Retaining Human Capital

Good service can make all the difference.

In an industry where service can add so much to the value of your product, it is very important to keep good quality employees on your staff with the experience, relationships, and know how to get the job done right.

There are several ways to keep good employees with your company.  A firm can either use incentives or make an attempt to force the employees to stay through legal course.  Using incentives is preferred but sometime it can be necessary to use legal force.  Above these things is the environment of the workforce.

Identifying with an organization's mission and values is very important to retaining human capital.  People who identify with the mission and the values of the organization are more likely to "fall in love" with the organization, so to speak.  They will want to do whats best for the company because they like working there and feel that they are making a difference.  John Deere is a company that influences its workers very early on.  By building a lasting relationship with people from the time they ride with their fathers or grandfathers in the tractor, John Deere makes sure that they build customer loyalty.  People identify with the brand of John Deere and want to work for the company at a very early age.

Part of enjoying work is feeling challenged and stimulated.  Studies show that this helps overall job satisfaction with employees. John Deere keeps its employees challenged by allowing for promotion and an open work environment.  At the dealerships that I have been to, the workplace is a very open environment.  It is easy for employees to talk to managers and they feel like the managers are just another employee.

Incentives are also very important for keeping employees happy.  Whether that is in the form of money, time off, or benefits, it is very important to satisfy the employees needs outside of work in so that they can be as productive as possible when they are at work.  If an employee needs time off because of issues in their personal life, the company needs to work very hard to accommodate that persons needs.  These things are sometimes more important to workers than money is and can be a reason for them leaving a firm.