Building a business that retains talented employees can be challenging. Statistics show that U.S. based workers will change jobs an average of twelve times over their lifetime. This means that the opportunity to jump ship and move on to greener pastures is often on the mind of an employee. Inspiring loyalty and creating a great workspace for everyone on your team should, therefore, be a high priority for your management group.
Inspiring employee loyalty isn’t about tricks, gimmicks, or singular focus on pay raises, though. Employees respond to cash, but this isn’t the only thing that creates a coherent team of players all working together. New hires may be wooed by a great benefits package or a good salary that provides their family with some much-needed stability, yet the things that keep employees happy, confident, and loyal to the corporate mission are rooted in the company’s culture, not its wallet.
Improving the culture of your brand and business is the best way to attract and keep talented workers that share your vision for the future.
Implement a rewards program to compensate your team’s hard work.
Rewarding your team for its hard work is a natural part of running a business within any industry. But most corporate leaders miss the mark when it comes to really paying back their employees for their sweat equity in the company. Small business owners ask “what is an ESOP” when they first hear the term, and they often quickly come to buy into the idea once they learn more about the ESOP framework.
An ESOP—or Employee Stock Ownership Plan—is a way to invest in your employees and business at the same time. By giving company stock to the workers who spend the longest contributing to your business’ success, you ensure that they are invested in the future of growth just as you are.
Small business ideas
Many small business owners are great at coming up with ideas, but management processes evade them in the real world. Employees can often feel used, leading to a downturn in productivity or a continuous revolving door of new hires coming and going. With an ESOP in place, you ensure that your employees are part of the process for the long haul.
Rewarding workers with company stock gives them a reason to maintain a high standard of work while on the job and provides a long term benefit that rises and falls with the fortunes of the company itself. If you continue to expand, your company’s value increases in line with profits. However, lax business practices or a workforce that is inefficient force a reduction in value, making the ESOP structure worth less. The incentive is powerful and makes employees feel like a part of the process.
Utilize goal setting frameworks that inspire growth.
Company stock is often dependent on the productivity achieved on a quarterly basis. Companies set targets for themselves and strive to meet those goals in sales, fabrication, or contact with clients. Whatever the measuring stick your business uses to identify and chase after success, OKR software must be a mainstay in your goal setting and tracking regimen.
What is OKR
An OKR framework is a tracking mechanism that allows you to make midstream corrections in your processes or goals because OKRs utilize a breakdown approach that offers continuous accountability. While employees may not like the sound of the word at first, accountability actually helps to foster a community attitude among team members.
With an OKR, accountability becomes a mantra around the office, helping employees to remain in sight of their targets on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. This new lease on life for your business can help employees feel like they are doing more with their day—making it more exciting and less “Office Space.”
How to start with OKR
OKRs begin with setting objectives. Your company’s objectives form the overriding direction that you and your management team hope to send your company in over the long term. These could include expanding into new marketplaces or launching a new product line. Alternatively, you may be operating in a research and internal development phase of trading, meaning that a breakthrough in your company processes may form the core of your objectives list. Whatever the priorities are for your unique business, the OKR framework forces you to reckon with them and crystallize long term goals on a concrete and achievable manner.
The second phase of OKR planning is setting key results. Each objective should have three to five key results associated with it. These function as pit stops or road signs along the way to the ultimate completion of your objective, whether these are switching to W-2 envelopes for each employee or growing monthly sales by 10%, the key results are instrumental to measuring and chasing after success. Key results are measurable and offer a glimpse at how your team is performing in line with the goals set for them.
Keeping employees incentivized and efficient is crucial to success. Try these two solutions to jumpstart your business.