Help Employees Fall in Love with Their Jobs
The best way to retain your most qualified and valuable employees is to ensure they never want to leave. While life circumstances might necessitate occasional employee relocations (or leaving for a higher salary), try to keep your top employees from ever leaving due to job dissatisfaction.

Allow Creative Expression to Reign
Most workers do not leave their jobs because of money; they leave because they are bored. Do not be guilty of micro-managing. Allowing employees to creatively express themselves in their job fulfills a deep inner need for self-worth. Completing a project that was dictated to you in detail is not the same as finishing one you put your own blood, sweat and tears into. Employees yearn for the kind of work that makes them sigh at the end of the day; not because they are tired, but because they accomplished their goal.

Have Some Fun
Work is serious business, so goals and project deadlines must be completed in a timely and professional manner. While performance is job one, do your employees have anything to look forward to besides work? Sometimes, it really is the little things that mean the most in being satisfied with your work. Good times shared at an anniversary picnic between fellow employees can become priceless memories. What about putting pictures of such events in an employee newsletter? A newsletter is also a good way to recognize significant life events such as the birth of a child or reaching a milestone like receiving a degree. How about planning an ice cream party for the office after making a monthly goal? Who says work cannot be fun?

Make Work Stations Comfortable
It might sound like a small thing, but being comfortable in the workstation will increase productivity levels. It should have adequate lighting and room to move around easily (if at all possible, try to avoid the cubicle farm). The office temperature should remain constant and have only a moderate level of noise. Excessive noise levels in a workplace can contribute to stress and might negatively affect the health of an employee. Computer workstations should be placed where one can answer calls and work on the keyboard without straining or having neck or arms in an awkward position. A comfortable chair can also help prevent back strain. Taking note of complaints and making adjustments to correct these types of problems will greatly increase the morale in your company.

Keep Motivation Levels High
Dissatisfaction among employees runs rampant when there is no motivation to perform job duties well. Think about yourself as an employee: you were probably not always a top-level executive. What motivated you to stay dedicated to that job through it all? It’s likely that someone in the organization believed in you and your ability to perform a job skillfully and to a top level of satisfaction. It’s also probable that a person in the company recognized your efforts through financial incentives or some other form of recognition. Motivation can be a fire that, once ignited, lights a path to increased productivity and employee satisfaction throughout your organization.

It’s About Achieving Dreams
Employee satisfaction, and employer satisfaction for that matter, is all about achieving dreams and goals. An employer dreams of a business concept and envisions himself atop his chosen field. The employee dreams of being that special someone who helps boost the organization to the top. Being aware that employees are human beings with dreams of their own, isn’t it feasible for your company to help them achieve some of those dreams? One that might be important to many workers is to complete their education. Sponsoring an employee and paying for a portion of their educational expenses will not only benefit them, but it will also enhance the quality of your own workforce in the process. You should always encourage your employees to be all they can be. Will they outgrow you and go on to bigger and better things? Perhaps so, but if you retain an atmosphere of motivation with a desire to strive for improvement, your organization can be a place where good employees want to be and one they will be reluctant to leave.