9 Steps To Retaining Employees During the Labor Shortage
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9 Steps To Retaining Employees During the Labor Shortage

9 Steps To Retaining Employees During the Labor Shortage

By the end of 2021, the labor shortage had reached epic proportions, with an estimated 10.7 million unfilled jobs. Everywhere I went, businesses displayed signs saying they were hiring. Restaurants and other businesses reduced their hours of operations because they didn’t have enough employees to take care of their customers.

Considering this situation, I want to share 9 steps you can take to retain your current employees and attract new ones.

  1. Train them. Give your employees what they need to do their jobs. There is nothing more frustrating than tackling a project when you don’t have what’s necessary to successfully complete it. When you train your employees on customer service, you are showing them that you value them by investing the time and money to ensure they will be successful. To make an impact, that training must be consistent and continuous.
  2. Listen to them. When employees feel they have no input into what they do and how they are required to do it, they become discouraged. Ask them for feedback, and be open and honest in responding to their concerns. Ask what you can do to make their jobs easier and, as a result, make their jobs more enjoyable. Ask what their goals are within the company and what you can do to help them achieve them.
  3. Respect them. At one time in our lives, we’ve all had bosses who lost their temper, berated employees in front of others, or disrespected employees in other ways. If you must have a conversation with an employee who is not doing well, do it behind closed doors and do it respectfully. Employees need to feel loved, valued, and appreciated every day.
  4. Praise them. When you praise an employee, do it publicly; it will serve as a motivator for other employees. Be specific and sincere. Do it in a timely manner, and do it often. If you wait 6 months, that praise loses its thunder. Be sincere – and specific.
  5. Recognize them. We all like to be recognized for doing a job well. Unfortunately, many employees are recognized only when they make mistakes. Try to “catch” employees who are doing a good job and thank them for it. My friend Steve is an accountant and recently left his job after just 45 days. Why? During his performance review he received only negative comments – even though he had performed well enough to uncover embezzlement in the company.
  6. Motivate them. Money can definitely be a motivator, but it’s usually short-lived. You can pay your employees extremely well. But if you don’t motivate them, they will underperform and eventually leave you.
  7. Coach them. Become a coach, a nurturer. Just as athletic coaches must bring team members together to perform at their highest levels, you must bring your employees together and get them to work as a team to achieve the goals you have set for them.
  8. Be flexible. When the pandemic hit in early 2020, many companies had to allow employees to work from their homes. Those employees proved that they could be just as productive – if not more – as they would have been in the office. Now you might be faced with employees having difficulty finding daycare or who are facing other issues and would like to work at least part-time from home. You would do well to make accommodations to help them deal with those issues.
  9. Conduct exit interviews with employees who leave your company. Why? Because they will give you insight about what went wrong. While most employees will tell you they are leaving because they can make more money somewhere else, most are leaving for other reasons. When they share those reasons with you, you have the opportunity to evaluate them and determine how you and others in supervisory positions can adjust your own attitudes and behaviors and help you retain employees.

John Tschohl is a professional speaker, trainer, and consultant. He is president and founder of Service Quality Institute, with operations in more than 40 countries. He is considered one of the foremost authorities on service strategy, success, empowerment, and customer service. His monthly strategic newsletter is available online at no charge. He also can be reached on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Published: January 6th, 2022

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