One of the most rewarding experiences in any business is watching the employees that have been with the company for years as they rise through the ranks and take on more responsibility with success. They save you time and money, are more engaged, and have good attitudes. You wonder if you could duplicate their success somehow, because they remind you of yourself. You so appreciate them and what they mean to the company.
Most days, however, you are dealing with higher turnover rates than you prefer. The server you just hired a few months ago is most likely already looking for a new job. You need a new assistant manager, but so far, you don’t have enough good candidates to pick from. If only you had just a handful more of those longer term employees that were really committed to the job and excited about working. It seems like most employees are just walking out the door.
The truth is, you can increase retention of all levels of employees through creation of a learning culture.
A culture of learning:
- Encourages exposure to new topics
- Helps employees learn from mistakes
- Encourages questions
- Improves engagement and compliance across the board
The most effective types of learning cultures are found in companies that proactively put systems and people in place to support it, rather than just talking about it every now and then, or writing it on a goal board. Culture is constant, and it’s one of the most difficult parts of your company to maintain. If you aren’t being proactive, then it’s probably going the wrong direction.
Ideas to maintain a culture of learning:
- Have a book of the month program, encouraging reading
- Invite a speaker of the quarter to inspire new ideas
- Add “Director of Learning” to a reliable and goal oriented staff member’s title, and let them implement other ideas
Employee turnover is expensive. Hiring and training a new staff member costs about $5,000 on average. This doesn’t include the value of the time lost while training them, which is priceless, but just looking at the monetary costs alone, a couple of lost staff members can be a huge strain on profits.
You can’t systematize a good attitude, per say, but you can give your employees tools that support learning. Studies show that learners are happier, and that they are more likely to be engaged and motivated to be leaders. Not every staff member will respond perfectly to the right tools. Some may never be happy. The right employees, the ones you want to keep, will not only appreciate having a good learning tool, but they will relish it, use it, and allow it to make them a better staff member.
Give, give, give, and don’t “gate”.
Gated information works for marketers, but it doesn’t work for employee retention. If you want to keep your staff, make sure they have access to as much information as makes sense for their role. You may even consider allowing them access to a leadership course or two, in case they are interested in eventually stepping up in the ranks.
