by Jeff Thill

You’ve invested heavily in recruiting the best employees you can find. Considering the cost of performing a qualified candidate search, the investment in interview time, and the learning curve new employees need, losing good, well-trained employees can be expensive.

While some employees leave for uncontrollable reasons such as relocation, many others leave for reasons that are well within an organization’s control. What can be done to keep good employees?  Here are five measures manufacturers can institute.

Ensure supervisors are well trained.

It’s widely held that employees don’t leave a company, they leave a supervisor. In many respects, the supervisor is the company to an employee. He or she is the person through whom employees receive all their information and the person with the most influence over their day-to-day work lives. Great supervisors motivate employees to perform at their best. Poor supervisors encourage employees to seek employment elsewhere.

Additionally, the manufacturing environment is highly process-oriented, and for some supervisors, processes are much easier to work with than people. Processes can be analyzed and managed, but employee issues are often unpredictable, ambiguous, with no two alike. Manufacturers must train their supervisors, not only on employment laws, but also on how to address and resolve people issues.

Listen to employees.

Employees want to feel valued and respected. One way to make this happen is through “management by walking around.” Leaders should be seen on the plant floor to simply observe and talk to employees. Ask what makes their jobs stressful and what ideas they may have for improvements. Employees work with processes daily and are intimately acquainted with what works and what doesn’t. This listening approach also gives leaders the opportunity to make sure employees understand the big picture.

Informal meetings with employees and managers are another way to listen and to engage workers. Meet with staff without a set agenda and ask questions like, “So, what’s on your mind?” and “What should we be worried about?” Listening demonstrates respect and can uncover valuable information and ideas.

Survey employees.

Give employees an opportunity to provide confidential feedback on aspects like pay, benefits, supervision, and how they perceive the work environment. If necessary, use an outside agency such as Wipfli to ensure confidentiality and to further enhance employee participation. Knowing what employees are thinking or how they perceive the company will help guide an organization in its next steps. If employees think poorly of their benefits, for example, a company may need to provide more communication about benefits and how to use them.

Reward employees.

Rewards can be as simple as thanking employees for a job well done or sponsoring a pizza lunch when a goal is reached or a difficult order has been filled. Rewards can also be more formalized, such as employee recognition programs that reward length of service or outstanding performance.

Rewarding employees for their contributions also includes fair compensation. Manufacturers should review their compensation philosophies to ensure components that recognize performance are included in the overall pay plan.

Conduct exit interviews.

Despite the best of efforts, manufacturers will still lose good employees, but companies can turn those situations into positive learning experiences by conducting exit interviews. Exit interviews can reveal surprising insights into a company’s operations, and the feedback is an efficient way to size up what’s working and what isn’t.

Companies can benefit if they take the time learn from each exodus. When employees leave, find out why, and probe beyond the common response, “I’ve accepted a different position.” Something motivated the person to contemplate other opportunities in the first place. By discovering why employees leave, manufacturers can successfully address issues where necessary and, ultimately, create many more reasons why employees would happily remain.

In the end, employee retention means creating an environment where workers feel heard, respected, and rewarded.

Jeff Thill is a Wipfli partner serving manufacturing and wholesale entities ranging in size from large, widely owned companies to smaller, family-owned businesses. To learn more about employee retention, please contact Jeff at our St. Paul office at 651.766.2862, or e-mail him at jthill@wipfli.com.