HOW TO KEEP YOUR EMPLOYEES HAPPY
Good people are hard to find. Headhunting has become commonplace. If you employ highly technical, specialist people it’s likely your competition are eyeing up your top people and instigating strategies to tempt them away. Now, more than ever, companies are looking for ways to retain their most valued asset.
Employee satisfaction is the hot topic of the moment: The Times give national recognition for the ‘Best place to work in the UK’ and the City and Guilds have just conducted their annual study for the ‘Happy Workplace Index’ which worryingly found our region to be ‘…below average for happiness at work’. They obviously didn’t survey local company Provide who, despite being in an incredibly competitive market and doubling in size over the past year, have made it into the Regional Finals of the National Business Awards for ‘Employer of the Year’.
Provide are in ICT recruitment. Their consultants are under pressure every day. It’s hard work with ambitious targets in a fast moving sector and yet they continue to attract the best people. I caught up with Provide at Woburn Golf Club to find out how they’ve achieved it:
It’s been reported in the local media that your business is soaring, as is your headcount. How do you manage to do that whilst looking after your old and new employees…and still find time to play golf?
“As a nation, we are spending more hours working than ever before so it makes sense to introduce ways to make it less stressful. It’s enjoyable to converse on the golf course, meet in the boxes at the big football matches or discuss requirements over lunch at great restaurants. It keeps our clients happy and our consultants love their job – doing business this way has not only helped us to build solid client relationships but attract and keep the best team around”, explained Dan Brazier, Managing Director at Provide.
Chris Murdoch, Senior Consultant at Provide, added: “Provide is a great place to work. Where else do you get to do the things you love doing in your spare time and get paid for it? It’s not an easy job though – we work hard to deliver an exceptional service - but the directors are young and switched on – they give us the flexibility to find our own way of achieving results. Provide enthusiastically encourage us to meet clients on a social level which makes my job really enjoyable. They put their trust in their consultants and invest a lot into career satisfaction. By allowing us to build relationships with our clients away from the office, we get to appreciate our customer’s needs to a much deeper level – everyone wins”.
To what do you attribute your success and recent recognition for employee satisfaction?
David Freeman, Head of Operations and Staff Development, explained: “We value our staff and want them to feel happy about coming in to work. We do that by giving them excellent training and development, a clear career path to progress, lots of recognition and a work environment that inspires them. We operate a ‘healthy’ workplace and reward our employees with incentives to genuinely improve and enhance their life”.
David, what advice would you give local companies to help improve staff satisfaction and retention?
“Be flexible and creative, listen and encourage input. Ask your staff how they feel. Our staff regularly tell us what they want from their career and their workplace…we take that feedback and act on it. We specialise in people and careers – that’s our business – we have to get it right and set an example.”
All companies suffering from high staff turnover, take note – we need to make the South East a much better place to work. Clearly, Provide have the formula and are on course for success in 2008 - with or without their golf clubs. We wish them the best of luck at the National Business Awards 2008.
If you are interested in working for Provide, contact us for vacancy details.
