The Great Resignation continues to unfold. At least, that’s what’s it’s been dubbed in the press to describe the phenomenon of a mass departure, largely regarded as due to the global pandemic shutdowns which caused a huge number of workers to rethink their career paths. So, an unprecedented amount of employees are leaving their current (or previous) positions, seeking out other opportunities. Couple this with the impending New Year and it makes for a particularly precarious employment environment. That means it’s quite possible, you’ll find yourself facing the same situation. Fortunately, there are preventative steps you can take to keep your best employee on board. Biggest Mistakes to Avoid Obviously, this will stir a number of negative feelings. You’ll likely feel angry, betrayed, baffled, and perhaps sad. These negative emotions cause people to act out in rash, impulsive ways. So, be sure to keep your emotions in check, which is to say in perspective, proportionate to the reality of the situation. If necessary, take a few minutes to step away from everything and allow yourself time to relax and clear your mind. When your right-hand person or a rising rock star in your business tells you they’re about to leave, it can be an emotional experience, says Rich Reinecke, co-managing partner of business consulting firm Fahrenheit Advisors. ‘It can be very emotional, initially. Sometimes you’re angry. Sometimes you’re scared,’ he says. But what you do next can have serious repercussions for your business. —Fast Company.com If you don’t act in a rational manner, proportionate to the circumstances, you will come unglued and that’s not helpful to anyone. Instead, keep your composure and act in your own best interest so you don’t hurt your chances of keeping your best employee from leaving. After all, he or she made this decision based on a number of factors and there’s probably a good reason why he or she came to this conclusion. 3 Effective Employee Retention Strategies If your best employee tells you that he or she is leaving next year, you obviously don’t have much time to change his or her mind. However, that doesn’t mean their exit is inevitable. You might be able to get him or her to stay. Here are a few effective employee retention strategies you can use: Have a meaningful conversation. Although money usually plays a significant role, more compensation isn’t always the driving force. There are instances when employees make completely lateral moves from one company to another and pay isn’t a factor. Of course, you’ll probably assume he or she will be paid more, but don’t convince yourself that’s the only reason. Take some time to have a one-on-one conversation and listen carefully to what he or she has to say. You might just find out there are other reasons for their decision to go and you can address those issues one by one. Show your sincere appreciation. Perhaps your right hand is choosing to leave because they feel they have hit a ceiling and are stuck. This is a very common rationalization people use in order to convince themselves to leave their current positions. After you’ve spoken with him or her, be sure to take immediate action to show your appreciation. This can include but isn’t limited to: giving them more say about what’s going on, promoting the individual, or offering a few more persuasive perks. Increase his or her financial incentive. obviously, money talks. And, if the main reason he or she is considering leaving, simply offer to match their new compensation package. If this strategy isn’t feasible right now, you can always do things like extra paid time off, or incremental, scheduled pay raises, or even offering more benefits. What other methods would you suggest using to keep a key employee from leaving? Please share your thoughts and experiences so others can benefit from your unique perspective! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

An exit interview is conducted for two principal purposes. The first is to learn about the soon-to-be former employee’s experiences at the company. The second is to determine the reason he or she is leaving. Those are pretty straightforward and can provide valuable insight into how a business operates from an employee’s point of view. This is why large corporations establish these separation procedures. However, even small businesses can take advantage of what exit interviews have to offer. Downsides to Holding Exit Interviews Now, there are of course pros and cons to conducting exit interviews. The first and perhaps most obvious is that a future former employee May be unwilling and/or apprehensive about the possibility of burning bridges. In other words, you might not get the unfettered truth to every answer. Plus, it’s possible the person will go out of his or her way not to offer honest answers. Then, there’s also the possibility he or she will hold back information and that of course can undermine the entire exercise. Exit interviews are conducted to generate feedback from employees with the goal to lower employee turnover rate, raise employee retention, and improves aspects of the organization as a whole. After conducting the interviews and reviewing the data, organizations will use the employees’ suggestions to create a better organization for which their employees want to work and succeed. —Work Institute.com What’s more, if you do get the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, your action on the other side can be very detrimental. After all, the departing employee might provide valuable insight into correcting certain issues or problems within his or her position that could benefit his or her successor and/or, the business as a whole. Failing to apply solutions could result in remaining employees knowing that nothing was done, and that can be quite damaging to morale. 3 Biggest Exit Interview Benefits Obviously, companies conduct interviews as part of their business practices for good reason. And, as mentioned above, even small businesses can reap the same benefits. Here are the biggest advantages of conducting exit interviews: Gain inside perspective. Managers, administrators, and owners are routinely surprised by what they learn through exit interviews. Because they are in charge at the top, they believe they have some sort of omniscient knowledge, but that’s certainly not always true. In fact, this is why third-party HR services offer exit interviews since they understand through experience that the upper echelons of companies aren’t always aware of everything that’s actually going on. Discover unknown issues. Along the same line, it’s not only learning the intricate dynamics or the minutiae of a certain position, but also the problems and issues that affect said position being vacated. It’s not at all unusual for the exit interviewee to reveal certain points of friction or areas of frustration with the position they are leaving. This too is very valuable information and gives the company and opportunity to make key changes. Increase employee retention. One of the main reasons companies conduct exit interviews is to gain knowledge of the benefits listed above in order to enact reforms or policy initiatives that serve the employees better. By doing so, the businesses are able to improve on their operational practices and that can also benefit other areas, such as employee cohesion, morale, and productivity. What other advantages do exit interviews offer? Please take a brief moment to leave a comment and share your thoughts and experiences so others can benefit from your input. Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

Entrepreneurs Beware! Upselling will Undermine Your Business, So Do This Instead We’ve all experienced it – visiting an electronics chain to purchase a single item. Something you want and you’re excited to use. Reaching the checkout counter, an uneasy and annoying feeling begins to creep up. Just wanting to complete a simple transaction, you present your payment, only to be asked if you’d like to add a warranty. Then comes the follow-up savings pitch – you could save a significant percentage if you open a new credit card. Declining both, you walk out, disappointed but unsurprised at what could have been a good experience. The figures don’t lie. Retailers often earn more upselling add-ons than the margins on their products. It’s why consumers have to endure these unwelcome offers time and again. Such encounters persuade people to skip the physical store and just order what they need online to mitigate the upsell tactic. After all, it’s much easier to swipe or click past such offers than to tell another human being “No.” Now, apply this mindset to your own business. Upselling may seem like a tempting strategy to boost your revenue, but it could be the very thing that undermines your sales. Instead of pushing more products or services onto your customers, you should focus on building genuine relationships and delivering exceptional value. Why Upselling Hurts Businesses Let’s face it – most people, whether retail employees or skilled tradespeople, don’t relish upselling customers. It’s uncomfortable because they’ve been in the same position too. Like everyone else, those individuals also endured the awkward upsell and don’t want to be required to do the same. Worse still, upselling, when done improperly, can harm a business. But, that’s not all; upselling can be counterproductive for several reasons. For instance: Customer trust. Aggressive upselling or misleading customers into purchasing more expensive products can erode customer trust. Customers value honesty and transparency from businesses. If they feel a company is trying to take advantage of them through upselling, they may lose trust in the brand and choose to shop elsewhere. Negative experience. Here’s the most obvious reason. Overly pushy or frequent upselling can create a negative customer experience. Customers may feel pressured or annoyed by constant attempts to upsell, which could lead to dissatisfaction and potentially drive them away from a business. Unmet expectations. Upselling can sometimes lead to customers purchasing products or services that don’t meet their expectations or needs. This can result in dissatisfaction and negative reviews that can harm a business’s reputation. Lost sales. If customers feel they’re being upsold too aggressively, they may decide not to make any purchase at all. This could result in lost sales for the business and bad word of mouth from dissatisfied customers too eager to share their negative experiences with others. Resource misallocation. Focusing too heavily on upselling can divert resources away from other important areas of the business, such as customer service or product development – two positive and helpful things. Damage to brand image. This bears repeating, if a business gains a reputation for aggressive or misleading upselling, it could damage its brand image and make it harder to attract new customers. To avoid these pitfalls, businesses should focus on providing value to their customers, rather than just trying to increase sales at any cost. This means only offering upsells that genuinely benefit the customer and being transparent about the value of the upsell. Better yet, instead of upselling, try upserving. 7 Compelling Reasons to Upserve Instead of Upsell You may have heard the term “upserving” before. Regardless if you’re familiar with it or not, it’s a great alternative because it puts customers’ needs first. So, businesses should focus on upserving their customers instead of upselling for many compelling reasons: Customer satisfaction. Upserving means providing more value to the customer. Again, this could take the form of offering a product or service that genuinely meets a need or enhances their experience. When customers feel that a business is looking out for their best interests, it increases their satisfaction and loyalty. Long-term relationships. Upselling can sometimes feel like an annoying sales tactic, one that can erode trust and damage the long-term relationship with the customer. On the other hand, upserving builds trust and fosters a stronger, more positive relationship. Positive brand image. Businesses that focus on upserving are seen as customer-centric and trustworthy. This enhances the brand’s image and reputation. What’s more, customers are much more likely to make referrals based on such positive experiences. Increased sales. While upselling can increase sales in the short term, upserving can lead to even greater sales in the long run. Satisfied customers are more likely to make repeat purchases and recommend the business to others. Customer retention. Upserving helps to retain customers. It’s much more cost-effective to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new one. When you upsell, you run the risk of losing a customer because they feel like you’re putting your bottom line before their needs. Differentiation. In a crowded market, upserving can be a key differentiator. It sets the business apart from competitors who may be more focused on upselling. Customer Lifetime Value. Upserving can increase the customer lifetime value (CLV). CLV is a measure of how much a customer is worth to a company throughout their relationship. By upserving, businesses can increase this value. So, upserving is about putting the customer first and providing them with more value. This leads to increased customer satisfaction, loyalty, and ultimately, more sales over the long term. Want to Accomplish More? Do you want your company to grow faster and earn more while you spend more time with your family doing all the things you started your business to do? We can make that dream a reality. Give us 30 minutes and we will show you how to get your life back. Skeptical? Good! Put us to the test. You can call us for your free appointment at (602) 541-1760, or, if you prefer,