

We all know it costs thousands of dollarsâif not tens of thousandsâwhen an employee quits.
There are recruiting expenses, your own time as you screen and interview candidates, lost productivity as someone gets up to speed, and the abiding fear that the new hire âwonât takeâ and youâll have to repeat the Sisyphean process yet again.
So you want to keep your good employees happy. But how? Raises, time off and promotions are the currency we usually think about. But they are limited resourcesâand, importantly, they often arenât the most critical motivators.
Here are 10 ways to take control of your organisationâs culture, create a place where employees want to work, and save time and money in the process.
1. Don’t waste their time
Youâre the one paying them, so itâs not a problem if they have to cool their heels a little, right? Wrong. People want to believe theyâre doing something meaningful and making a difference, regardless of whether youâre curing AIDS in Africa or making widgets.
Something as small as habitually keeping employees waiting while you finish up phone callsâor as large as regular meetings that no one knows the purpose ofâcan pummel employee morale and send the message that their time doesnât really matter.
2. Stop the e-mail madness
Leadership comes from the top. Does your organisation have a âCYAâ (cover your @ss) culture of employeesâ CC-ing each other on every minute development?
Or sending a barrage of back-and-forth electronic missives when a face-to-face meeting would be quicker and more productive?
Or e-mailing consistently late at night or over the weekend, to earn the coveted timestamp that proves their dedication to the company?
Letâs get real: itâs an e-mail arms race to prove whoâs the hardest worker. Put a stop to it. Declare a policy of âno unnecessary e-mailsâ and discourage writing at odd hours. They may be afraid to say it, but theyâll be glad you did.
3. End the pity party
In some organisations, employees brag about who worked the longest, who stayed the latest, or who made the most sacrifices for the company. Itâs a bizarre blend of workplace machismo and a pathetic cry for sympathy.
Donât encourage it, and donât let them get away with it, because this culture only breeds resentment over the long term. Talk with them about ways they can work more efficiently or reprioritise. This is not a competition you want them engaging in.
4. Help them prioritise
Though it would be lovely, your employees canât be expected to read your mind. If you gave them a âpriority assignmentâ on Tuesday and plopped another one on their laps on Wednesday, where should they spend their time? Donât make them chooseâand run the risk of having them make the wrong guess.
Itâs your responsibility, every time you hand over a new project, to ask them whatâs already on their plate and to help them prioritise. Encourage them to question you outright if, for some reason, you falter in your duties.
5. Get real about expectations
No investment bank promises âgreat work-life balance.â You know what theyâre selling, and itâs not just initial public offerings. Itâs a chance for employees to work insanely hard and, in return, to make more money than Croesus.
Are your employees working as hard as investment bankers? If theyâre not being remunerated in a similar fashion, be very clear about your promises.
Did they know what they were signing up for? Were you honest? Is the payoff (a chance to eliminate malaria, or stock options that will one day put Sergey Brin and Larry Page to shame) really worth it? If not, theyâre going to leave your company sooner rather than later.
6. Try the rhythm method
Every company has its seasons. Accounting firms are hell on earth from January through Aprilâand their staffers justifiably expect a slower pace the rest of the year.
The newsrooms of daily newspapers are sleepy in the mornings, as the journos are getting caffeinated, and become progressively more frenzied as late afternoon deadlines approach.
If your firm is a nine-to-five kind of place, fine. But if you expect bursts of activity from your employeesâlate nights, weekend work, and the likeâmake sure they understand the rhythms and when they can look forward to a calmer time.
People can get through almost anything, if they have a deadline to look forward to.
7. Help them develop a growth plan
Looking out for your employeesâ interestsânot just your own, or the companyâsâbreeds loyalty.
Take the time to get to know their aspirations. If their long-term goals require new skills (the ability to speak Spanish, experience with event planning or web design, public speaking aptitude), give them relevant assignments or pay for classes as a reward.
Seeing your company as a place where they can grow in their careers means youâre not just a short-term stopover on their professional trajectory.
8. Help them master time management
I knowâit seems like you shouldnât have to. But conquering time management is critical to any future workplace success. And, even if youâve already helped your charge prioritise, they still may not have the experience yet to figure out how to put the pieces together.
So if assignments are late or slipping through the cracks, or if they canât get to the office on time in the mornings, sit down and help them map out their days. Literally. Itâs worth a try before you have to fire them for being incompetent.
Looking out for your employeesâ interestsânot just your own, or the companyâsâbreeds loyalty. . . Seeing your company as a place where they can grow in their careers means youâre not just a short-term stopover on their professional trajectory.
9. Don’t surprise them
The surest ticket to happiness, according to the âpositive psychologistsâ who study human well-being? Autonomy. Itâs in limited supply, of course, if youâre an employee (and have to answer to a boss).
But you can do your part by keeping your employees apprised of decisions early, involving them in the decision-making process where appropriate (they may even have some good ideas), and walking them through your thought process so they understand where youâre coming from.
No one wants to be a drone, executing commands with no understanding of the broader context. And no one wants to be kept in the dark, constantly reacting to new developments that are thrown at them.
Keeping your employees involved and informed is a fundamental investment in their satisfaction.
10. Surprise them (the good kind)
We humans adjust pretty quickly to expectations. Our friends, the investment bankers, expect their year-end bonusesâtheyâre barely considered bonuses, but rather a lump form of salary.
You expect a birthday present from your parents or your spouse. But think about how exciting and how meaningful it is when you get a present completely out of the blue. Thatâs why ârekindling romanceâ books suggest it all the time.
So, consider doing the same for your employees. Instead of the same old âholiday partyâ or year-end bonuses, think about what you can do throughout the year, as a surprise, to bolster morale.
Just finished an important but time-consuming project? Throw an in-house ice-cream sundae party. Sense that summer doldrums are enveloping your staff? Call an emergency meeting for the next dayâand then announce they can have the afternoon off. Rewards often mean more when theyâre unexpected.
Food for thought
You can never eliminate employee turnover. There will always be someone who wants to move to Zambia or become a stay-at-home parent or go write their Great American Novel.
Providing geographical flexibility/telecommuting, paying for employees to take graduate classes, and paying above-market salaries are all good (though sometimes substantial) investments in lowering attrition. But the above 10 techniquesâall low-cost or no-costâcan also make a major difference.
Dorie Clark is a marketing strategy consultant, professional speaker, and frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, TIME, and Entrepreneur. She is the author of âReinventing Youâ and her most recent book, âStand Outâ, was named the No. 1 Leadership Book of 2015 by Inc. magazine and was a Washington Post bestseller. To read more of her articles, go to dorieclark.com. For more HR talk articles, click here.
Reposted with permission on www.leaderonomics.com