The Irish economy continues to boom, and it’s an employee’s market.  Jobs are secure and people are not afraid to leave their jobs to go travelling or take a career break of some kind, feeling sure that they will easily find another, perhaps even better, job on their return.  For employees, a great time and a great place to be in - and if they’re not happy, motivated, developed and valued, chances are they’ll move on without thinking twice.  This time of year can be the worst, particularly if bonuses or other rewards are issued in January, and many organisations see a peak in staff turnover just after the Christmas break.

Continual turnover of staff means upheaval for the remaining team, loss of knowledge, skills and experience, time and effort to replace the leaver and ultimately a drop in productivity for the team and the organisation.

Now’s the time to act – devise a team development plan for the coming year, communicate it to the team and show them how it will improve their ability to deliver their goals and hence help them to achieve rewards such as bonus, share options, salary increases or other.  Get your team members’ buy-in to the team’s goals and objectives, and continually communicate, motivate and develop as they achieve them.  Focused team building and development will help make your team members feel valued, motivated and will contribute towards keeping a strong, stable team for as long as possible.

You won’t keep everyone forever, but through simple, good leadership practices you will be much more likely to keep the talented, high-performing individuals that really deliver for you and for the organisation.