You hire them, train them and after several months they leave. Sound familiar? Buckland was beginning to experience this phenomenon until the company made a commitment to improve employee retention. Vice President, Therese Van Es says they started encouraging feedback from their employees through an employee opinion survey to discover some of the ways that Buckland could help improve engagement and retention. She says senior management reviewed the results and made a commitment to focus on the top three areas for improvement that were reported through the survey. Following the survey and subsequent analysis, the team at Buckland worked to create the culture they wanted in the workplace and have been successful in reducing turnover by 17%.
Van Es says they wanted to become an “employer of choice” and started hiring people with the right attitude to contribute to the positive workplace culture. Here’s a list of some of the ways they’re keeping great talent:
- Offering five paid sick days and five paid appointment times (staff are paid two hours for a scheduled medical appointment)
- Hosting potlucks and social events
- Casual dress code
- Holiday bonuses
- Employee Opinion Survey, listening to the needs of employees, sharing the results and taking action to make improvements
When it comes to attracting the right talent she says she’s found success advertising in Latino Magazine, but also posts career opportunities on their company website, LinkedIn, Knighthunter and uses employee referrals when applicable.
