Offering a decent salary is most certainly enough to get some of the top millennial candidates through the door… but is it enough to keep them? Sure, the “almighty dollar” can be a great incentive and is definitely one of the reasons that we go to work each day, but as the cost of living goes up, the company budget tightens, and raises become far and few in between, money is no longer the motive.
In order to run a successful company, equipped with a great staff, business managers and execs must be willing to think outside of the box to maintain employee satisfaction.
Invest in Their Potential
While you may not have originally thought of investing in the futures of your staff as a means to improve retention and productivity, it can be very beneficial. In fact, in 2010, the American Management Association conducted a critical skills survey which concluded that as technology and the world of business evolve, so will the need for continued education and training among staff.
Offering opportunities for your staff to further their education can prove beneficial for both parties in three essential ways:
- Expands employee knowledge
- Enhances workplace productivity
- Increases retention rates
Expanding Employee Knowledge
Part of being a successful business is keeping up with the latest trends, and somehow staying a step ahead of the competition. Systems are constantly changing, processes consistently evolving, and having a workforce capable of keeping up is essential. Offering continued education assistance such as tuition reimbursement and employee scholarships allows your staff the necessary financial backing they need to further expand their knowledge.
Worried about their ability to balance current tasks with continued education? With accessible teaching, such as testing tools on sites like barronstestprep.com, and several top online colleges and courses to choose from, workers have multiple platforms on which to learn new concepts while still maintaining a job. The more education your staff is afforded, the more equipped they are to handle their jobs in this fast paced business world.
Enhances Workplace Productivity
An employee who utilizes opportunities to further expand their knowledge now have the ability to put that knowledge to use. A secretary who goes back to college for her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, now has the potential to work more closely with her immediate supervisors. An IT professional who takes several online programming courses, may essentially learn how to streamline business processes to help software run more efficiently.
In a nutshell, education helps to fuel their potential.
Increases Retention Rates
There is nothing worse than losing your top employee to another company. The time, energy, and effort that will be utilized to screen, interview, hire, and train a new employee can be extensive. While there are all types of reasons that employees decide to leave, feeling “unfulfilled” can often weigh heavy. Thus showing your staff that you support their efforts to evolve and providing them with some form of assistance can work well in your favor. Continued education opens the doors for employees to be promoted within the company, thus improving retention rates.
At the end of the day, a happy employee is one that not only receives great pay, but someone who feels valued in the workplace. Investing in their continued efforts to better themselves, and empowering employees to deliver excellence can do a great deal for pushing your company forward.
Photo credit: Novartis AG / Flickr
