Joanne G. Sujansky

Employees matter. In fact, as the forces of globalism and the proliferation of technology relentlessly level the proverbial playing field, it's safe to say that the men and women who work for you are everything. Think about it. Your competitors have access to the exact same resources as you. That means infinite choices exist not only for your customers, but for your employees as well. If you're not seeking ways to nurture them and meet their needs, they will seek greener pastures-and your customers will follow them over the fence.

Many leaders don't realize that the rules of business have changed almost overnight. The old paradigm says that your primary focus should be on keeping your customer happy. The new paradigm says the employee has taken over that spot. Keep her engaged and she'll keep your customers happy. Neglect her needs and she won't be so concerned about keeping her end of the bargain. In the end, not only will she go elsewhere, your customers may follow suit.

Make no mistake: when employees start searching for greener pastures, it's a bona fide disaster. After all, your employees are the face of your organization. They build strong relationships with customers and vendors, they know the ins and outs of your operation, they train new hires and indoctrinate them into the company culture. On top of that when you lose great employees, it hurts customer retention and the morale of the rest of your team.

And every time a great employee leaves, you have to shell out the cost of rehiring and retraining his replacement-a cost that studies have shown could range from 70 to 200 percent of that person's annual salary. You also lose that employee's institutional memory, another great asset for your company.

Clearly, preventing "greener pasture" syndrome must be top priority for today's leaders. And while it may sound self-evident, the best approach is to make your pasture the greenest. Ultimately, that means becoming what I call a Vibrant Entrepreneurial Organization, or VEO: a company with a culture that allows that elusive sense of employee ownership to flourish. But in the short run, it means making your company a place employees truly want to be-and "lip service" won't do the trick.

You might be proclaiming that you are the leading company in your industry or marketplace in huge letters on your mission statement. But if you're not backing up that sentiment in the day-to-day realities of the workplace, employees will quickly realize the truth. And by the way: it isn't always cash that makes green pastures green. When salaries are commensurate with the marketplace, other factors take priority. Good people stay where they are challenged, where they have the opportunity to develop and contribute, and where their employers take care of those meaningful little things that make their lives easier.

So here's the million-dollar question: What are these secret little things that will help you keep your employees engaged and productive? Here are some easy-to-plant (and inexpensive) "seeds" that will help your pasture be the greenest for your future and current employees:

Seed No. 1: Don't misrepresent your culture. Engaging your employees starts with the first time you interview them. What do you say to your new hires about the company? Is it really an accurate representation of how your organization works? Do you tell them about exciting opportunities only to hold them back from new assignments until they "pay their dues"? 

Seed No. 2: Learn the rules of engagement. Bored employees are neither happy nor productive. To keep your employees engaged and satisfied, present them with challenging assignments and provide them with opportunities to grow and develop.

Seed No. 3: Cross-pollinate your culture by embracing diversity. It takes a lot of different influences — diversity in race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual preference, lifestyle, geographic origin, education, personality, values, experience, socio-economic background and so forth — to make your pasture the greenest. A diverse workforce creates an energy that can rarely exist in an environment of uniformity. By hiring employees from all walks of life, you'll create an environment where differing ideas flow freely.

Seed No. 4: Be a good corporate citizen. Once upon a time, the corporate heads of many organizations had one concern: "How much money can we make and how fast can we make it?"

Well, money still matters, of course. But today's employers are finding that they have to care about more than just profits if they want to keep their employees happy. The environment, health, and safety have never been more in the spotlight, and as a result, employees want to work for companies who take these factors into consideration.

Seed No. 5: Give praise where praise is due. If someone does a great job, let him know. It's that simple. And then let his co-workers know. And then let his customers know! Recognizing a job well done isn't an expensive proposition, but it will mean the world to your employee.

Seed No. 6: Get creative with benefits. You don't have to provide your employees with onsite medical care and state-of-the-art fitness centers. In fact, you probably can't.

But do realize your employees are looking at benefits other than those that meet the norm-such as health insurance and a 401(k)-when considering the elusive "happiness" factor. These "normal" benefits are really the price of admission because employees can get them almost anywhere. It's up to you to think outside the box and figure out the benefits that will benefit them the most.

Seed No. 7: Be aware of the changing needs of your employees. Keep in mind that as your employees progress in life their needs change. After having a child, an employee may want to travel less than before the child was born. As your baby boomer employees get older, so do their parents.

Be understanding when they need to take time off to take care of the health needs of Mom or Dad. And never give them a hard time when they need to take care of their own health issues.

Seed No. 8: Realize that great employees thrive under great leaders. Your employees won't leave you for that greener pasture unless you drive them to it. The buck starts and stops with their leaders.

In fact it's commonly said that employees don't quit their job, they quit their manager. Employees of great leaders will go to the ends of the earth to do a good job for them. The flip side is that employees with poor leadership will simply go.

Seed No. 9: Conduct "stay" interviews regularly. Great employees like to hear about what they can do to make the company even better. Regular "stay" interviews provide a great opportunity for leaders to compliment their high performers on their great work and also to inspire them to do more to take the company to the next level. Use these interviews to gauge how well you are meeting your employees' needs. Be open and honest with your employees and always seek out their suggestions on what you and the company can do to improve.

Seed No. 10: Create the kind of environment where people can do their best work. Is your work environment restrictive and stifling or is it freeing and innovative? By allowing your employees to develop and implement their own ideas within your organization, you'll be able to help keep them passionate about their work. You should also make sure your employees have what they need on a basic level.

Seed No. 11: Help employees to achieve work/life balance. In today's high-tech world, it is easy to set employees up so that they can work from home. Here's the problem: too many companies do this and then expect employees to be "on call" 24/7. If you give this impression, even subtly or unconsciously, you're disrupting their work/life balance.

Employees in today's workforce saw their parents give their lives to companies while missing soccer games, recitals, and family dinners only to be laid off at age 55 without much hope for finding other employment.

Today's working generation do not want to have this happen to them and they actively seek out companies who make providing a true work/life balance a priority.

Seed No. 12: Create an environment of trust between employer and employee. Employees are happier and work harder when they feel like they can trust their leaders. They decide which leaders they can trust based on how their fellow employees, company vendors, and customers are treated.

As a leader, do you treat all with whom you come into contact with respect? Do you behave ethically and hold others accountable for their actions? When you have to take tough action, like terminating someone, do you follow proper steps and treat the person with dignity in the process? If an employee sees you treating someone else poorly, whether it's a vendor or a fellow employee, his level of trust diminishes and he starts to care less about doing a good job for you.

Joanne G. Sujansky is the founder of KEYGroup and has helped numerous companies increase business growth and profitability by creating and sustaining what she calls a Vibrant Entrepreneurial Organization. She is the author of over a half-a-dozen books on leadership, change and retention. She has severed as a speaker and consultant for companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, AT&T, U.S. Postal Service, IBM, T. Rowe Price, Mayo Clinic, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche. She can be reached at www.keygroupconsulting.com or www.joannesujansky.com.