Keeping Staff

[Big Cheese]

Keeping staff is not rocket science. People make a living about telling you all about management skills.

It can all be summed up in one line...Treat others how you would like to be treated!

Simple tips;
- Have a pay structure linked to skills, the more skilled you are the more you earn.
- Try and give key people a valuable weekend off or a Saturday night, they will love you
- Buy them an ice cream on a hot summers day or get some chips in on a cold winters day.
- Christmas, what do you give them?
   Try £50 if they have worked all year for you, after all a £1 a week is nothing.

This all helps, but if a better job comes along you may loose them.

[seanyoutube]

Staff can calculate that £50 is less than a pound a week for their input to the business and will accept it as an insult. Staff turnover is expensive and a large loyalty bonus will have an affect as long as the rest of the working conditions are not appalling.
Anyone working for wages rather than running their own business will, when offered the opportunity to ask for something that will improve their job, ask for more money. Money is why they are at work. They might enjoy the work but if it doesn't pay they have to move on.
Work out how much it would cost to replace your staff with suitable replacements. Include the cost of advertising, training, mis-hiring etc. Then think about the bonus at Christmas. Also bear in mind that if the bonus varies between staff a worst-case scenario could see you in court having to justify this. As long as you are interested enough to be actually aware of who does what this is not a problem. Both the court and your missus might claim that the prettiest member of staff getting the largest amount is discriminatory.