Interim managers: increase your employee retention and engagement 

As a manager, you are responsible for your team’s retention and engagement. There are many ways that you can create a good working and supportive environment for the team, keep reading to see a few tips on how you can ensure this.

Be completely transparent

You need to let your employees know about company updates, even if it doesn’t directly affect them. They must be clued up and feel valued instead of being in the dark about vital information or even finding out from other people in the company instead of you. This can create a better sense of trust and respect between you and your employees.

Encourage open communication

Employees want to be heard and want to feel like they can tell you whatever they need to tell you without feeling worried or stressed. Create an open-door policy and an environment where employees can approach you whenever they need to, whether that’s new ideas, opinions, concerns, or problems they may be having. Set up regular 1-2-1 meetings with your employees and encourage them to share anything that they feel they need to share with you. Ask genuine open-ended questions about how they are feeling within their role and company. This will ensure that people are not bottling anything up and are getting the support that they need from you.

Be flexible

You must recognise that people have lives outside of work too and sometimes things come up, such as emergencies or appointments. Allowing working from home or leaving early in these cases are minor things that can show appreciation for your employees and make their personal lives a little bit easier and less stressful.

Recognise and reward achievements and excellence

This is the best way to make people feel valued and appreciated. You can implement bonuses and incentives or even just tell people how well they’ve done and that you value their work. This will motivate and engage people more as well as create a more positive and rewarding working environment.

 Invest in your employees’ career development

If your company does not already have a training budget, ensure to start talks about setting up one because career development is a great way to retain and motivate your staff. It is important to encourage your employees to develop their skills through paid courses or certifications that will allow them to work towards being promoted and growing their careers.

 Remember to arrange work socials

A good way to bring your team together, build relationships and get to know everyone better is by planning work socials. This could be a team lunch, social activities or even sweepstakes for large sporting events. Arrange a time frame for these, this could be quarterly or twice a year, so that your employees have something to look forward to. Another great reason for a social is a big milestone that your team or company has achieved, it will feel rewarding and motivating for everyone.