In truth, we may not like to admit it, but we all know that employees will seek to work with a business that wants to work with them. As an entrepreneur and or small business owner keeping the talent you’ve hired on board with your company is a background hum. It’s something that always should be at the back of your mind. Not to say you should be bending over to please your staff as it’s a two-way street after all. However, an employer that refuses to adopt a standard of care toward his or her staff will never securely foster an alliance together. Some say that loyalty is fleeting, others would say that’s overly cynical. The bottom line is just as you expect the people you hire to be flexible with you, showing flexibility to them is also a requirement for good working relationships. Don’t perceive this as a sign of weakness either. Far too many bosses won’t bat an eyelid if they are disliked by their employees as they think they will just hire another person to replace them. Some people are so good at what they do, and you’ll rarely replace them once they leave.

 

Photo by Kat Smith

 

Short notice Absence

You never know when a tragedy may befall you. When it does, you’ll be reminded that work isn’t everything as some other things are more important in life. It’s the same for your staff. When they have such an event occur in their life, such as losing a family member, losing an important possession such as a car being stolen, or their house burnt down, they will inevitably require a short notice leave. Every business owner knows that planning for the unexpected is basically planning for the future as we don’t know what’s to come our way. Before anything like this can happen, put in place a procedure that you can activate at the drop of a hat. Summize who can take over another person’s responsibility and or role if that other staff member was unable to come to work for an extended period. Make up a shortlist of employees who you’d want as a secondary in various roles so in case the current holder was unavailable.

 

Credit freestocks.org

 

Unavoidable prolonged leave

We’re all human as much as we’d like to believe we run on diesel. Women especially are prone to prolonged leave which is unavoidable. Having children is very important and such is the pregnancy process, the mother to be will be unable to come to work. Retaining employees that need to take their maternity leave can be done with a generous helping toward them up until they’re physically and mentally competent to return. Here on www.elliswhittam.com, you have a great source of information that shows what the general code of conduct is with a pregnant employee. Statutory maternity pay is a very important obligation, but first, the employee must tick certain criteria. They must have worked for you continuous for a minimum of 26 weeks, provided evidence of the pregnancy such as a doctor’s note, earned a set amount of money, etc. Much more information is there for you to sift through. You’ll begin to notice that the employer has rights too and contrary to popular belief it’s not a surrender scenario.

What’s the use of hiring great talent if you can’t hold onto them? Entrepreneurs and small business owners are competing with big business who have all the bells and whistles to attract the best of the best like a moth to a flame. So creating a safety net for employers shows that you value them and what they bring to your business; giving you a better chance of retaining them.

 

Featured Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash