How do we achieve team longevity in a small business?

Every organisation wants to keep their staff turnover low. People cost money, and high churn causes instability in teams, output gaps and can hinder growth and success.

As a small business, we are especially aware of the positive impact that a consistent team brings.

• Stability and consistency for clients, which is especially important in our sector, which, in its nature, can feel full of change and turmoil.
• A deep understanding of a client and their needs, which in turn helps them to trust us and helps them to grow through the tech solutions we develop for them.
• A consistent approach to delivering our service.
• Support for each other as a team.
• The opportunity to learn from one another and to grow together.

So, what are the things that we do to help retain our people?

A number of our team members have come via our apprenticeship scheme, working and studying to achieve their degree and starting a long-term position at the end. Other members have either come from other tech businesses or other sectors and have wanted to join a small company where they can make a difference, and this is one of our key strengths. As a small business, everyone really counts to us, whatever their position.  

We want everyone to shine, and there are opportunities to make an impact every day. For example, we encourage people to come up with ideas on how to solve a challenge in a particular project, to share something they’ve seen or learned or to work on a completely new type of challenge. We encourage them to spot opportunities, create and follow leads, or introduce a better way of working.

We believe that working in a team where you know that you are accountable and your impact really counts is motivating, exciting and challenging. That accountability is to your team and also to your customers. We all have direct contact with customers, helping to make our work real, seeing how we can make a difference and experiencing their delight when we help them do their job better.

We are constantly supporting our team with opportunities to learn and grow their skills, both technical and professional, through training, group discussions and the sharing of personal experiences. Feeling like you are being ‘invested in’ and that you are valuable to the organisation is motivating and helps us as a collective to thrive.

The team works in the office and at home. Post Covid, this isn’t as common as it was, but for us, we understand that our team have lives outside of work, and the combination of being in the office and at home can help them create a balanced working life.

With a high workload, it can be easy to forget the wins, but we like to recognise all sorts of things, whether it’s winning a new contract, delivering a big project, learning something new or celebrating a milestone. 

After projects, we take time to look at what went well and what didn’t and put in place steps to change things going forward. This is to ensure that we consistently deliver to the best of our ability, continue improving and avoid unnecessary stress within the team.

These are some of the things we do to keep our people feeling engaged, motivated, challenged, invested in and part of a thriving business. Our culture is open and nurturing - our processes reflect this, and our churn rate is very low.

As a small business, our people are part of our family, and we love watching them thrive and succeed through the work that we do.

How do you address longevity in your business?