Job satisfaction

Keeping excellent employees is not just a matter of throwing money at them. Employees want to be content in their positions doing worthwhile jobs. You need to talk to them, find out what’s on their mind and how you can make their role in the organisation more desirable.

And don’t just talk to other management employees – you need to be seen at the coalface. This is where your team invariably deals with customers. How do you expect these employees to communicate with your customers and keep them happy if management never communicates with them?

You don’t want to lose great employees. But you might need to develop strategies to retain them, which would include:
 Treating employees as individuals and involving them in decision making
 Trying to hire internally first
 Continually offering training and skill improvements
 Discussing career development opportunities with your team/staff
 Encourage a life/work balance and being flexible on issues such as parental leave, job sharing, part-time work
 Developing a supportive environment where employees feel they can openly discuss problems with management
 Creating a team culture where employees participate together in sporting teams, social club events and social evenings
 Reviewing salary packages and other benefits at appropriate intervals.


The greatest asset of a small to medium-sized business is a well-developed and loyal team. Whether it emerges will depend on whether you, as the employer, have instigated best practice in human resources.

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