In business today there are few companies that have long tenured employees. Companies that have long tenured employees already know the four key strategies for improved business success. If you are just starting a business or your current business is looking for a way to leverage your longer tenured employees these strategies should start you off on the right track.

• A strong knowledge base: Employee longevity plays an important role for any company with customers. Long tenured employees have a wealth of knowledge and history of your company and products and services that can be passed to newer employees. When you retain this knowledge and put it to use in daily operations, productivity naturally increases. Success becomes part of the day-to-day business.

• Pass down skills: Long tenured employees pass their skills onto more junior employees; when they do your business runs more efficiently and smoothly. When problems arise, the long tenured employee most likely has encountered a similar issue in the past and will know exactly how to fix the issues quickly.
• Add stability to your workforce: Long tenured employees build confidence and morale for your organization. First your newer employees see that there is a path to move up in the organization and secondly your customers like speaking with someone that has helped them in the past.
• Better productivity: Knowing the ropes and showing co-workers makes your long tenured employees invaluable in the daily operations of your business. Years of experience has shown them shortcuts that lessen the time it takes to get some things done. Long tenured employees also know how to reduce waste within the daily operations.

These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg for you to improve your business success through your long tenured employees. Some questions for you to ponder are:

1. What are you currently doing with your new employees from on-boarding to succession planning that will eventually turn them into a long tenured employee?
2. What kind of environment are you providing for your employees to thrive and grow?

Addressing questions such as these is the goal of keeping employees as long as possible. After all you are in business to be successful. If you don’t take time to develop employees for the long term just remember your competitor is looking for a weakness in your business strategy. It’s time for you to outsmart your competition with a long tenured employee strategy.