You may be thinking why I am writing an article on this topic. The country has not recovered from the recession and many people who lost their jobs in the last years are still looking for employment, so if you are looking recruit employees, there is plenty of fish in the sea to choose from, right?

Yes that is right but do you know how much time it takes and how much money it costs to sift through CVs, conduct interviews, recruit, prepare the paperwork and payroll arrangements, train a new employee, infuse that person with the organisation's culture and bed down the team?

When it comes to senior members of staff , the answer is it costs thousands of pounds in addition to any commissions payable to recruitment agencies, plus hundreds of hours to get a new employee "fit for purpose" for your particular organisation.

So right from the beginning, you should be thinking how to retain a senior member of staff after you have invested so much into that person. A good place to start is to look at the perks or benefits under the employment contract, let me explain:

Bonus schemes - people like being rewarded for good performance and it also increases their income. Incentives could be financial bonuses, extra holidays, gift vouchers, expenses paid overseas trip.

Share schemes - you can give a valued employee part ownership of the business or company. There are various models and some can be very efficient. People work hard if they know their efforts go towards increasing the value of the company or business and therefore their shares in it. The other advantage of a share scheme is that people are less likely to leave something they own!

Restrictive or post-termination covenants - ensure the contract contains properly drafted covenants stating what an employee cannot do for a certain period of time after they leave. These covenants attempt to protect the goodwill and customer base of the business or company, and they can act as disincentives if anyone is thinking of leaving and realise that they cannot take customers or contacts with them.

Notice period - a longer notice period could in some circumstances discourage people from leaving.

The above are just some examples of what an employer can do to retain valuable staff via contractual terms. The best advice is always to take preventative action rather than wait to lose your staff. Put in place systems now and seek advice as early as possible to give you the best chances of keeping your staff.