Can A Workspace Influence Employee Retention?

Richard Branson famously once said: “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough, so they don’t want to.”

The essence of this quotation is simple, the best way a workspace can create an incentive for employees to want to stay stems from how we treat our staff and make everyone feel valued in their present work.

The culture of a workspace is what makes most people want to continue working for a company, regardless of any other issues.

If a person is happy in their employment and feels they are making a contribution, however big or small, they are less likely to look for a new job elsewhere.

Most importantly, an employee needs to feel their contribution is recognised and valued, both by their superiors and by their colleagues alike.

Developing a culture of feeling valued doesn’t happen overnight.

The idea of “collective efficacy,” where every member of a team understands their role in contributing to the desired outcome, can create huge rewards in terms of ensuring staff feel they matter and that their efforts are recognised as important to the overall success of the workspace.

From the CEO and managers all the way down to front-of-house staff and the administration team, everyone has a vital role to play and needs to feel appreciated for their efforts.

So how do we create a culture where people feel valued enough that they want to stay with a company?

While some companies invest heavily in team building and providing a range of perks to employees, these have not been seen to have the desired effect.

A positive culture in the workspace comes from sharing a clear understanding of a shared vision for the company, and how each member of staff contributes to the success of the team as a whole.

Feeling valued is partly knowing why you do the things you do, it is also recognising that everyone is treated similarly and fairly, a sense that the whole team works hard in different ways and all of our enterprise is equally important to obtaining the overall goal.

Most importantly, a simple acknowledgement from leaders for a job well done can be enough to boost morale and make staff feel they are making a difference. Saying “thank you” often is crucial to creating the right culture for a happy workspace.

When everyone is very busy it can sometimes feel that there is little time for gratitude or that staff should simply “know” their bosses are grateful.

However, those two words take only a second to express and can go a long way to making staff feel energised, engaged and appreciated.

Back to the opening quotation, training and staff development can also be important tools for generating a happy workforce. Investing in career development and providing pathways for staff to progress can be hugely influential in creating a positive workspace.

The effects of this are two-fold: not only will staff feel valued that their career progression is important to their leaders, but training can also develop higher skills that will have a positive impact on their current role.

To conclude, culture is everything in creating a workspace where employees want to stay, ensuring everyone feels appreciated and supporting staff development is vital.

Most importantly, every single member of staff needs to feel their contributions are valued, especially by those in higher positions.