Every business owner who has to bring in staff to help them to make their business a success has to decide whether they want a high or low turnover business. For example, large chain businesses and sales companies often have a high turnover as the work is high stress, high pressure, but low basic pay. While the commission is offered, sustainability is not, and employees move on quickly and only stay for a while. While money is always an incentive for employees, there is so much more to people management than throwing money at them to be a part of your business.

Keeping employees engaged and loyal is so much more than the figure on a paycheck. It’s how you interact with them, help them with their personal development, and how you give them a future. You wouldn’t think that you’re in charge of the future of the staff you interview and employ, but you are. Not every person who works in your office is going to be in your business for the rest of their life; a lot of people have goals and ambitions beyond what you can readily offer. However, if you treat people the right way, and offer them a learning experience with their role as well as a way to get to their next step, you’re always going to engender loyalty.

No matter how long your employees stick with your business, you want them to stay happy while they’re with you. People talk and reputations matter – yours, too. So, with all that in mind, let’s take a look at eight different ways that you can ensure that your employees will stick by you.

Give Recognition

Okay, so while you don’t need a sticker chart on the wall with a cookie jar at the end of a good week, you still need to provide your employees with recognition when there is a job well done. People thrive from praise, and if you would provide a learning opportunity to fix a mistake or to improve, then you have to provide your staff with a reason to feel appreciated. It can be anything from a quick email thanking them for their thoughts and ideas on a project, to real weekly prizes and cheers for good work.

Set Accessible Goals

Some business owners fail their staff when they set the bar too high. It’s nice to have expectations of your team, but if those expectations are impossible to attain, you end up with stressed-out employees. The best thing to do is set achievable goals so that your staff can feel accomplished. Just make sure that you set those goals WITH your individual staff members so that they feel like they can nail them.

Award Promotions

If you are spending more time demoting people than promoting them, you’re doing it wrong. You WANT people to climb the ladder in your business and be on top. With something higher to access, people work harder, and they have a purpose and reason to strive for more. Make sure that you have a reward package in place when you promote someone, or at least a plan to ensure that they have recognition for their new job.

Feed Them!

Believe it or not, people love amenities. When you get a surge of job applications, is it because the salary is good or because you’ve mentioned that you have regular coffee office deliveries with the best brands? If you are laying on pastries at meetings, top-grade coffee in the office and filling a refrigerator full of soft drinks, you’re going to have an appreciative workforce who know you want to ensure that they are looked after. This may seem like such a minor detail, but it’s an important one if you want to get on the level of your staff. You look after them; they’ll look after you.

Share Your Vision

Does your company vision have to be a huge secret? No. If you have your weekly staff meeting and you tell the people working for you what your ultimate goal is for your company, they’re going to be more likely to work hard to that goal for you. The better your business achieves, the longer they have a job in a company they enjoy working for. It’s in their interest as well as yours to succeed.

Don’t Lie

As a business owner, your integrity is essential. Part of that is going to be in how honest you are with your employees, and the more honest you are with them, the more they will trust you. Whether you have good or bad business news to share, sharing it can help you to keep an open line of communication with your people.

Care for Them

Sick employees often come to work regardless of how they feel due to fear of losing their job. This is not the kind of leader that you want to be. You want to be the leader that remembers that they have hired humans – not robots – to help run the business. Appreciate the parents on your team who need an emergency afternoon to be with a sick child, because they are giving up time with their families for you. The better you care for your people, the happier they will be.

Navigate Their Path

Sit and get to know each member of your staff individually. You want to know their goals and hopes and dreams so that you can work out a game plan to achieving those goals together. Your team should feel like you care about their lives outside of the business, and if they do, they’re twice as likely to remain loyal to you. Help them to find a way to achieve what they want to achieve, even if that path takes them out of your business later on.

The better you care for the people that you have on your payroll, the more they will care for you. It’s not just about a job; it’s their life, too.