Retention Basics - Support Staff
- Aisling
- Aug 26, 2018
- 2 min read
Every Executive Assistant knows that good support staff are worth their weight in gold and if they move on to another job it can leave you feeling like a lost sock in the Corporate laundry. So let’s talk retention, you may think that retaining staff is not something you can control but if you have people reporting to you then there is definitely some things you can do to promote retention.
Here are my top five retention basics.
1. Be approachable - believe it or not, your support staff may be intimidated by you and believe it or not this is not the position you want to be in. You need to be approachable in order for them to feel comfortable coming to you with problems or concerns. Remember that you were once less experienced and confident in your abilities and put yourself in their shoes. You are a leader and all great leaders are approachable, understanding and kind.
2. Lead by example before you lead by delegation - very simply don’t expect your support staff to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself. Knowing and understanding their roles will help you to help them.
3. Micro-Manage at your own risk - no one likes a helicopter manager, obviously this doesn’t mean that you throw your hands up in the air and just focus on your own work but you need to trust your support staff and trust that they can carry out their role to a high standard. Micro-managing will only lead them to believe that they are not good enough and in all honesty will end up being counter productive.
4. Genuinely care about their well-being/ have their back. Good relationships with your staff is key, if you think something is up, ask the question. At the end of the day we are all human, we will all have issues from time to time, your staff are no different. It may make the word of difference to them personally, and the quality of their work will be reflected in a positive manner. Show them that you care and they will care too.
5. Let them know you appreciate them - saying thank you frequently is of the upmost importance is keeping your workforce happy and honestly, its just good manners. Positive reinforcement will generate a extra effort from your staff and encourage them to stay with the business.
I hope these tips help you to retain your superstar support staff.
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