Why do seemingly happy employees leave their jobs to pursue other offers? You may be familiar with this common scenario: You run your workplace like a home, and your employees feel like family. Sometimes they have off-days, but your teams are typically happy and you honestly believe they see you as a personal friend. You’re pretty sure your workplace is a fair, fun and positive place to spend the day. But then without warning, your best employee walks into your office and gives notice. Why does this happen? And how can prevent it from happening again? Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Everybody has a future.

Your employees may not say this to your face, but no matter how much they like and respect you, most of them don’t plan to be holding the same job with the same company five years from now. So you have a choice: you can let them change jobs, or you can watch them change companies. Always encourage your employees to grow, and always provide the opportunities and promotions they need to stay on board. If you try to keep them exactly where they are, you’ll lose them faster.

Encourage learning.

While everyone likes receiving promotions and raises, not everyone has the energy or initiative to seek out new forms of training without a push or a helping hand. If your employee is starting to resemble a big fish in a small pond, notice it before they do and give them a new challenges. As soon as they feel confined by the pond, they’ll become vulnerable to better offers.

Bullying does not inspire loyalty.

You can’t bully your employees into staying with you. If you try to convince them that they’re lucky to have a job at all, you’re paying them more than they’re worth or they’ll never make it out there in the big world without you, you’ll have to dodge the swinging door as they leave. Instead, show respect. Be kind when they’re having a hard time and be generous when it comes to coaching and mentoring. Give them your full attention during meetings and conversations, and show genuine interest in their lives.

Money matters.

Your employees can tell how much you value them by watching your behavior during salary negotiations. When you fight tooth and nail to pay them as little as possible, you send a clear message.  This attitude will never buffer you against competing offers. If your margins are thin and you’re clinging to every penny, don’t let this become part of your negotiation process.

For more on how convince your employees to stay on board and grow with your company, turn to the recruiting experts at Merritt Staffing.

Every growing business suffers from some degree of turnover, and every manager knows the heartbreak of receiving notice from a top employee whose talents seem to hold the company together. Turnover causes anxiety, budget stress, and morale problems, and it happens within every company at varying levels. But if your turnover numbers are unusually high for your area or your industry, you don’t have to take this news lying down. There are steps you can take to fight back and slow the revolving door. Here’s how an experienced, professional staffing agency can help.

Screening tackles the problem at the source.

The best way to keep employees on board is to find the right employees in the first place. If your chosen candidates align well with your culture, fully understand what’s expected of them, and fully understand what the company will provide in return, you’ll stand a better chance of holding onto them. Our agency can screen you applicant pool carefully and present only the candidates who are best prepared for the role.

Great screening starts with sourcing.

In order to sift a large applicant pool for ideal candidates, you need to attract a large applicant pool in the first place. We can help with that. Our sourcing efforts can help you target the applicant populations who are most likely to qualify for the job, apply, and accept the role when it’s offered. To attract the best candidate matches, start by going to the places where these people typically look for work.

Got a staffing problem? Let us help.

Something is wrong. Your best employees are leaving and you don’t know why. You’re examining your policies and your workplace culture and you just can’t identify the issue. But we can. We’ve seen every type of staffing problem and we can offer insights and support that can help you stem the tide. Arrange a consultation and put our experience to work for you.

Speed up the replacement process.

When you lose a great employee, you need to put everything on hold to find a replacement as quickly as possible. But not if you partner with a reliable staffing agency. When you say goodbye to a team member, put your trust in us and focus your own attention on what matters most: running your business.

We pay staff members so you don’t have to.

When you choose candidate for a long or short term role, the new employee joins our payroll, not yours. We handle tax reporting, withdrawals, paperwork, insurance and other issues so you don’t have to. If you decide to bring the candidate on board over the long term, you’re welcome to do so as soon as the contract period ends.

For more on how to leverage the benefits of a staffing agency partnership, contact the Hartford expert recruiting team at Merritt.