3 Years and 4 months. That is the national average tenure in a job in Australia. That is up to 3 jobs in a decade! And that’s if you’re lucky.

As a business owner, it is your job to make your employees stay longer and be as productive as they can be when they are still with you.

From a business' stand point, the longer your employees stay, the more cost effective it is for you. The hiring process, training and the amount of time needed for a person to be at their most productive, costs money.

Though there are no guarantees that your employees will choose to stay with you, there are some things that you can do to make them want to stay.

Loyalty is intangible. It’s something that you build, something that develops and something that you cannot demand on people

1. Build relationships – Spend time with your employees. If you’re only seen during meetings, it is unlikely that your employees will have a connection with you. If they do not have a good relationship with you, they do not have a good relationship with your company.

Some of the many things that you can do to build a relationship with your employees are;

1. Organise team building activities.
2. Involve your employees in making business decisions or at least ask for their opinion.
3. Encourage an open communication channel.
4. Be visible.
5. Celebrate birthdays.

2. Focus on growth and development – People nowadays give so much value on personal and professional growth. If you can show your employees that you are willing to help them reach their full potential, you'll end up with excited and productive employees.

Here are some growth techniques that employees love.

1. Mentoring
2. Trainings
3. New assignments that will challenge them.
4. Getting out of their way when they’re doing their jobs.

3. Create a culture of responsibility – Engaged employees are happy employees. Try giving a new employee more responsibility and he will be one of the most productive people on your team.

Responsibility empowers employees & makes them feel proud about their job no matter how small their role is.

There is this very inspiring story of a businessman who visited a school at a third world country and he met one of the best employees ever, a cleaner.

The janitor caught the businessman's eye because he was enthusiastically greeting students, teachers, and visitors with a big smile on his face despite the chaos and the very long corridor that he needs to clean.

The businessman asked the janitor why and his answer blew him away. He said, he has to keep the place clean so his colleagues can concentrate on teaching and moulding the students to becoming better people.

If that is not an employee of the decade material, what is?

4. Be the leader they want to follow – Leadership is a like a magnet that draws the right people in and repels the wrong ones. If you’re a good leader, people will want to naturally work with you and do their best because they believe in you.

Here are some ways to show leadership in the office

1. Be an inspiration.
2. Walk the talk.
3. Be at your best every time and make sure your employees notice it.
4. Be humble.
5. Ask for their opinion.
6. Encourage sharing of ideas.
7. Work alongside your team.

These take time to develop and really ingrain in the culture of your company. It takes effort and awareness at first but once you’re able to create processes and systems that encourage the above, they will all become a normal part of your company.