How to Drive Higher Employee Retention in Today’s Low Unemployment
In his recent article, tackling employee retention for Forbes, Mike Kappel shares his top four methods for keeping great hires onboard. One reason I like this piece so much and strongly recommend you read it is that he places a spotlight on 4 “common sense” retention rules. (You know what I’m talking about: those “rules” that everybody talks about, but very few people actually seem to know how to follow…) Then he breaks those rules down into meaningful descriptions – and real-life examples – that illustrate the critical importance of everyday coaching, recognition, and encouragement. This is especially true for inbound customer care agents.
How is your current customer care team performing?
One of the greatest concerns I hear from potential new clients is how, in this economy, it has become nearly impossible to maintain a team of truly great customer care agents. They ask what makes Skybridge Americas different. How will we be able to outperform their current team? How do we keep our customer care agents happy, high performing, and consistently customer focused? I walk them through our experience, our hiring philosophy, our extensive, deep, exhaustive training. But really, the answer is: this is what we do. We build teams of passionate, enthusiastic, people-oriented people. We don’t just train them on scripts and systems. We teach them about your brand. We coach them to provide a great customer experience on every call, every day.
If you’d like to know more about Skybridge Americas can build your customer care dream team, please reach out. We would love to know more about your vision, goals, and customer care needs.
4 Ways To Keep Employee Retention High In The Age Of Low Unemployment
by Mike Kappel
Contributor
The unemployment rate has been staggeringly low throughout the past year. And although this is excellent news for workers and our economy, it might not be the best news for your small business.
With such a low unemployment rate, workers have options. Employees can quickly bounce from job to job, raising your turnover rate and impacting your bottom line. How can you keep employee retention high during this time of unemployment (and beyond)?
4 Ways To Increase Employee Retention
I’ve talked about how to reduce employee turnover before. But now that jobs are so readily available to workers, it’s time to up your game even more.
As you likely know, losing and replacing employees is expensive and time-consuming. Not to mention, the low unemployment rate means top talent is already employed, which can mean two things for your business:
- You might have trouble readily finding qualified applicants to replace terminated employees.
- When top talent is already employed, you have to worry about other businesses trying to recruityour
Use these tips to create an employee retention strategy that resonates with your workers, improves engagement, and keeps them from seeking other positions.
1. Onboard New Hires
Onboarding is a make or break time for employees. Done well, onboarding can increase your employee retention rate. Done poorly, onboarding can result in employees quitting within six months of starting.
Your employer goals during the onboarding process should be to tell employees about your business, show them the ropes to successfully do their jobs, answer questions, and introduce them to your current staff.
If employees are significantly confused about how to do their jobs after onboarding, you could have problems down the road. They could become frustrated with the lack of communication, leading to disengagement.
2. Develop A Relationship Of Mutual Respect
What’s the number one reason employees move on to a new job? Although people heavily debate this question, some research suggests people quit their bosses, not the jobs themselves.
There are many reasons employees leave that have nothing to do with their bosses. But if you do not develop a relationship of mutual respect with your workers, you could be pushing them out the door.
At my company, Patriot Software, I work alongside my employees and stay late. I work in an office where my door is always open. When I hire employees, I train them, then give them authority over their responsibilities. I look at employees as my co-workers and family. I tell them “thank you” at the end of their shifts. With these seemingly simple acts and attitudes, I promote mutual respect.
Barking orders and yelling at employees when they mess up (or even if they do something differently than you would have) isn’t the way to show you respect them as talented workers. And, it certainly isn’t the way to gain their respect.
When employees respect you and know they have your respect, the likelihood of them leaving “because of their boss” decreases. And, mutual respect also increases employee loyalty toward your small business.
Read the entire article >
by Bobby Matthews
Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Skybridge Americas
bmatthews@skybridgeamericas.com
Find out how Skybridge Americas can help you delight your customers and grow your business.
We seamlessly integrate our superior customer care skills with your brand messaging. For more information, contact us at 763-299-4570 or submit our contact form.
