The 5 R's of Best Employer Handbook

Employees that stay with the company for more than 10 years are more likely to reap better benefits than those employees who hop from one organization to another. Although such is the case, the alarming rate of retention dropped significantly that Harvard Business Review once pointed out 40% of workers plan to look for a new job within the next 6 months while 69% are passively looking for another job. Harvard Business also suggested the principle of 5 R's which is very practical in nature but the necessity calls for constant reminder in today's work culture.

1. Integrate trust in the skills of employees by assigning responsibility and by providing well being and training programs. General Electric shared its best practices on utilizing Human Resource Department in increasing employees' engagement as part of their sustainability program.

Terry Gardiner, founder and head of Silver Lining Seafoods and Norquest Seafoods discussed in his article a system of approach in delegating responsibilities to employees. The four key responsibilities can be typically designated as functions for a) "Responsible," a person delegated to do a particular task b) "Accountable," someone who can exercise a veto, and is ultimately has accountability to the task c) "Consulted," someone who gives opinion and feedback to the activity and d) "Informed," a person that notes and forms report of the decision or action. The distinction of these roles defined by set of questions helps in delivering completion of a particular project or task.

Zachary Watson, CEO at HoneyCo also quoted on keeping employees by raising their engagement within the company--"If you're looking to keep an employee by giving him/her a raise, it's already too late. Find people who share the operational values of your organization from the outset, test for fit early, and allow growth opportunities to express that value. We're fanatics about initiative and constructive impact. Our team members are consistently rewarded with higher value projects following a constructive initiative."

2. Practice respect and appreciation for employees. Listen to them and recognize their voice whether it be their strengths or weaknesses. Constant communication between employees and management addresses areas that need improvement in the organization, building commitment to progress in the long run. According to Forbes article, respect as an individual acts as a catalyst to motivation and then, production. "When employees feel genuinely respected (always assuming it's warranted), they're much more likely "to go the extra mile" to help a company succeed."

3. Align the employees' wages to company revenues through revenue-sharing. Fishbowl, a Utah-based company that develops software inventory management bares that revenue sharing scheme soared their revenues to 60% since 2007. Every workforce of the company is on commission, hence everyone contributes to the sales and revenue of the company. The compensation plan brought several advantages as follows,

a. it secures the stability of the company as the payroll cost depends on the company revenue

b. it motivates everyone into becoming productive since the revenue growth automatically means higher wages for the employees

c. it offers a structure that works like stock dividend if the company cannot offer stock options

d. it eliminates division among company departments since everyone contributes to the company profit and is compensated for that profit too.

4. Rewards to employees should go beyond the financial compensation and should bring a positive culture that drives a work-friendly atmosphere. This could be in the form of department parties, dinner with the bosses or company giveaways leading away from the common tenureship-based rewards. Forbes shared some of the best practices ideas on giving away compensation to employees.

- reward based on achieved desirable results or outstanding behavior - reward recognized by peers - not by top level members of the oranization - engage employees into sharing inspirational or recognition stories - appreciate and reward employees as frequent as possible

5. Realize the importance of time off on every employee which could be due to sickness, personal or family vacation, new baby, etc. Most companies have underestimated the significance of providing relaxation time. With such huge demand required of high performance, a generous rest could rejuvenate and re-align the employees' goals. Also, with industries requiring longer working hours, a balance between work and life has become a scarce commodity that only few companies stand out when it comes to providing that support.

In Paul Wolfe's top 25 companies for better work-life balance list written in the review site Indeed, Southwest Airlines reigned the category with the company's wellness and career development programs and flexible work schedule and job sharing options.

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Sources:

http://www.bestpracticeswiki.net/view/Assigning_Responsibility https://hbr.org/2012/11/five-ways-to-retain-employees http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6084-employee-happiness-without-raise.html https://hbr.org/2013/03/why-we-pay-all-our-employees-a