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Make Them Have A Reason To Stay: Building Healthy Workplaces in Mission-Driven Companies

  • theofehsenfeld
  • May 23, 2024
  • 2 min read



So often I find that mission-driven, cleantech, or sustainability-focused start-ups and small and medium sized businesses lack proper people management systems to keep their employees happy long-term. They have this hairy, systemic problem they are trying to solve in the world but they don’t have an HR person or a key employee who is modeling and actively creating a culture of cohesion in the company--even in businesses that are 10+ years old.


Resources can be scarce in the beginning days of the company, but your values run your company and if you don’t show your people that you value them from the get-go, they will likely leave more readily when offered a better position than if they have established relationships at the company.  You want to create a reason for them to stay, and a reason for them to tell all of their friends, and network that your company is a good place to work. 


Not to mention the monetary loss that you will be feeling when you lose your key personnel to another job. When someone leaves, between 60 to 200 percent of that person’s salary is spent on hiring a new individual. Not to mention the emotional strain on your existing company. 


How do you create a healthy workplace? 


  1. Create feedback systems. This can be an anonymous comment box, or hire an HR professional to facilitate and mediate issues, and conflicts that come up. The founder should not be doing Human Resources because this provides a conflict of interest and many employees will not feel comfortable going to their boss to voice complaints about said boss. 

  2. Create a culture of honest conversation. In your objectives and values as a company, explicitly state that and get training in how to have and hold difficult conversations. It’s a skill that we don’t like to practice because it’s uncomfortable but a necessary one to maintain long-term partnerships and healthy relationships with employees. 

  3. Provide ample training and ongoing coaching. As a manager, it is VITAL to give your employees your air time and make them feel valued from the START. Onboarding can set the stage for how much the employee feels supported to do their job well. So sit down with them, make time for them to understand all their paperwork, be there so they can ask questions and get answers. Support them through the process. And continue to support them. You will be rewarded. 

  4. Have Ongoing Check-Ins with them. Ask them how they are doing and provide ongoing career coaching as a service for your company. That way they feel supported to continue to succeed at their job while also working on their personal goals. 

  5. Be generous with your packages. Provide generous PTO, health benefits packages, and salary within your budget so that your employee doesn't feel pinched from the get-go and not supported monetarily. If they don’t feel that it is an equal exchange of energy, they will start slipping and go elsewhere. 


What has worked within your company to create a healthy workplace culture that continues to reap rewards? I’d love to know in the comments. 




 
 
 

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