How To Create A Business Environment That Nobody Wants To Leave

Bringing somebody new onto your team is never a walk in the park. Onboarding and any training you have to do can be expensive, especially with the expected dip in productivity that comes with it. On top of that, you need to make sure you’re hiring somebody that not only fits the requirements of the position, but also that feels comfortable in the environment. Onboarding is expensive, but having relatively new team members leave quickly is even worse.

Of course, we’re in the age of regular career-changes and workplace migrations, so it isn’t really reasonable to expect your team to stick around forever. That being said, you should want to maximize how long each team member sticks around, and to do that, you’ll need to build a business environment that nobody wants to leave. Easier said than done, of course, so let’s take a closer look.

Out with the Old

Running a successful business is far from being a new or modern concept, but that doesn’t mean that best-practices always stay the same. In fact, when it comes to building a comfortable and welcoming workplace environment, successful efforts are going to look very different now than what might have worked just a few decades ago. One thing that’s changed is just how often people switch jobs—millennials are much more likely to job-hop than their boomer counterparts did, and that’s not a bad thing.

One of the reasons younger people switch jobs more quickly is that they’re quicker to leave a business environment that doesn’t feel right. Younger people want businesses to stand for something and commit to strong values, topics like climate change and social justice tend to come up often. The better aligned the business is with the workers’ values, the more likely those workers are to stick around for a longer time.

This cues us in to a big factor in creating a welcoming and comfortable workplace: centering your employees. Brands are quickly becoming much less vertical, which means most employees can and/or should have a bigger say in things. Sticking to more traditional, vertical chains of command and operations can make employees feel unvalued and, ultimately, disconnected from the brand. This makes it easier for these workers to cut the cord and leave. Speaking of centering employees…

Be a Mentor Manager

In order to stick around, employees have to feel comfortable with the business. Part of this is aligning with the company values and culture, but part of this is also feeling valued and engaged as a worker. If employees feel disengaged and disposable, then leaving won’t be much of a big deal for them.

One great way to keep employees engaged and feeling valued is by adopting a mentor manager style of leadership. Mentor managers focus on their team members and help them grow not only within the business framework and culture, but also individually as people. Mentor managers help their team members achieve their goals and chase their dreams. While this just seems like a great form of leadership to have, importantly, it’s also beneficial to the business.

By creating this culture of support and ultimately community, workers feel comfortable devoting more time and effort into their work. The effort and support you invest in your workers are then re-invested into productivity and results, which ultimately pays off well for the business. Not only that, but team members that feel valued, supported, and engaged are more likely to want to stay in this healthy workplace environment than look for something else.

Careful hiring and attractive benefits are great ways to bring people onboard and be interested, but genuine engagement, mentoring, and growth are what will convince employees to stay with you for longer periods of time.