Creative Methods for Keeping Top Employees are Essential to Startups

employees

I read a fantastic New York Times article today titled “Small-Business Owners Devise Creative Ways to Keep Workers.” It was a insightful read, and I related it to quickly. As a serial entrepreneur and the founder of a number of startups, I have first-hand experience in the dangers of losing employees to other companies.

The article discusses the ways that business owners discover that key employees are leaving their business. For me, I always found out suddenly. Many times, employees would reach out to me and give me their notice seemingly out of the blue. It was painful and endangered my businesses by negatively affecting a key factor of their success – employing top talent. It would often take many days and weeks to re-fill a given position with replacement talent.

Want to know a secret to surviving employee turnover? Don’t panic.

Here’s my advice to every business owner, startup founder, or manager faced with the problem of employee turnover and sudden employee departure: don’t panic. It may sound easier said than done, but it’s truly the key to keeping your sanity – and your business – intact. The easiest way to stay calm in a stressful situation like this is to constantly develop new talent. Always be on the lookout for top talent and potential new hires. When an employee surprises you, move quickly to reach out to the network of prospective talent. You will develop certainty in your business and get the talent your business needs.

Today’s entrepreneurs have a lot of creative options on the table.

Reading the article also gave me a lot of hope. Today, business owners can look forward to the ability to create their own, original incentives to retain talent. The article mentions how one business treated all of its employees, and their families, to an all-expenses paid cruise after they hit some customer acquisition goals. Another mentions gifting an employee a trip to Paris. Incentives like that will help you counter the fast-moving, ever-changing labor market and bring certainty to your business.

To learn more about other creative incentives created by business owners for their employees, read the full article.