2137: "Woo" Your Employees by Karl Staib of Dig To Fly on Employee Retention

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[00:00:30] This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales. Using automation, analytics and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify.

[00:01:00] This is Optimal Work Daily. Woo your employees. By Karl Staib of digtofly.com Is high turnover frustrating you? Then start marketing to the employees. Companies have whole marketing departments to woo customers to buy and keep coming back. But we forget to woo our employees on a regular basis. Of course, we woo new hires. But after that, many companies seem to give up and hope that the employees stick around.

[00:01:29] You may expect them to be there until one day they are handing you their resignation letter. The best way to find out why you are losing employees is to ask the staff. This may seem like a simple solution, but many owners or managers are afraid to ask. It's the old, I'd rather ignore it than deal with it mentality. Following is a list of questions you can ask your employees about how to improve your turnover problem. You should conduct these interviews in a one-on-one format. Too many managers or too many employees muddle the answers.

[00:01:58] You'll get emotion involved instead of quality answers. As these interviews are conducted, you'll have to place your ego in a little lockbox so you don't take any answers personally. This exercise is meant to be an exploration in improvement, not to rag on the company. Top 5 Questions to Ask Your Employees 1. Why do you think, insert coworker here, left? 2. What do you think we could have done to keep them? 3. What can I do to make your job better?

[00:02:28] 4. What do you want to accomplish here over the next two years? 5. What education do you think will help you do your job better? Once you have your answers, you must review the information and see if there are any common themes. Is there one manager that needs sensitivity training? Or maybe a group of employees that don't feel challenged? You will see changes that should be made. Many of your answers will not be used. People get carried away when they feel empowered by the company to make changes.

[00:02:57] That's where a good interviewer must make wise decisions and filter through the… If there's a theme of changing the dress code and you know your clients won't appreciate a more relaxed look, then don't make the change just because the crowd wants it. You'll have to stick to what you know will help the company, not just what the employees want. Make a list of all the quality ideas that will help you retain employees. When you have everything written down, you must whittle this list down to five. This is the point when I like to sleep on ideas.

[00:03:25] I like everything to settle down and wake up in the morning to a fresh perspective. Look at your top five ideas and pick the three best ones. Don't shy away from the ideas that are difficult to implement because this is where you'll see the most progress. Let's say your top three are… Dedication to employee happiness, Share direction of company with all employees, and Flexibility of schedule. This is where the wooing will begin. Share this top three list of company changes with everyone.

[00:03:53] If you don't let everyone know about your renewed interest in retaining employees, they won't believe your commitment. Earn employees' trust. Now that they know you aim to improve the company-employee relationship, you will have to earn their trust. Create a monthly raffle to win a $50 gift certificate to a local restaurant. Make a schedule to share the company's direction with the staff on a biannual or annual interval. Give the employees one extra day off per year to do whatever they want.

[00:04:20] If you throw in a $20 gas card or public transportation card, it will reinforce your commitment. Whatever the top three changes are, you must commit to the ideas, or company turnover will only get worse. You may want to implement a better retirement program or a continual education program. You will have to make the decisions that your company feels best fits the employees. Everyone needs to be wooed on a regular basis, otherwise the passion dies out. I don't know anyone that doesn't want to work for an exciting company.

[00:04:48] That's why your favorite restaurant is still packing the house, and it's why solid marriages continue to thrive. They fight for the love every single day. You must remember you won't keep every employee. Some are just meant to spread their wings. But you should track the changes after implementing your wooing your employees plan to see how successful it is after six months, a year, and two years. Hopefully, you'll see that dedicating to your employees' happiness pays off by reducing costs and encouraging a more productive work environment.

[00:05:18] If you are successful, your employees will stick around to see what new direction your company is heading in, because they know that you are trying to improve the company. When they see positive change, they won't have any trouble adapting to this improved direction, even if they have to work a little harder. You just listened to the post titled, Woo Your Employees by Karl Staib of digtofly.com

[00:06:14] This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales, using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify.

[00:06:44] And thank you so much to Carl, and let me tell you a little bit about him. He helps entrepreneurs understand their struggles and turn them into stepping stones. And Carl certainly knows a lot about that, because in 2010, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and then was laid off from his job a year later. And while those were difficult situations, he now calls them blessings in disguise. And since that time, he's stopped doing work that doesn't fit with his passions and instead now focuses on things he truly cares about.

[00:07:12] Carl is the author of the book Bring Gratitude and has a lot to offer on his site, which again is digtofly.com And I have that linked in this episode's description for you. And in case you're curious, dig to fly means dig deep to fly high. And Carl also has a podcast, which you can find wherever you get your audio. But that is going to do it for today. I hope you enjoyed the post and hope you'll be with me again tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.