The process of recruiting and retaining employees is imperative for any business, large or small. There is a correlation to human resources and marketing that many companies don’t take full advantage of in their recruiting and retaining efforts. Employee engagement is critical to retaining employees. According to www.zanebeneifts.com, a study found average costs to replace an employee are: 16% of annual salary for high-turnover, low-paying jobs (earning under $30,000 a year), and 20% of annual salary for mid-range positions (earning $30,000 to $50,000 a year). It’s important for companies to understand why people leave and why they stay. Sometimes the situation is inevitable such as their spouse relocating for a job opportunity/advancement or staying at home with children, but in some cases there was something that could have prevented said employee from leaving.

Keeping employees engaged increases their likelihood of staying with your company and encourages them to be part of your growing company. Most employees are happy to share their thoughts and ideas on how to improve the company, make it better for customers and employees, along with helping the company move forward in operations, marketing, accounting, human resources, etc. Employees bring great ideas to the table and have a desire to be part of the positive momentum. With anything, you can’t take things personally and not everything can be implemented that has been suggested.

If you complete an employee survey asking about tangible and intangible benefits, along with happiness in the work place, you must be willing to share those results, both good and bad, with your employees. Once you have shared those results, you must formulate an action plan to implement suggestions or obvious improvements your employees have shared. If you don’t implement anything, then your employees have already lost confidence and in the future won’t be quick to contribute ideas.

For example, if your managers express interest in receiving more in depth management training in order to improve their supervisory skills, thus ultimately benefitting their subordinates, which then goes full circle by being able to provide better customer service, then you need to implement training for those employees. From this suggestion, you would set up an individual development training program for each employee that has a supervisory role. Some employees would need more training than others but this is where you can customize each employee’s training program. Or you could bring in a trainer that discusses management techniques once a month for six months to educate and train employees on how to be a better manager. Developing managers doesn’t happen overnight, so offering a course once a month for six months will be much more beneficial to both the employee and the company.

So what does retaining employees have to do with marketing? A component to recruiting and retaining employees is marketing. Individuals want to work for a company that supports its employees and the community. Supporting employees includes giving them additional responsibilities and challenges, believing in them, offering training and development, trusting they will do their job to the best of their ability, and genuinely caring about them personally and professionally. At the end of the day, it comes down to company culture created and that starts at the top.

Supporting the community is important today for employees and recruits. If the company supports the community, whether that be the Salvation Army Angel Tree or offering a place for the American Red Cross to set up for blood donations, employees are then more engaged in the workplace and their employer. When employees are involved in the community, it also promotes team work within the company. In the town I live, there is an event called the “Corporate Challenge” which happens over three weeks in the late summer where employees sign up for different challenges (mini golf, bowling, 3-on-3 basketball, flag football, etc.) and get points based on participation and winning each challenge. This creates an opportunity for employees to get to know one another outside the workplace and build additional rapport. Not every employee will participate, but you’ll receive a good amount of interest based on the array of challenges employees can sign up for.

Most importantly be creative! Ask employees what they want the company to be involved in. Sometimes it’s as easy as putting out a change jar and collecting money for Veterans for a few months. There are a ton of non-profit organizations to choose from. The challenge is to find one that both you and your employees are passionate about supporting.

In your recruiting material, promote the company and employee support, along with showing involvement in these organizations. When you and your employees participate, you can take pictures and post them to your social media platforms and website. Again, this shows the culture of your company which is part of the recruiting and retaining process.

Employee engagement is an important part of marketing and builds employee morale. These are just a few ideas for companies to engage employees, build teamwork and trust among employees, along with feeling good about the contribution they are making to their local community. Now make a plan to engage your employees today!