4 Ways to Invest in Your Greatest Asset: Your Employees

July 22, 2013

4 Ways to Effectively Invest in Your EmployeesCandidate experience doesn’t end when you make an offer to an individual — it continues throughout the onboarding process and into their jobs. “What the heck is she talking about?” you may be asking, but hear me out.
Talent begets talent and turns itself into a little referral network that can lead to a pretty solid pipeline of outstanding talent, BUT (and this is a huge but) you have to work to get there.
In an article HR blogger William Tincup wrote for OpenView Labs, he discusses the importance of treating employees like you do customers. He says,

“Many expansion-stage software companies are well aware of the dangers of customer churn, which is why they embrace onboarding and nurturing initiatives designed to improve customer engagement. But employee turnover can be just as damaging, impeding your ability to attract top talent right now, and lessening the likelihood that you’ll retain your highest performers in the long-term.

Ultimately, those two implications alone should be enough to convince you to re-think how you view one of your biggest assets — your people.”

 
Employees who feel appreciated by their organization are more likely to perform better, as well as refer similar-caliber individuals to work for your company. I will say it again talent begets talent. Once you hire an individual for your team, you are not done with the courting and wooing process — that needs to continue. Here are some ways to keep top talent around.

4 Ways to Invest in Your Top Talent

1) Trust Your Employees with Projects

It’s simple, but allowing your employees to run projects and demonstrate leadership is a great way to let them develop their interests while having an impact on the goals of your organization. You hired your employees because you know they do good work — let them show you that and loosen your control over project management.

2) Compensation Never Hurts

Just like when you make a competitive offer to a candidate, stay competitive with their salaries and their bonuses. It will cost you more to backfill a position than it will to make the investment in your employee.

3) Create a Positive Work Environment

Encourage your employees to have fun while working hard. Maybe have a social hour for your company, engage in friendly competition through sports brackets or social media competitions. Whatever you decide- do not let it get stale (note: on the flip side this isn’t summer camp so be sure you encourage work first and then fun second).

4) Give Your Employees Chances to Provide Feedback

I am always shocked to hear when companies do not give their employees an outlet for providing feedback. Positive or negative, you need to know what is important to your employees and the only way to do that is to ask for feedback.

Bottom Line

Invest time and money into your workforce. Your employees are the ones who are going to take your company to the next level, so why not treat them like it?

How do you invest in your employees?

Senior Corporate Recruiter

<strong>Lindsey Gurian</strong> is the Senior Corporate Recruiter at <a href="http://www.acquia.com">Acquia</a>. She was previously a Senior Talent Specialist at Sonian, responsible for recruiting initiatives at both the firm and its portfolio companies.