Small Business Builder: Send a Message to Employees

Turnover is still a problem for large and small businesses alike.

And if you've had to lay off some under-performers recently, it's even more important to retain the employees who contribute the most.

But for workers, it's still a relatively good time to be looking for a job — the latest unemployment data showing a jobless rate of 4.3 percent, just a few ticks higher than recent record lows. Keep in mind that from 1990 to 1997 unemployment stayed above 5 percent — spiking to almost 8 percent in 1992.

In the past, small businesses have competed with high-dollar, benefit-laden employment packages offered by big companies. Now they're also competing with the independence of workers themselves — people who, according to numerous studies, view themselves as "free agents" and perceive even two years as "a long time" to work for an employer.

The Price of Talent

Salary is first on the list of inducements to join a company and stay there, according to recent surveys. That's followed by intangibles (such as enjoyment, recognition, flexibility, increasing responsibility, and opportunities to "make a contribution" and to advance), as well as tangibles (such as training and insurance and retirement benefits).

But before you break the bank to give your business manager a raise, consider that for the past several years most surveys placed salary third or lower among ways to attract and keep employees. Employers have tried hard to meet worker demand for family-friendliness, flexibility, fun, a voice in policy-making, and other such advantages. Now many employees take such working conditions for granted and again covet higher earnings.

The 1999 book Love 'Em or Lose 'Em by Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans, offers A-to-Z instructions for "Getting Good People to Stay." Just reading the chapter names is instructive: "Information: Share It," "Jerk: Don't Be One," "Kicks: Get Some," "Link: Create Connections," and "Mentor: Be One."