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10 ways to keep employees from leaving

Keeping employees happy isn't always about money. Workplace culture plays a huge role, as does appreciation from supervisors.

3 min read

LeadershipManagement

What makes good employees leave? The biggest things that drive employees away have nothing to do with money — and everything to do with leadership. Here are 10 areas where you might need to make some changes to keep employees from leaving:

1. Give your employees challenging projects

Choose something that will stretch their skills. Being entrusted with a special project—especially a difficult one—will make their work feel more meaningful.

2. Show them you care

Sharing gratitude greatly boosts employee loyalty. Build a caring culture where people make one another feel appreciated.

3. Give plenty of feedback

Good employees like to know how they are doing. Providing feedback on a regular basis encourages employees and helps them correct course quickly if they are off track.

4. Be approachable

If employees feel intimidated by you, then you will always be the last to hear about anything that goes wrong. This is a stressful situation that can lead employees to start looking for another job.

5. Get your hands dirty

Is there a task that everyone in your department hates doing? Doing it yourself now and then will generate feelings of goodwill.

6. Set clear goals

If you don’t share organizational goals with them, employees may not understand the big picture. Talk to them about how their own position fits into the overall scheme of things.

7. Don’t dictate the process

Allow your employees to come up with their own methods for doing their work.

8. Provide training opportunities

By giving them opportunities to improve their skills, you’ll be investing in their future.

9. Keep the workload reasonable

Employees may be reluctant to speak up and tell you that they have too much on their plates. Check in with them about their workload regularly so they don’t get burned out.

10. Don’t be a bad boss

Always speak to people in a respectful tone; never allow yourself to vent your stress at them. Otherwise, you’ll have serious issues with turnover!

From personality conflicts to feeling out of place in the corporate culture, plenty of other things can cause good employees to leave as well. The best way to find out whether your employees are happy and what you can do to make their work more fulfilling and keep employees from leaving is simple: Just ask them.

Executive coach Joel Garfinkle provides corporate trainings and coaching sessions to help employees achieve higher levels of leadership. Garfinkle is the author of 11 books, including Getting Ahead, writes the Fulfillment at Work Newsletter and has a YouTube channel.

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