by Ian Girling, chief executive, Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry

WITH unemployment at a record low, it’s not surprising that employers frequently tell us that they often find it challenging to recruit good quality people. Indeed, a recent survey reported that up to 70 per cent of businesses currently recruiting were experiencing difficulties in finding the right people, particularly at a managerial and professional level.

As businesses struggle with recruitment problems it’s become increasingly important for them to have a clear focus on retaining staff – often now called internal marketing – whereby employees are treated as internal customers and businesses take a pro-active approach in terms of investing in and retaining people.

It’s also a fact that most people don’t just leave a job down to salary – it’s often due to breakdown in their relationship with their manager or the fact they feel unappreciated. Relationships, communication and engaging staff in the values and ambitions of the company are essential.

It’s widely acknowledged that people are the most valuable asset in any business and staff retention needs to be a key consideration in any business. Motivated, engaged and happy employees are more likely to be loyal and productive and contribute to lower staff turnover.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Dorset Chamber members 4Com, recently named as national winner of the Sunday Times Best Companies To Work For. 4Com, founded in 1999 and based in Christchurch, now employs a team of over 300 people and has a very clear focus on providing an environment where employees feel valued. The business has a very forward-thinking approach to employee engagement which includes the offer to all employees to join the company car scheme (and the fleet of silver Audi A1s in the car park is striking), monthly team meetings, a free breakfast juice bar and dedicated staff recreation spaces as well as the opportunity to get involved with and support the 4Com Foundation – a proactive approach to corporate social responsibility is now seen as an important factor for employees considering where they would like to work.

I’ve seen some other great employee schemes – all designed to reward and motivate their teams. A great example is the Dream Days scheme offered to all employees at Poole marketing agency Intergage. MD Paul Tansey has introduced a scheme where all staff can be rewarded with Dream Days – additional time off and £200 per day towards your perfect Dream Day. Intergage also offers all employees the opportunity to spend 10 per cent of their time learning and developing skills. TeamJobs, a leading local employment agency and winner of the Team of the Year in the 2015 Dorset Business Awards, also places significant emphasis on staff engagement, with a strong focus on communications and company ethos and perks such as financially incentivising their employees to cycle to work, free fruit, paid parking, employee healthcare packages and even team aerobics.

It’s clear that there is far more to retaining good people than just pay levels. It’s about involving the team, incentivising and empowering them, making them feel valued as an important part of the business. Communication is essential within this and there are an increasing number of businesses developing creative and valuable incentives for their people. Having a motivated team will lead to improved staff retention, a better working atmosphere, decreased absence through sickness and of course improved productivity. In 2017 businesses need to be aware of the major long term benefit of investing in people to maximise business growth opportunities and develop strategies to support this.