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While family businesses want to hire and retain top talent, few have put in place retention strategies to enable them to retain their key talent. In this article we discuss some of the strategies that are geared to improve talent retention. 

Firstly, it is crucial to have in place systems and processes that are transparently communicated and consistently applied. This means that from the entry stage of recruitment to the off-boarding process upon separation from the organization, the employee knows what is expected and what support and mechanisms are available to them. The ‘place’ of the employee also needs to be clear – it can take the form of a role profile or job description together with a clear reporting line. In addition, the links and relationships to other colleagues or office bearers should be indicated in an up-to-date organizational structure. More importantly, opportunities for career advancement and growth need to be understood for employees to be happy. 

A second strategy is to manage your reputation by communicating your organization’s purpose, vision and values with investors, analysts, customers, suppliers, the media and other stakeholders. The values cannot just be theoretical, they need to be lived out with concrete examples and success stories which can be publicized and celebrated. Such a winning culture will be highly dependent on how you treat your employees, whether your employees treat each other with respect and care and whether results are rewarded and unbecoming behavior is punished.  

Thirdly, invest in creating a working environment where people want to stay. A conducive work place has facilities that help employees to relax while being optimally productive. For instance, ensure there are comfortable work seats, working stations that can be adjusted for height if most of the time is spent seated, enough water points and even “stress out rooms” or relaxation spots for some time out. Work places are now evolving to become like second homes, with a variety of meal options, medical facilities on site, crèches for the young family, working out or gym facilities, nursing rooms for retuning mothers and an array of facilities to support people living with disability.

Flexibility is also key for a multi-generational workforce. Everyone has a life outside of work, and people’s aspirations and expectations change over time. It good for business to have programs to help people be happy both at and away from work. Empowering employees to have more of a say on their working hours is one such program that has proven to be impactful in this area. Enabling remote and virtual working arrangements also supports this agenda. 

Whilst reward is not the most important factor contributing to staff retention, how competitive staff remuneration packages are communicates volumes about how you value your staff. Equal pay should be granted for equal work so that cases of staff performing lower level jobs but earning a higher salary than their superiors does not arise. Reward key and deserving employees with share based schemes and other incentive plans. This improves commitment and motivates them to behave like “owners of business”. It also supports longer term retention which is the key to effective succession planning. 

A conscious effort around diversity and inclusion has an impact on financial performance but it also plays a part in the staff retention agenda. Diversity and inclusion initiatives demonstrate that an organization knows the value of a diverse pool of staff e.g. by mirroring the different faces and backgrounds of your customers which improves customer interactions and relations. People want to work for an organization that is perceived to be accepting of all types of people and which rewards and promotes on the basis of merit without discriminating against any particular/distinctive group of staff. 

One aspect of diversity that is a hot button issue is around the various age groups in the organization. It is important to realise that the millennials (born in the 1980 and 1990’s) and the generation Z (born between 1995 and 2010) require different treatment at the work place to ensure optimal productivity. An employer that is careful to understand the different generations is also likely to have a better retention rate than those with more static or homogenous policies. 

One pivotal strategy around nurturing talent is around performance management. Talented employees want to know whether they are on track and what they need to do to accomplish their career goals. We know that people want to receive performance feedback in real time so that they can develop their careers. Endeavour to create a performance driven culture but also a learning focused organization through investing in a customised learning curriculum. While you are not required to fund every course and programme that employees would like to attend, enabling and rewarding those who continuously improve their skills will ultimately create a learning culture. 

One other piece of the retention puzzle is embracing technology as a force for good. In this digital era, a good entrepreneur will incorporate technology as an enabler but also as an efficiency tool. Various “apps” also help to disseminate information quickly and effectively to staff and improve their awareness of problems, initiatives, actions that need to be taken etc. One should view them as a good-to-have as opposed to an unwanted disruption, as many of the generation Z’ers will not be able to work in a low tech environment.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that businesses with highly engaged employees experience higher customer satisfaction and lower staff turnover rates. They also outperform businesses with lower levels of employee engagement. This applies to family businesses as well hence the need to invest in and implement employee engagement and retention strategies. It is advisable to consult human resource professionals with the requisite expertise to craft a solution for your particular business and circumstances.

Jane Kithela is the Founder and Managing Director at The REM Practice