Hold Tight to Top Performers

Having competent and reliable staff is essential to steering your business through these challenging economic times. As you consider or enact cost-savings measures like hiring freezes, don’t forget to hold onto those employees who have supported your business through the good and bad times.

David Peters, Jewelers of America’s education and management expert, notes that retaining well-performing staff is good business since:

• Turnover directly relates to increased costs and decreased productivity.
• Most owners/managers grossly underestimate the costs associated with the turnover process:

• Costs like ads, overtime pay, and recruiting services are easy to assess, but the hidden costs -- like the time spent on the hiring process and the complex relationship between store morale, turnover and productivity -- are the most expensive and damaging.

• There is a strong correlation of longevity to value:

• Value and productivity increase dramatically over time
• The intellectual value of tenured employees (their knowledge of product and process) saves time and money; and makes money
• They know what needs to be done and how to do it effectively