Retention should be a key element in any company’s HR strategy and many companies have structured programmes in place covering areas such as learning and development, salary and benefits, and performance management.

An employee’s experience, however, is largely affected by management. As a manager, it’s your duty to foster satisfaction, engagement and loyalty in your team members on the ground.

To start with, make sure you don’t appear unavailable. We’re all busy, but you are ultimately responsible for guiding your team. Make time to provide support, answer questions or approve tasks.

At the same time, don’t micromanage. If you have a natural tendency to be controlling, you’ll need to work on trusting your team to do their job without getting involved in every detail. Not only is this approach inefficient, but it will frustrate your team and dent their confidence, and ultimately affect their performance.

Don’t overlook under-performers. If a member of the team isn’t pulling their weight, don’t bury your head in the sand. It can be frustrating for the rest of the team to deal with when they have to put in extra effort. If the individual is getting away with poor performance, resentment will build in the wider team.

Recruit smartly – this involves ensuring candidates have the necessary skills and qualifications, and also that they are the right cultural fit. This is critical to forming a cohesive and high-performing team.

Keep lines of communication open. Building trust with team members is vital, and this starts with good communication and transparency. To do so, regularly share company information and keep your team in the know. Make them feel part of the bigger picture and help them understand the company’s strategy and their role within it.

Lastly, remember to celebrate success. Everyone wants to receive credit where it’s due and work for a manager that values good performance and rewards success. Make sure you praise individual performance as well as team efforts.

This article appeared in the Classified Post print edition as Doing your duty.

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