The keys to staff retentions

Back when I still owned accounting firms, we were religious about ensuring the team did their CPD (Continuing Professional Development).

Yes, our governing Institute required it, but I was completely in support of it. Almost every year we would exceed the required hours by a solid 10-20 percent per employee (and we had 22 of them.)

A work colleague used to argue with me about how investing all that time and money in the team was a waste because we trained them, made them excel in their field and then they might move on to a new firm. My reply to that was that it was my job to make the people the very best and if suddenly they were overqualified then my job was more than satisfactorily performed. I went further and explained that there are worse things that can happen than invest in training and have them leave. Worse would be, not training them at all and have them stay!

As I work with clients these days in business development and strategy this same argument comes up, time and time again. Finding great teams can be challenging in today’s environment. Retaining them is even more difficult with plenty of poaching happening.

Even just recently we have seen a client lose 11 of their staff through direct and targeted poaching. That can shatter your confidence. Offering a structured training and professional development timetable can go a long way towards making you a preferred employer.

This aids in retention and so long as you can delegate you will likely find yourself with an ability to take an extended holiday or even start to extract yourself from the day to day running of the business; that’s gold. Whether you train internally or outsource, the results will be similar for you. Happier, healthier and more efficient team players. Get the more qualified and experienced to share their learnings with more junior members – just make sure that bad habits aren’t being fed. As for the owners and upper hierarchy. Well sadly we see too often that they don’t perceive a need to continue professional development. No wonder staff look up and think that they need to move on. Like any well-oiled businesses motivation and example needs to percolate from the top of the organisation. Now I agree ‘what’ you might need to learn and train in will be different to other members on the team, nonetheless, to be seen to improving oneself is a fantastic motivator. Lead by example.

If you find yourself absolutely stuck on any topics you might be able to further train in, then please, give us a call. We have lists that our clients regularly refer to and then find courses that fill their need. CT