There's a pretty good chance that you need qualified workers on your production lines. Or if you don't need them now, then you're pretty sure you'll need some in another year or two. And you're likely worried about what will happen if another company poaches your best employees.
How about paying them to stay?
A Wisconsin maker of pet food, Stella & Chewy's, just announced "the stay plan," a $15,000 bonus that will be paid to each worker if the company meets its job retention goals.
"We knew like every other organization out there that turnover is on the rise," Bruce Larson, chief people officer at Oak Creek, Wis.-based Stella & Chewy's, said in a video about its program. "It's very difficult for a company to grow when you're dealing with that issue."
Retention bonuses aren't exactly new, but they're much more likely to be paid out to executives rather than line workers. (Or "members of our pack," as Chief Operating Officer David Kapic refers to employees.)
The company's retention goals do not seem impossible. It aims to have a rate of voluntary departures from the workforce at little less than half the existing rate. The company has about 400 employees.
"I look forward to paying that [$15,000] out with everyone," Kapic added.