Partner Article

The importance of staff morale and people retention

It’s labour market focus week on Bdaily. Here, Malcolm Gallagher, CEO of The Executive Scorecard Company, talks about staff morale and people retention.

I guess I’m not alone in having spent a lot of time over the past few years consoling friends who have been upset by events at work and supposedly inconsiderate employers.

However when I am facilitating a balanced scorecard assessment with a company, it is often that the business owner or CEO
is unaware of the negativity that is being created.

Why is this important?

This may sound simplistic but generating good staff morale and having a high level of retention has a direct effect on your profits and the following:

It helps create and retain good customers who are likely to be served better by happier people.
It stops you losing customers who may follow staff who leave to go to competitors.
It makes it harder for your competitors to steal your customers.
It saves you money on recruitment and training.
A stable team adds value to your business and satisfies stakeholders.
It allows your business to be more innovative and in a better state of readiness for the future.
It helps you attract new talent to your team.

So why is it that so many companies are creating poor morale and losing key people?

Often it is because of poor leadership skills but it is also a lack of focus on measuring morale and retention.

What can you do about it?

BEFORE they leave or become disgruntled.

Have a small amount of KPI’s dedicated to these areas.
Have an effective induction process in place so people know what is expected of them and what they can expect from you?
Use an efficient and regular appraisal system. Look forward to them and let the person being appraised speak!
Act upon the appraisal findings.
Don’t file them until the next time.
Avidly measure your absenteeism rate with a target of less than 4% It is a good indicator of staff morale.
Communicate regularly to everyone about the business and the part they are playing.
Use a scorecard graphic to do this with impact.
If they are leaving hold an exit interview so you can learn how to improve your retention.

AFTER they leave