It costs more to replace an employee than it does to train them better. Talent should be cultivated, not let go.

The current economic climate isn’t doing most of us any favours. We aren’t used to this level of uncertainty – and certainly not when the whole of industry is affected at once. People are losing jobs left, right, and centre. Meanwhile, businesses are being closed by the thousand.

With the entirety of capitalism in question, where do we go from here? More specifically, how can we make it through this bubble with our employees, businesses, and lives, still intact?

The Impact of Covid-19 on Business Should Not Be Ignored

It’s true; some sectors have seen mass closures. The hotel industry in the UK and the USA, for example, has been reduced to a slow trickle. Thousands have closed up shop and decided to re-train in more economically viable roles.

They’re not the only ones. It is estimated that we have lost upwards of 10,000 restaurants and bars, right here in the UK. The unemployment rate hit 5% in the final quarter of last year, with over 1.5 million people out of work and with bills to pay.

So, what do you do when the world of economics is crashing down around your ears? You secure the assets you have already. You batten down the hatches and wait for the tornado to roll on through. Which leads us to the main point: an employee that is kept on through a global pandemic is a happy employee that you might well have into old age.

How (and why) to hold on to employees in 2021

Your employees are some of your best resources.This is true whether you are in the office or working from home. In the current culture, there is a lot of fear going on, on the behalf of employers. SME owners are concerned that employees working from home spend too much time away from the computer, don’t reply fast enough to clients, and aren’t always at their desks.

If we’re not careful, we are going to end up with a generation of Smart Tech which does nothing other than spy on our employees so that we can pay them accordingly. What we should have learned from the first socialist movement back in 1800, is that employees work best if you just trust them.

Enter re-training. There are specialist firms out there who are desperate to provide us with excellent training to help employees manage themselves. Take Hays Thrive, for example. They provide online learning resources that help maintain equality and diversity, staff well-being, and mental health in the home workplace.

If you have employees who are trusted, they feel valued and worthy. Staff that feel valued and worthy will be loyal to you to the bitter end – especially if you can give them firm guidance and proper training with regards to how to self-manage.

The Cost of Replacement

Costs of replacing an employee can differ according to what they do. In the higher end, you can pay upwards of 50k to train someone new for a top tier IT job. On the lower end, it can cost fully half a salary to replace someone in a minimum wage position. One American study found the average cost of employee replacement is 33% of an annual salary.

Other Tips for Good Employee Wellbeing

Try these other tips and tools to keep your employees as upbeat as possible during this tough time. And remember, if they’re not happy, you lose more than business… you lose the cost of filling the vacancy…

  • Ensure a structured working day, perhaps by adding beginning and end of the day meetings.
  • Take time to facetime with each employee or encourage your managers to do so. Remote work is isolating.
  • Establish a new office culture by setting up new traditions to replace the old ones.
  • Create an open-window policy – where your digital door is always open.