Healthcare Articles

How to retain staff

Staff turnover can be disruptive, expensive and affect team morale. You have spent time recruiting committed and talented employees and your department cannot afford to lose them. So how can you keep them?

Employees leave for many reasons, and it is generally not because they want more money or better benefits. Importantly, employers can control why employees leave, as this article will demonstrate.

Essentially your relationship with your employees is key to their satisfaction and their decisions to stay or leave. A good boss who cares about keeping good people will help them find what they want from their organisation. You can do this by talking with them and listening and by discussing the issues that are most pertinent to them as individuals.

So, what should managers do to keep their staff?

1. Make their jobs interesting

Employees need opportunities for personal challenge and growth. If good workers find out that they are no longer receiving these necessities then they may decide that they have outgrown the company and consider leaving. Their current job may pay well, be enjoyable, provide security and attractive benefits and it may be an excellent department doing important work. However the day-to-day tasks may not provide the stimulation or sense of achievement that make an employee want to stay. The simplest way to enrich jobs for individuals is to ask them questions such as:

- In what ways would you like your job changed?
- In what areas would you like increased responsibility?
- What skills do you have that you are currently not using?

The manager's job is to help employees evaluate their jobs and discover ideas for enrichment. These discussions need to be collaborative with an understanding that the manager doesn't need to have all the answers but can facilitate the process.

Managers therefore need to focus on job enrichment for their employees if they wish to retain their services and this just doesn't mean "fascinating work and more money". This can be achieved through a variety of ways including rotating assignments; having employees visit more customers so that they can obtain first-hand experience and involving employees in the decisions that impact on their work.

A major cause of turnover is workplace boredom. Job enrichment is not difficult, but it does require staying alert to opportunities for all your employees and working with them to enrich their jobs.

2. Support their career goals

Discuss your employee's futures, openly and frequently. Involve them as you discuss their abilities, choices and ideas. Too many managers avoid career conversations. Employee's don't expect you to have all the answers, but they do want you to listen to them and to offer your perspective. They will also benefit from specific feedback with examples of their performance and how it relates to their future goals.

Take time out to have serious and in-depth discussions about how the industry will be changing over the next 2-5 years and what skills your staff will need to compete for roles in the new environment. For instance, should they be doing marketing or business studies, a qualification in health economics, gaining exposure to new therapeutic areas or undertaking overseas assignments. Career development of staff is a responsibility for all managers and should be undertaken in a considered and structured manner.

3. Share information with them

Make your employees feel part of the organisation by telling them what is happening. If you don't tell them what is happening they will make it up together with all the associated inaccuracies.

Information sharing is important at all times but critical during periods of change (downsizing, mergers and acquisitions). If employees are worried about events and don't have sufficient information they are likely to worry about their job security and update their resumes.

Managers must give information as early and as honestly as possible and this will make employees feel important and valued. These employees are likely to have insight into the specific problems and may be able to offer solutions.

The role of the manager is also to help employees look into the future, by providing information that helps with the employee's development and career advancement.

Employees want to know about the company's direction and goals, the industry's future and the emerging trends that may affect career possibilities. Employees with this information will feel more confident in their future within the company.

4. Get them connected

Employees leave when they don't feel connected with others in the organisation. Employees need groups of colleagues who can support them, offer information or help, or just listen to them.

Connections are a major reason why people stay with a company. Managers need to give attention to strengthening the bonds between people in their team and others within the organisation. Employees need to link with others to get their jobs done effectively. Managers need to be asking their staff 'who else in the company do you need to be liaising with to optimise your role?'

Relationships with others will help your employees get their work done and will give them insights to enhance their productivity. As employees are linked to other functions within the company their knowledge and skills will grow and they are more likely to stay.

5. Respect them

Even if employees are well paid and have opportunities to learn and grow, if they don't like their bosses they will leave.

It is unacceptable for managers to exhibit any of the following behaviours: acting in an arrogant or condescending manner; intimidating staff; slamming doors; pounding tables; swearing; behaving rudely; showing disrespect; being sexist, bigoted; using inappropriate humour; humiliating and embarrassing others; deliberately ignoring or isolating some people…and the list goes on.

If you do exhibit any of the above behaviours then think about the implications of your behaviour on your staff. Are you causing good people to leave? What can you do to improve your interpersonal skills?

The same applies to what managers should expect from their staff. To ensure the integrity of the functioning team managers need staff who respect each other and respect the contribution that each can make.

So, is turnover an issue? Employees generally don't want to leave for more money or better benefits. However the other reasons that may make them consider their options are within the control of the organisation. It is not always possible to cater for every individual request, however with frequent and open communication employees are more likely to understand and appreciate the constraints.

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By Dr Glenn Carter, Managing Director of Pharmaceutical Professionals, a Sydney professional services company.

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