As your business expands, it is vital that you have the right people by your side. You will, undoubtedly, already have one or two ‘go-to people’ in your ranks, but if you want to progress even further, you will need a few more. Attracting the right person for the job is never easy, especially when nobody will have particularly heard of you and you are competing with some big names to land the ideal candidate.

When you do land the right candidate though, you don’t want them to be on their way after a year or so; you want them to stay around long term. However, there are some steps you can take to combat this twin dilemma, and it should leave you with not only the right people to take you forward but also make sure they stay with you for the journey, too.

Don’t limit your recruiting pool

It seems odd that even after the lessons learned during the pandemic, many employers still insist on making their workforce come into the office every day. Apart from the numerous benefits for you as an employer (including the potential reduction in overheads), there is the time and money saved on the daily commute for the employee.

Introducing remote or hybrid working options is not only likely to boost your retention rates, but it also massively widens your potential recruitment pool. By casting your net much wider, you are giving yourself a far better chance of finding the person you need, even if they live in a different state or country.

Use the right tools to make training more effective

If you are recruiting remote workers, it is essential that you get them up to speed with what you are doing as soon as possible. One of the big problems with having a distributed workforce is the lack of face-to-face contact, and this can be especially telling during those first few weeks of training. If your new employee feels like they don’t know what they are doing, they could easily be despondent and throw the towel in.

To keep these instances to a minimum, you could use a digital adoption platform (DAP) to help you. This sits alongside your in-house software (or even the bigger name brands that your team might be using) and works to ensure they don’t become frustrated while they are learning. The sooner they know what they are doing, the more their morale and confidence will increase, and the more likely they are to stay. 

This does not just count for remote working staff, as having help when it is needed is useful for any employee, even if they are sitting in the same office as you.

Ensure they have the right support framework

You may also find that, as you have expanded, your business needs in the areas of HR and IT may have grown faster than your current resources. Outsourcing your IT support and migrating to the cloud might not only count as more cost-effective, but it can also help your retention rates as well. Having your tech running more smoothly will mean less frustration on the part of your workforce, and fewer stops and glitches will allow them to work more effectively.

As your employee pool widens, you will need to look at increasing your HR framework to provide the right amount of support. Employees who cannot get the help they need will feel abandoned and will look for work elsewhere, whereas those who feel supported are more likely to hang around for the long term. Depending on your business size, the right HR software could take up the slack, or you might look to entirely outsource your HR to the experts.

Reward success

Of course, if you have incredible people working for you, you need to reward them when they go above and beyond. This does not just mean a small bar of chocolate if you have a record-breaking month; it means finding the right reward for the achievement. So maybe offer gift cards, or a night out at a restaurant (on you, of course), or some kind of activity you all agree on.

You could also introduce an employee of the month reward, although you will need to think about the criteria here to ensure that everyone’s contribution is looked at and that it is not just awarded to a member of the sales team each time. Again, the reward needs to match the achievement, so it has to be more than just a token gesture, or morale is likely to suffer.

Promote internally

Another way to increase employee retention is to show people a clear career path by promoting internally. This demonstrates your willingness to invest in your employees and that they don’t necessarily have to leave for their careers to progress. Having people stay long term is good for your business, as not only do they have an in-depth knowledge of everything that goes on, you can delegate to them with confidence, so you don’t get pulled into every single tiny decision that needs to be made.

These promotions, however, need to be backed up with the right financial packages. You will need to pay the going rate for the role you are promoting the individual to and not try and do it on the cheap. Your employees will also see that they are not just getting promoted because they are a cheap option, which will do wonders for their morale and confidence as well. 

A few final thoughts

Recruiting the right person may be hard, but it is not impossible, and the same goes for keeping them in the business, too. Naturally, you will have some people who are not the right fit and will move on, and there will be those who will just see you as another step in building their résumé. However, by widening your search, you stand more chance of finding who you want, and by having digital help on hand, you can get them settled in quickly. 

You can also invest in IT and HR so the right amount of support is in place, and you can reward their achievements so they don’t feel overlooked. Of course, those who excel frequently will put themselves in line for a promotion, so ensure you recognize that as well, making sure they are paid enough not to seek that same promotion elsewhere.