Periodically, we like to share the success stories of companies dealing with HR issues. This case study comes courtesy of Paul Graziani, CEO of Analytical Graphics in Exton, PA.
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We’re lucky enough to attract some of the most talented and well-educated people in our industry.
But that makes it crucial for us to hold on to them any way we can.
That’s especially true considering how much it costs to replace some of our staff – as much as three times the worker’s salary.
Clearly that put retention high up on our priority list.
But what were the best tactics we could use to make that a reality?
Talk about it
One area we knew we wanted to focus on: open communication.
That’s how we hit on the idea of “all hands” meetings and “storytime.”
Initially, a handful of our employees from different departments who were friends would meet every Friday to discuss what was going on in their different work areas.
Then we started thinking: Why can’t we make this a weekly companywide event?
So we started “storytime.”
Each Friday, every employee in the company meets in our cafeteria.
There, we talk about anything important that’s happened over the last week – new products we’re working on, customer interactions, etc., for about an hour.
And since many of our workers travel, we sprinkle in funny travel stories as well.
We also hold quarterly “all hands” meetings.
Those go more in-depth, looking both forward and backward to deals we’re working on and how the company is doing as a whole.
The meetings are a great way to bring everyone together and keep everyone abreast on what’s going on.
Bring errands to staff
We know our employees work hard, but we also recognize there are any number of errands they may need to run throughout the day.
That’s why we partnered with a number of local companies to bring those errands to staff.
On any given day in a month, our workers can get their oil changed in the parking lot, get their hair cut, or have their dry cleaning taken care of – all without leaving work.
This costs us nothing – employees pay for this themselves.
But by allowing those businesses to come to the employee instead of the other way around, it allows workers to stay on-site and not worry about running all over to get things done.
We don’t do these things to be more profitable, but we are more profitable because we do these things.
Years and years
Our retention rates have been nothing short of phenomenal.
In our industry, most companies average a 21% turnover rate. Ours is 3% to 7% annually.
Keeping those same staffers onboard for years and years has allowed us to work through big projects in record time – and made our company a great place to work.
