In our previous blog we wrote how to become an irresistible employer for new talent. But once you have such a talent in-house, you naturally want it to stay with you. If you let your people ripple on and don't offer a challenge to develop, they will look elsewhere for that challenge. And elsewhere in this case is outside your company. It's a shame of course, especially if you have invested in your team in other ways. How do you ensure that your employees continue to think your grass is the greenest?

Big money

Even though there is no longer a candidate market, the fact remains that replacing an employee costs a lot of money. For an average job, we are talking about no less than 21 percent of the gross annual salary. The higher the position, the higher that percentage will be. It already starts with the fact that an employee who wants to leave is less productive. Once the employee has made the decision to leave, the entire process must be completed administratively and a new employee must be found. The new employee then has to be trained and will often be less productive during the first period. Count out your loss …

Provide a positive employee journey

It is actually very easy to keep your staff. Create a positive employee journey, and you're done. If only it were that simple. According to People Business, an inspiration platform for entrepreneurs about the art of being a good employer, the employee journey is the journey that employees make within your organization from the moment they first contact the organization to the point they leave the organization. During that journey there are countless moments – touch points – when you can influence the opinion of your employees about the organization. In a positive, but also in a negative sense. This starts with the job interview and later the performance interview, but make sure that there are also enough contact moments during the year during which successes are celebrated, appreciation is expressed and constructive feedback is given. The more involved and enthusiastic the manager, the more involved and enthusiastic the employees.

Offer as many happiness factors as possible

According to Tom Eijck, founder of Puur Cultuur, you can give that enthusiasm a helping hand by offering your employees so-called happiness factors. That starts with providing valuable work. You can do that by caring for direct appreciation. And not – necessarily – in the form of salary or excessive compliments, but by taking them seriously, giving them responsibility, recognizing their talents and offering them the opportunity to further develop those talents. That's how you invest in the strengths of your people, they become even better in what they are good at and that motivates. Finally, it is an important one good leader to be. As we wrote in this blog, a good leader sets a good example. Have an open mindset, show genuine interest in the employees you are talking to and their different perspectives and experiences.

Curious?

Attention to knowledge development is part of good leadership. Do you want to put continuous learning on the agenda, but could you use some help with that? We are happy to help you give knowledge development an even more strategic role.

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