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Create a Great Place to Work for Talented Staff

Lloyd Ball provides us with excellent tips for creating a great work environment in order to ensure that we retain valuable employees and attract new talent.

by Lloyd Ball

Contribution by Lloyd Ball, MD of PLP Group of Companies, specialists in staff retention programmes. Lloyd was born in Australia and primarily built his career in the corporate sector. Lloyd is a global citizen having worked extensively in Aus, NZ, USA, RSA and the UK. Lloyd has held positions in large multinationals such as TNT, where he managed 1800 employees. He is also a successful entrepreneur having started and run his own marketing and sales company. He is the Managing Director of the PLP Group of Companies who have provided comprehensive work life balance solutions to large multinationals and blue chip companies.

Over the past two years, companies have become leaner and smarter. This has resulted in employees taking on increased workloads, while dealing with new challenges and varied tasks. Employees have been stretching themselves and have become more efficient as a result. Increased workloads and expectations have, however, taken their toll on employees.

 In today’s economy, retention of existing talent should be a priority for companies. If we want to retain our valued employees and attract new talent, we need to manage more efficiently and create a better work environment. Below are some tips for creating a great place of work and retaining valued employees.

Tips for creating a great place of work:

1. Set clear goals and maintain the challenge
   A talented mind without direction is more likely to jump ship than a mediocre or underperforming employee. Talented employees continuously need new challenges and achievable goals, coupled with an ongoing supply of information and resources to solve business problems. They also require a dynamic work environment with friendly HR policies and more lucrative compensation.
   
   Additional benefits such as work-life balance programmes, lifestyle enhancers and flexi-time are often implemented to ensure employees can manage the stress of their personal lives, without it impacting on their working capacity.
   
2. Understand your talented employees’ need state
   In today’s economy, retention of existing talent should be a priority for companies, in addition to building an attractive brand to attract new talent. One has to understand the triggers that make your employees more engaged to expand on their talent.
   
   Who are your employees and what is their need state? We need to generate employee insights, track trends and changes in behaviour and lifestyle drivers and then align HR policies or procedures accordingly.
   
   Work-life balance programmes are typically a very useful tool in gathering employee intelligence and being able to report on various life-changing trends in the lives of our employees. Additional benefits can be derived from such solutions, for example, global companies such as Accenture, Pfizer and Microsoft have cited reduced absenteeism and increased productivity levels as a result of work-life balance programmes.
   
3. Create a work-life balance
   HR managers have to create an employee value proposition that appeals to several generations and cultures. The first wave of Generation Y entered the workplace early in the 21st century and managers must put into place strategies to attract, retain and support them. Generation Y does not want to repeat the mistakes of their parents by working long hours, neglecting family, friends and personal pursuits. Money is important to them, but so is having a good work-life balance. Attaining that balance is what will drive them and when the time comes, they will want to spend more time with their children. Unlike the Boomers and Generation X, Generation Y will see family as being first.
   
   Managers will have to find a balance between providing a work environment that will leverage the genius of Generation Y, whilst not alienating the rest of the workforce.
   
4. Performance tracking and evaluation
   Innovators and hard workers need constant motivation to perform at their best. Point them towards specific results, but failure to achieve these results should be addressed before it becomes too late. Create an innovative environment where smart and new ideas can get to the CEO faster, without being blocked by corporate procedures.
   
   HR managers should also focus on being fair, unbiased and far sighted in their appraisals.
   
5. Emotional salaries
   A recent business survey by a leading consulting agency shows that employees value their emotional salary 200% more than what is written on their pay slips. Compensation for quality work must be well-matched to the market, but does not only have a monetary form.
   
   Make sure that you put into place some good and exciting lifestyle programmes that help your talented employees focus on their work tasks, while their personal problems are taken care of.
   
   Decrease their living expenses and whenever possible, offer them discounted holidays or cash back on their vehicle purchases. Give them financial advice and teaching assistance for their children to make their life less stressful so that they can focus on their work. »

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