A treat will keep them keen

FINDING and keeping good staff is one of the main challenges keeping small business owners awake at night.

A survey this year found 67 per cent of Australian employers had seen an increase in staff turnover in the past three years, with companies reporting that, on average, 15 per cent of their staff were leaving.

The survey commissioned by recruitment firm Robert Half Australia calculated roughly 1.8 million Aussie workers were likely to be on the lookout for a better offer.

And that was despite 96 per cent of the companies surveyed saying they had measures in place to avoid staff turnover. Clearly they’re not working.

According to Robert Half Australia director Andrew Brushfield, staff turnover creates significant setbacks for businesses, with lost productivity, reduced revenue and low staff morale.

“While our research demonstrates that businesses do have strategies in place, increasing turnover rates suggest that these have not been effective in retaining employees,” he said.

“In such a competitive environment and with employees now preferring more flexible ways of working and being rewarded, it is important that businesses take a close look at their retention strategies to ensure they are suitable and attractive for their specific industry, company culture and team.”

So how do you keep your team happy, settled and productive?

Well, it’s not necessarily all about the money, particularly when wage growth is weak, presently running at about 2 per cent a year.

The answer is less about the dollars and more about the emotional motivation driven by feeling valued and genuinely appreciated.

The Robert Half survey also found that only half of the organisations they spoke to had employee appreciation or wellness programs, and more than half did not offer any staff training or regularly review salaries. And, if you think that’s not going to affect the speed of job hopping, think again.

A survey of 1000 Australian office workers found the overwhelming majority — 84 per cent — would be willing to accept a lower salary in return for more benefits.

Flexibility topped the charts with almost half (47 per cent) willing to accept lower pay in return for flexible working hours.

Other preferred benefits included the option to work from home (40 per cent), increased holiday allowance (37 per cent), medical benefits (36 per cent) and travel allowances, such as company cars and fuel expenses (31 per cent).

But apart from the added extras, it seems one of the most compelling things we can do to make staff feel valued and appreciated is actually taking the time to let them know.

I read recently of a travel agent who had come up with a dazzling way to hang on to her team members and leave them with a lasting reminder of how valued they and their loyalty were. Diamonds.

Ten years ago, Spencer Travel managing director Penny Spencer decided to devise a plan to create better staff retention and she thought the obvious answer lay in rewards and recognition.

But what sort of reward would make her staff feel really special? And, when she challenged what they would like to receive, the answer was simple. Diamonds.

“I came up with the idea of putting $1000 a year away for each employee,” she said.

“That gives you $10,000 on the 10th year, which can pay for a one-carat diamond. It’s not a huge investment, I don’t think, to get a great reward at the end of the 10 years.”

And so far it seems to be working because she’s handed out no less than 10 diamond rings to some very happy — and long serving — team members. Her rationale was simple. “Happy staff equals happy clients, which equals profit on your bottom line,” she said.

So, while we should appreciate our staff every day, you might want to mark March 1 in your diary as Employee Appreciation Day.

The first Friday in March is now an unofficial holiday observed in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and increasingly in Australia.

So, if your budget doesn’t quite stretch to a grand a head for diamonds, you might at least want to park a few dollars for a knees-up, and some cake and bubbles to show you care.