opportunities, consider whether your company is talking about how people can grow from within. Take detailed notes during these conversations and see what improvements can be made to help retain the employees you still have.

The job market in Hawaii is only so big; unemployment remains steady and there are only so many different opportunities to be found. Every employee you have is a valuable asset and should be treated as such! Longstanding employees are the ones who can be a huge help to you as a manager, taking on new hires and mentoring them and providing insight and context about how the company operates. It’s worth every effort you can make to keep them under your roof and out of the competition’s hands. Inevitably, you might need to hire someone new — hopefully because your company’s success is growing and you need additional employees!

Are You Looking For New Employees?

When the time comes, contact Bishop & Company, a staffing agency dedicated to finding qualified candidates for our partner companies in Hawaii. We work with you to understand the backgrounds, qualifications and values you hold in the highest regard and we’ll do all we can to quickly bring great candidates to your attention. If you’d like to learn more about what our team can do for you, give us a call today 808-839-2200!