People Dynamics Newsletter - People Matters
Issue 63, May 2010 | Back to Newsletters Index
PD News
I have great pleasure in announcing our newest staff member Ruth Budiman. Ruth comes to us with a Bachelor of Science majoring in psychology and is working as our admin / receptionist full time. You will hear her cheerful voice whenever you call us! As of the 17th of May, Jess will also be full time with us. Both Shannon and Emma will be continuing with their part time hours.
Keeping Your Employees Loyal
Research has shown a number of organisations have been struggling with retention over the last 18 months. This begs the question, “How do you make good people join and stay?”
Conducting staff surveys is often an effective means of finding a retention solution, both in terms of cost and time. The idea is to collect a reliable body of data that helps you determine why your employees are leaving and what strategies or tactics you must change to find the ‘good ones’ and make them stay. When designed and implemented correctly, staff surveys can help to increase retention rates, lower absenteeism, enhance customer relations, improve productivity, and increase profitability.
A good idea is to start with your new employees. In the first 90 days you are most likely (and should) have a discussion about their performance. This is a good opportunity to ask how they are finding the role, but also how they found the recruitment process and what attracted them to the business in the first place.
Ensuring that your employees remain loyal is perhaps an even more important focus. It is important to communicate with current employees and ask them, “What keeps you here? Why do you like working here?” On a tight budget, online surveying is an effective way of collecting this information. They are delivered at low cost and are not time-consuming to implement.
Take advantage of when people do leave the business to obtain their feedback as well. Asking the right questions in exit interviews can provide beneficial information to help initiate low or no-cost strategic solutions to keep current employees from leaving. For example, the exit survey of a particular individual may identify solutions that their colleagues can benefit from. At the end of the day, it is not about figuring out why Jane, your salesperson, quit. It’s too late. But more importantly, why women or other salespeople may quit?
Legal Update
Recently an employee was reinstated after a dismissal due to failure to wear safety glasses in harsh conditions. The reasoning behind this ruling was based on a number of personal factors, including length of service to the company (20 years) and family circumstances. However, in passing this ruling the courts did warn that the employee was very close to having the dismissal upheld and that further breaches of the code would be dealt with strictly. OH&S therefore is not only a part of the employer’s obligation, but also the responsibility of the employee to comply with those codes. If you would like further information on OH&S, please contact us on 03 9077 4870.