HR Management Strategies for Employee Retention and Motivation

Introduction

One year ago, Pumps For All — an engineering and manufacturing firm devoted to the advancement and implementation of liquid (primarily water) movement and pressurization — was facing massive turnover problems. The brightest graduates from top engineering schools were being recruited to the firm, only to leave and begin careers with Pumps For All's competitors after receiving several years of key early experience and training. Things have dramatically improved over the past year due to management techniques that increased employee motivation and loyalty, but there is still room for improvement in employee motivation and retention, as well as in solidifying and codifying the current practices and principles that have contributed to Pumps For All's success.

Labor Unions

Improving the company's relationship with the labor union is one area in which Pumps For All could further increase motivation and employee loyalty and satisfaction. Teamwork and the feeling of camaraderie are essential both to the direct and practical endeavors of technology development and innovation and to the more subjective, less-definable characteristics of job satisfaction and employee morale. As the labor union serves as the primary collective body for the employees, maintaining strong and mutually beneficial relationships with the union — as well as the perception of mutual benefit — is highly important.

Regular meetings between company officers and labor union officials should occur regardless of the time proximity to contract renegotiations or other time-sensitive issues covered by the existing agreement. Any issues or concerns raised by the labor union should be readily heard and discussed in an open and receptive manner, ensuring all employees that their voices are being heard through their union representatives. Not only will this improve relationships with the union in general, but it will also speed up and ease the process of contract negotiations, as many issues that might arise during negotiations can be expected to have surfaced previously in these regular meetings. Should pressing concerns arise between scheduled meeting dates, management should make every possible effort to meet with union representatives at both parties' convenience, establishing labor relations as a clear organizational priority.

Performance Evaluation

Another major contributing factor to job satisfaction — and thus to employee retention — is the quality and consistency of performance evaluations. To that end, clear and consistent feedback channels should be established that enable a full performance evaluation for every employee at least once every two months, with less formal evaluations and supervisor feedback delivered with even greater frequency. Providing regular assessments of performance relative to clearly stated company expectations will allow employees to become more fully engaged in the overall needs and direction of the organization.

At the same time, performance evaluations should be minimally disruptive to the actual work performed by employees. It is reasonable to assume that the careers in which employees are serving hold intrinsic value and even enjoyment for them, especially given that individual fit is a key aspect of the hiring process. As such, removing employees from their work for a lengthy meeting that analyzes their performance could easily be perceived as a negative aspect of employment. The bi-monthly evaluations should take no longer than thirty minutes in most circumstances and should be used to provide each employee with an understanding of how they have fulfilled or surpassed expectations, how they are perceived by co-workers and supervisors (or by their staff, if in a supervisory position), and any areas of job performance that could use extra attention. Positive feedback between these meetings should be brief yet frequent, while negative feedback should be delivered only when waiting for the regular meeting would be detrimental to the organization.

Conclusion

Pumps For All hopes to continue in its position of industry leadership in the liquid movement sector, and to do so it will need to hire and retain the top talent in the field. The company has a proven track record in this area, and the procedures and policies outlined above will help maintain this record of excellence. Through building a strong team that works together as one, Pumps For All will continue to succeed.