One of the greatest challenges managers face is how to retain their best employees. Recently, we’ve been seeing article after article detailing how to retain employees. But how can we go about retaining employees if we don’t know the reasons they quit? Is there a way to save them before they’re gone? Farm Equipment recently released an article on the Top 10 Reasons Your Best People Quit. They detailed why great employees quit in the first place. Their list is as follows:

10. Treat everyone equally: Let’s face it, some employees just go above and beyond. While yes you need to treat all of your employees with the same respect, it’s not a matter of treating with equality but treating them fairly for their contributions.

9. Tolerate mediocrity: What great manager said that mediocrity got them anywhere? That’s right, none of them. Your best employees don’t want to be held back, and it’s your job to push everyone to do their best.

8. Have dumb rules: Of course we must all follow a set of rules, it’s how the world works. However, some rules are unnecessary and end up hindering creativity and in turn, productivity.

7. Don’t recognize outstanding performance and contributions: We are all adults and don’t need to be recognized for every little thing, however, outstanding performance deserves appreciation for the time and commitment put into a project.

6. Don’t have any fun at work: Having fun not only makes the workplace somewhere an employee wants to be, it boosts creativity! Personally, some of our best ideas have come from our tangents. And if all else fails, we’ve found a puzzle is a great distraction when a break is needed (just don’t get a 2,000 piece one, trust us).

5. Don’t keep your people informed: There is nothing worse than feeling left in the dark. Explaining the good and the bad of your business will make employees feel included. They even might have some good suggestions for improvement!

4. Micromanage: Your top employees are there for a reason. They need the guidelines as well as space to work.

3. Don’t develop an employee retention strategy: Developing a system to keep your employees not only keeps you organized but helps you to realize why they left in the first place.

2. Don’t do employee retention interviews: Don’t wait until it’s too late. Having regular meetings will ensure you keep people as it will allow you to address problems before they explode.

1. Make your onboarding program an exercise in tedium: No one wants to come into a company and have orientation be a snorefest. Yes, paperwork needs to be done and HR policies must be discussed, but try to work this into why they’re an important addition to the company and what the company is doing to better their field.

Noticing these mistakes early can stop any issues before they arise. What are your best practices for retaining great people? Let us know in the comments below!