Understanding Job Satisfaction Loyalty and Commitment

Retention

Things aren’t the same as they used to be at the workplace. Today’s workforce works much differently and also thinks much differently than they did a while back. Years ago people looked to get a job as soon as they graduated high school or college and hoped to stay there for the rest of their life. All they wanted was a stable job that could provide for them and their family. They didn’t care so much about benefits or huge pay raises. They were satisfied with a small annual raise or just a pat on the back ensuring them of their job security. They were so satisfied with this that they didn’t even think about looking for another job. (Retaining Your Star Performers)

Today employees are much different. They are not satisfied with a small raise or a pat on the back, they want much more than that because they know they can get it. They are not looking to work for one place for the rest of their life’s making an average wage. They are always looking for ways to advance to a better position or even a better job that pay’s more and gives more benefits. They know that employers will accommodate their wishes in order to get or retain a star performer. If the employer will not accommodate them, they know that their services are in high demand and almost any employer will hire a top performer in their field and fulfill their demands. (Retaining Your Star Performers)

A recent study showed that today’s workers between the ages of 18 and 32 were likely to change jobs about eight times. This would seem unusually high if we went back 20-30 years, but today’s workforce is comfortable with this because of the world we live in today. (Retaining Your Star Performers)

Over the years there have been certain ways to retain these star performers that have grown in popularity. Career development is one example of this. It is important in any job to feel that you are continually learning new things and increasing your skills. If an employee feels that they are being held back by their employer from doing so, they are likely to start looking for an employer who will support their efforts in doing so. (Retaining Your Star Performers) Training employees works out for the employer and employees. They are both benefiting because the employee is learning knew desired skills and knowledge and the employer is gaining a highly trained and motivated employee who will help the company in reaching its goals. There is an expense that goes along with training that also needs to be thought about. If an employer is putting all this time and money into an employee, they better make sure they have other tools to use to retain this employee so all their effort doesn’t go out the door if the employee decides to leave the organization. (Retaining Your Star Performers)

Another one of these tools is job content. It is important that you give employees tasks that will not only challenge them, but also allow them to further develop their skills as you structure jobs. It is very important to give employees quarterly one on one evaluations to make sure that their tasks are interesting and that they know how much of what they do effects the company. (Retaining Your Star Performers)

Employees want and need flexibility now, more than ever. Flexibility allows an employee to work what days and whatever hours he or she chooses. This is key for employees who have kids that need daycare or any other responsibility that needs to come before work. Also, some people are just not morning people and can’t work the nine to five. Many people don’t even start to function till late in the afternoon. Flexibility is good in this way because an employer knows if the person is scheduled for when he or she wants to work, they are more likely to be at the top of their game. The only thing a manager should consider when setting up the schedules is if they allow one employee to work the hours they want to work, they better be sure to be consistent with all of their employees just to be fair. (Retaining Your Star Performers)

Tuition reimbursement is very important if you want a knowledgeable employee. Being a college graduate is not just a good thing to be, it is needed in many fields. Many organizations are using tuition reimbursement programs in order to further their employees educations and motivate them to become better at what they do. They also see this as a way to get a step up in the ladder by becoming more knowledgeable and more skilled. (Retaining Your Star Performers)

Competitive salary is needed if you are looking to keep a key employee. As a manager, you need to make sure that the salary you are paying your employees is the same as if not better than your competition. By competition, I don’t only mean other businesses in the same industry. I mean every business in your community. People