Message To Employers: A Balanced Workplace

With Governor Brown’s recent onslaught of legislation that seems to bolster the rights of employees, putting tremendous pressure on employers, it’s important to pay attention to the basic things an employer can do to protect their work environment and business.

How do employers keep their top-performing employees without going broke?

Established Leadership

Make sure that the management team that you put together for your business has the proper blend of personalities to process and lead employees in the right direction. There is no magic formula that will solve this issue, but a respected leadership group (upper management) has to enforce and implement a work environment that will keep employees satisfied, keeping them around for the long haul. Share the same vision with those leaders within your organization and business.

Balanced Levels of Work for Top Employees

Top employees will always carry a heavier workload than their junior colleagues. This is to their credit because employers or management believe in their abilities to perform at a high level and maintain a heavy workload. But, if these top performing employees have more responsibility, ability, and scrutiny, it is not enough to simply give them a compliment here and there. Outside of financial compensation appropriate for their work, it’s also important to ensure that these employees remain happy and avoid work burnouts. Give them deserved (off-site) breaks once in a while, cultivate an environment where top employee retention is the focus rather than viewing each employee solely as a profit center. Top employees always recognize their value and will use that as an excuse to look elsewhere, which can harm your business.

Balanced Rewards/Promotions

Make sure to reward your employees. This does not necessarily mean pay them more and more, but rather get creative and show your top employees recognition for their achievements (internally/externally), provide them extended vacations, or similar promotion methods. Find out how your employee would appreciate being recognized and rewarded and act accordingly. All employees that do something right and perform at a high level deserve to be recognized and rewarded for their achievements.

NOTE: Reward those that deserve to be rewarded and not just those that are likeable. I know sometimes employers fall into the trap of rewarding those with whom they’ve developed good rapport. Avoid this. Examine the work-product and reward those that absolutely deserve it and in this way an employer can avoid resentment between employees.