Companies need to proactively devise strategies to retain key employees. Even for professions where there is adequate supply the cost of replacing an employee and to have cert iv in training up, the replacement is high. Considering that the learning curve for a new staff member often takes between two and six months, this impacts on the productivity of the person during that training period. There is also the time and cost involved in recruiting the new person.

In addition to the decreased productivity and downtime there is knowledge that is lost to the organization when an employee leaves, especially the longer the person has been there. Chances are that the person had undergone some formal or informal training while they were employed. Plus there is the cross training of employees aspect that will be lost. They have come a long way from where they were when the company first employed them. It takes time to train a good employee. Productivity decreases during the training period, but the ultimate outcome is definitely worth it. Now imagine losing an employee and having to start from scratch. That is why it is important to understand the causes of employee turnover. Employees need to be given a reason to stay.

Use creativity to engage with staff and keep their interestYou could do this by setting down a challenge to improve the morale, production and quality of work. Consider a cost saving initiative, or other positive activity that will benefit the company, and in turn benefit employee. Such an initiative could recognize as many individuals as possible for exceptional behaviour. The recognition and awards they receive will make them feel saluted by the organisation as outstanding performers. You could create a slogan for the campaign such as ‘only you can make the difference’. One client adapted this slogan to ‘customer service with a difference’.

Because such a program encourages people to perform, do better and improve it is an idea to wherever possible offer recognition tools that will either offer them the opportunity to improve existing skills or to gain new skills. This will make them feel that they have been identified, recognised, appreciated and stand out. Here are some ideas for a campaign where the winner is recognized for a year:

1. Winners can be given a personal organiser to assist them increase efficiency throughout the year. They can be given an exclusive branded briefcase, their own stationery, and a lapel pin that will be different for each level of award. The top winners will also receive a personal digital assistant. The top winners could also be a given special parking place for the year.

2. A booklet could be published featuring the year’s winners for which each winner will be interviewed. They could share what it has meant to win the award and what they believe made them successful. The booklet could also cover the thinking behind the program and the company’s business philosophies. The aim of the booklet would be to inspire others to strive for similar success. It could also be used externally to show clients that the company is committed to promoting excellence and recognizing their winners. The winners would also be asked to participate in seminars around what makes them winners and possibly what winning the award has done for them.

3. A golf day could be organised for all winners at which they would be partnered by professional golfers. The winners would be given a course of master golf lessons from a professional. An alternative to this could be an advanced driving course.

4. Recognition and motivation through the year – ongoing rewards could include:

- Drive a Porsche for a day

- A year’s membership to an exclusive golf club

- A weekend away for two at an exclusive resort

- A selection of self-improvement courses, public speaking, personal makeovers, a year of personal coaching

- A flight in a hot air balloon

- Tickets to a concert featuring an international artist

- Sport season tickets, this could include access to the company’s VIP box

- Membership to the company’s exclusive club where they qualify to receive privileged information before it is made generally available, they could be invited to press conferences and to a lunch with the CEO. In addition they should receive first hand information on any controversial developments or matters before they reach the press.

- Flying lessons in a fixed wing aircraft, or gliding for winners who aim high and soar above the rest’.

Give recognition

The company’s productivity formula may consist of different types of incentive plans. Ideas for employee incentives are endless and should use office morale boosters to improve teamwork in the work place. Employee of the month programs are also effective on a smaller scale and can include funny employee awards. A simple thank you note, employee recognition letters and a special mention at an award presentation speech are examples of employee retention tips that work.

Show that you care

Show the heart of the company with corporate social responsibility. McDonalds and other companies do this successfully. Support good causes to portray that the company cares. Look after employees by seeing to their well being. This could be done by, for example, providing employee health wellness programs with for example a total gym workout instruction booklet which can include the number of calories per day to lose weight and reach optimal health or examples of recreational activities to help employees de-stress. Some companies assist employees with health issues by advertizing Weight Watchers meeting locations or Alcoholic Anonymous online meetings that will assist employees with problems.

Encourage employees to improve their skills by providing room for growth by informing them of useful courses and training programs.

Encourage staff involvement in socially responsible behaviors. Find out when is earth day and do some activities around it that will get staff thinking about issues such as what does going green mean, the meaning of globalization, carbon footprint facts, the definition of climate change, reasons why I should recycle, facts about recycling paper and how to save energy at home and at work. Show them how their involvement makes a difference. Get them to come up with ideas for energy saving posters.

Institute an employee benefits program. Some companies have excellent programs like this that are extremely successful, an example is the Bellsouth employee benefits plan. This will give the employees more motivation to work hard and to remain a part of your company as the benefits are substantial.

Use special days such as admin assistant day and even national hug day as an opportunity to acknowledge and engage with staff. Make it part of your employee engagement model. If you are stuck for ideas ask staff for unique Christmas present ideas, unique Easter baskets or unique ideas for Valentines or April fool day prank ideas that could be used to add a fun element to the office. Get staff to tell you what appeals to them. You could turn bosses day around and get the bosses to do something to show their appreciation for their staff.

Communication in everything the company does

Ensure good employee communication at all levels especially during times of change. Decrease staff and management resistance to change by keeping staff informed. This can decrease morale and affect productivity and is not good for business. An effective employee orientation manual can prevent many areas of misunderstanding.

Just having a good communication policy in place isn’t enough. You need to let your employees know that you ARE there for them and that you will do what it takes to make sure their voices are heard.

There are plenty of nonverbal communication articles with examples of non-verbal communication and other types of communication. A medium for communication includes just about any method of conveying a message eg grapevine communication plus a variety of types of workplace communication techniques that are effective.

Get feedback

Initiate an employee feedback program to find out how employees feel about issues. This is one of the types of nonverbal communication that is useful. One thing that you need to do is to let employees know that their job status will not be affected by their feedback. If you do not do this and put the employees at ease, they may not give you accurate feedback. Find a written example of an employee evaluation feedback form that can be submitted via a suggestion box. Ideas on the types of workplace communication that employees prefer can be asked for at the same time. Address any problems or breakdowns in communication as they arise.

By retaining your employees you will gain a set of skilled workers with increased productivity. You will avoid the cost of having to recruit and train new workers which will cause less stress. That being said, make everyone feel as if they are part of a team where their input matters and they are valued and you will retain employees and avoid the costs and frustration of losing them. Cert IV is a training program that will ensure that a company can work effectively.

You just have to follow a few basic steps to make certain that you do not ruin the dish and choose your kitchen utensils and pots and pans from stainless steel cookware sets. For example, pasta should be added to some boiling water through which you’ve included salt and a little bit of sunflower or essential olive oil. You shouldn’t boil the pasta for more than 10 minutes (in the event you prepare white-flour pasta) and 17 minutes (if they are whole fiber pasta). You need to prepare the sauce or the dressing separately in accordance to the numerous pasta cooking recipes which you might use.

Once the pasta are prepared, you need to always wash them with cold water in order to prevent their attaching together but also to enhance their texture. Based around the dish, when the pasta are still hot you can include a little of butter or some essential olive oil prior to adding the sauce or the dressing. This adds up to taste and makes the pasta seem truly scrumptious around the plate.

For instance, pasta go great together with cheese types, tomato and basil sauce. But you can also combine pasta with mushrooms and whitened cream sauce, ground meat or seafood. There are hundreds of pasta cooking recipes, and occasionally the differences lie not only in the main components but also in the kind of pasta you prefer and the kind of dish you want to get ready. The internet is the biggest source of inspiration right here and also you can find great cooking tips and tricks.

Whole grain pasta is regarded as the best although they’re a little more expensive plus they possess a more unique taste. Plenty of individuals have changed from processed grain pasta to whole grain pasta, primarily due to well being and fitness issues. Whole grain pasta create a great source of fiber, not to point out that pasta cooking recipes included in the weekly meal plan can eliminate the boredom of the family menu.