Keep ‘Em or Weep

From our work with dozens of businesses every year, we witness a wide range of team retention results. Our best-led client businesses consistently practice four disciplines to show their teammates they are treasured. Subsequently, the SMB owners are rewarded with high levels of retention, engagement, and overall performance. 

We think it is important to know that, in general, your humans are motivated by much more than money. Once your teammates trust that they are paid fairly, this is what they want from their vocation and work efforts:

• To be KNOWN. We must care and show we care about the whole humans on our team, not just the work persona. Respect, trust, and loyalty build when we go deeper to understand their family, their passions, their hobbies, and even their favorite movies.
  
  
• To be GROWN. This is the question we ask our teammates at every quarterly review: ‘What are you excited about learning next?’ We want them to know that we see potential in them, we will invest in them, and collaboratively create a plan for their career path.
  
  
• To be RECOGNIZED and APPRECIATED. There is an art to this, as every human needs something a little different (see #1). Positive recognition and sincere appreciation are the most affordable and effective bonuses you can give (Check out The 5 Languages of Appreciation at Work).
  
  
• To BELONG. We have been created with an intense desire to belong, and be part of a tribe, family, or team. With clarity of purpose and intentional work on building the collective intelligence of your teams, you can build a ‘Best Place to Work in America.’ A place where your humans love Mondays and can’t wait to see their teammates and collaborate on work that matters.
  
  

   

The beauty of these four practices is they cost almost zero dollars. This is a time and intention investment for leaders. Xtra Bonus: the return on investment is extremely high.

You are probably closer to your next breakthrough than you imagine. Let us know if we can help you Hire-Coach-Keep amazing humans on your team in 2025.