“Monetary benefits certainly has an effect on many employees, but there are also a great deal of employees out there who are looking for something that money can’t buy.“

Hiring good employees into your company is only half the battle; keeping them there is the other half. Now that you have hired good employees, you are going to have to put a little work into keeping them happy. Best employees’ retention is very important for the long term health and success of your company’s business. Many of the bosses or managers accepted the fact that if best employees are retained they ensures customer satisfaction, product sales, satisfies co-workers, effective succession planning and deeply imbedded organisational knowledge and learning.

The first thing which came to the mind of any HR about retaining an employee is by giving good compensation to them, but now that is only a part of the picture.  Providing monetary benefits certainly has an effect on many employees, but there are also great deals of employees out there who are looking for something that money can’t buy. On top of that, it’s nice to have something to offer employees when you can’t afford to simply off them more money. A per the present economy, two factors often make it difficult for any company to attract and retain the right employees. The first is the scarcity of workers in many fields. The second and closely related factor is the fierce competition that exists for highly educated, skilled, or trained people in areas such as software development, Web-based technologies, biotechnology, and other advanced technological services.

The companies’ handover the task of hiring and retaining best employees to the Human resources experts and it is duty of these experts to keep the employees of the company motivating and happy so that the retention of good people is possible. Below are some of the ways that can be used by human resources experts to retain the good people in the company-

Offer a competitive benefits package that fits your employees’ needs. Providing health insurance, life insurance and a retirement-savings plan is essential in retaining employees. But other perks, such as flexible timings and the work from home option, go a long way to show employees you are willing to accommodate their outside lives.

Use contests and incentives to help keep workers motivated and feeling rewarded. Correctly chosen, these kinds of programs can keep employees always focused and excited about their jobs.

Be a leader rather than just the boss. Make your employees a part of the company, the community, or the project. Use techniques such as giving regular updates on the status of the company, its ups and downs, its vision and objectives. This type of forum gives staff members a sense of their importance, breeds loyalty, and is an opportunity to share thoughts and participate in decision making.

Create open communication between employees and management. Hold regular meetings in which employees can offer ideas and ask questions. Have an open-door policy that encourages employees to speak frankly with their managers without fear of repercussion.

Communicate your business’s mission. Feeling connected to the organization’s goals is one way to keep employees mentally and emotionally tied to your company.

Foster employee development. This could be training to learn a new job skill or cross-training for multiple roles within the company can provide richer job satisfaction through variety and opportunity for advancement. Designation/certification-related training can be of particular value to some employees.

Make sure employees know what you expect of them. It may seem basic, but often in small companies, employees have a wide breadth of responsibilities. If they don’t know exactly what their jobs entail and what you need from them, they can’t perform up to standard, and morale can begin to dip.

High-achieving and creative people work better when they are happy and this can be accomplished by fulfilling their need for recognition and appreciation. Recognition awards for superior performance should be established beyond compensation. Timely recognition of contributions and input is important to reinforce the sense of importance and personal contribution to company successes.

Live up to the employees expectations. This is one of the most important factors to remember. As this may results as the disappointment and the early departure of the new employees of the any company. Never fail to meet the commitments you announced in attracting the employees, at the time of appointment.

Conducts “stay” interviews. In addition to performing exit interviews to learn why employees are leaving, consider asking longer-tenured employees why they stay. Ask questions such as: Why did you come to work here? Why have you stayed? What would make you leave? And what are your nonnegotiable issues? Ask about their seniors, the changes and the improvements they want in the organisation. And use that information to further strengthen your employee-retention strategies.

Ritu Mehrotra is VP global HR and talent management of Bristlecone, a Mahindra Group Company.