Retention In The Age Of The Freelancers

I receive a lot of phone calls from business owners who say they are having a hard time with retention. They say things like, "All Millennials want to be consultants and freelancers. They refuse to work for anyone, and I can't compete with that."

These managers are right; there is a rise of new Millennial freelancers. Younger workers are taking charge of their lives and giving themselves an opportunity to travel and have flexibility. More often, these employees are trying their best to be participants in their own lives rather than being chained to desks at all times. 

Who can blame them? In terms of flexibility, being a freelancer is a pretty sweet gig. You get to be your own boss, make your own hours, and get into a schedule that you’ve created for yourself. 

If you want to keep your staff from trying to go out on their own, you must give your employees the power to feel as free as they would if they were a freelancers.  To be clear, I am not saying to throw caution to the wind and have no rules. However, if you make logical and purposeful changes to the more restrictive rules and decide to have an environment where the staff feels more like owners than workers you will see an improvement in retention.