How to retain your best people
As managers, we're only as good as the people who work for us. One way of assuring our continued success is to attract - and retain - good people. But competition for top talent is fierce these days. Just hiring the best people for your organisation can be tough enough - but keeping those employees can be even tougher. How can you keep your top talent happy and have them ignore your competitors’ recruiters or headhunters?
1. Identify and focus on your real achievers.
Have you determined which people are the most valuable to your organisation? Who can you count on daily to follow through on projects and deliver results? Make a list, but consider these timely tips:
- Don't confuse activity with performance. Those constantly on the phone, at the keyboard, calling meetings, or dashing about aren't necessarily producing - they may not be your thinkers, problem-solvers, or decision-makers.
- Consider performance, not noise. The quiet ones are not necessarily daydreamers - they may be too busy getting things done to talk too much.
- Remember, doers come in all shapes and sizes. Don't fall for stereotypes - the wiry or muscular type may not necessarily be action-oriented.
According to the US organisation development company Linkage Inc., 'the top one-third of your employees should receive ninety per cent of your retention attention - managers don't have the time or resources to lavish attention on everyone'.
The secret is to spend time with these key people so that you know what are their 'satisfiers' - the things that make them happy. In this way, if they ever contemplate leaving, you'll know what buttons to push to retain them.
2. Know why top quality people leave.
Your best workers change jobs for a reason - and it's rarely only for more money, more perks, or better benefits. Often they leave because their satisfiers are not being met in the current job. Consider the following:
- I'm not appreciated. 'I make a valuable contribution and I get no thanks. My talent will be appreciated elsewhere.'
- I'm bored. 'I want to be challenged, stretched, and tested so I can show off my talents, experience, and skills.'
- I have no career prospects here. 'I'm a cut above the rest but I can see no opportunity for advancement. I want a career, not just a job.'
- I'm just a small cog in the overall machine. 'I seek a sense of purpose, of contributing to something bigger than myself, and a sense of belonging.'
- I want to get better. 'Here I have limited opportunities for growth and the development of new and valued skills.'
- I want to work with winners. 'Here standards are low and sloppiness is tolerated.'
- I want to work for an insightful manager. 'As a prized worker, I respond positively to good supervision.'
3. Develop a retention plan for each top employee.
Once you identify your best people and recognise that they have different needs or satsifiers, you must develop a strategy to show that you are intensely interested in them and their future with your organisation. You need to consider what you are willing to do to retain each key person; and begin to prepare individual retention plans that will help tie each key employee to the organisation.
Talk to these people in turn, asking them what they want from the organisation in the short and long term - 'What will it take to keep you motivated and part of our organisational family?' From this employee-focused conversation comes a vulnerability report which leads to a retention plan. Reach agreement with each key employee on how to approach their needs through a concrete strategy for the future.
