Retaining talented, skilled, and experienced employees is a major problem faced by many industries. Within the construction industry, the challenge been the frequency of short-term contracts equally makes it difficult for employees to commit to the industry. In order to overcome this challenge, retention of talented, skilled and experienced employees, management should take the following into account:

Collaborative Culture

Building and maintaining a rapport between Managers and employees forms a critical part of a collaborative culture. Teamwork plays a major role in accomplishing the business goals leading to the overall success of the company. Maintaining a collaborative culture is the foundation of retaining key staff.

Health and Wellness

A Workplace Health Promotion programme should be implemented regularly. Management need to be committed to the implementation of the wellness programme to ensure that health and wellness is maintained which should also be included in the company policy. Employees need to be equally involved in the implementation and decision-making of the design of the wellness programme. There needs to be clear communication of the wellness programme, its benefits and the outcomes. Incentives may be offered not necessarily extrinsic, but rather intrinsic in nature whereby employees are motivated to make that positive change. There must be a return on investment, a proper system needs to be designed that will measure the success rate of the wellness programme. Return on Investment can be broken into three broad categories, programme structure, delivery process and health care as well as productivity outcomes.

Educational Opportunities

Every company should design and implement a structured training needs analysis plan. This plan should be conducted twice a year. The training needs analysis assists with identifying any critical areas that need to be developed. The training needs analysis plan targets the organisation, the different departments and the individuals within the different departments. It identifies the needs for skills and development, ensuring there will be growth within the company, which will lead to better prospects for the employee and employer. Mentorship should be offered as well as workshops such as financial planning, stress relief and many more. Enhancing educational opportunities is the key to retaining employees.

For more information contact Prishana Maharaj 031 831 3201.

Prishana Maharaj | Human Resources Manager