Retaining staff in the current labour market can be very difficult. In an environment of low unemployment, workers can shift quickly, especially if they are unhappy about something. Creating a positive work environment and culture is important when you want to keep good people.
It doesn’t always have to be about paying salaries way over the odds to keep good staff, many people will stay if they can see there is a bright and positive future in your business.
Offering a supportive workplace free from bullying and harassment will help you to keep good people. Offering training and development opportunities and offering opportunities to attend things like trade events can also help. Identifying to key staff career pathways can help them as they will see they are not in a dead-end job. Also, introducing incentives such as flexible work arrangements, 9-day fortnights, and bonuses can help you retain key people.
The way to get started can be simple. You probably already have most of the information you need, but if you don’t, sit down with your workers and find out a bit more about them, what motivates them, and what their aspirations are. If you know a bit more about them personally it will help you to build a plan to keep them. This could be done through the development of a personal development plan which identifies with future training and professional development opportunities.
You could also look at introducing the workplace flexibility they might need to help them better manage their work-family life balance. If you can come to an agreement around introducing some better and flexible working arrangements, it might sway them to not look for the extra dollars and stay in your business.
If you want more information on retention strategies, contact the Industry Workforce Advisor at MTA Queensland.
The Industry Workforce Advisor program is funded by the Queensland Government as part of the Good people. Good jobs: Queensland Workforce Strategy 2022–2032.