Retaining Key Staff - Can You Afford Not To?

Finding and keeping good people is always a major concern for employers. And if you are not trying to retain everybody you currently have - why are you employing him or her? Improve your bottom line - by keeping your staff!

Being Employer of Choice is a term being heard more often as organisations compete for these scarce resources. While being employer of choice might not be your main driving force, it doesn't make sense to ignore the needs of employees. You don't want to be the employer to avoid.

How do we make our organisations attractive to current and potential employees? As most of us have been employees at some time it shouldn't be too hard to work out what people in that position might want. Go through the questions below to see if your organisation is doing all it can to retain employees:

Do your people know where their Company is heading? People like to be on a winning team, one that is going somewhere. Do you have a vision, goals and plans? Have you communicated these to your people? Help them get excited and help them feel it's worthwhile working with you.
Do people know what is expected of them? How can they succeed in your eyes if they are not sure what you want? Is this written down with clear unambiguous measures? How many people would watch football if no one kept the score?
Do all employees understand what they can and can't do to comply with the law and Company policies? People need to know the guidelines within which they operate and they want to be on a professional team that has their well being in mind - for your protection and theirs. These guidelines don't have to be onerous but you must ensure you protect all your people and give them room to move.
Were all your people selected for what they can bring to the organisation? Was a rigorous process used to ensure you got the best? They need to know they are on a team that is careful in its selection. As Groucho Marx once said "Who wants to belong to a club that would have me as a member?"
Do you provide all the training and development necessary to do the job? From day one through to preparing them for their next job, employees want to be welcomed, made to feel wanted and be given the best chance of success in their job. This does not necessarily mean expensive training courses but a planned program using existing people and information to bring new people up to speed quickly and allow them to grow and develop to take on new challenges.
Do they get enough feedback on their performance to know how they are doing and continually improve? Do they get recognition when they do well? Is immediate action taken when they don't? Employees need regular reviews and appropriate support and they will respond to it. The lack of it will guarantee below par performance.
Do your people understand how their salary is arrived at and think it is fair? They don't have to be the best paid but they need to be paid fairly and want to know that pay decisions are based on some rational criteria. If you say during the interview that the salaries are reviewed every six or 12 months - that must happen; do the review and provide the report to the employee, they expect an honest and direct appraisal.
Do you have plans for developing people for future roles? While some people are prepared to stay in the same job there are others who want to know they have a future and that you will provide opportunities for them. If not, why stay?

If you answered positively to these points you probably have a reasonably satisfied workforce with a good chance they will be productive and stay with you.

If not, what can be done? The good news is; plenty - and it is neither hard nor expensive. Many managers do some of it, some of the time. The answer is to have processes in place which provide for all the above to employee but also are self-sustaining.

To do this means having your management team committed to making it work. Not working towards putting these processes in place is short-changing your employees. It can be done and there are companies that do it well; they may be your competition!

Systematically going through the points listed above and work on a process that delivers the right result will bring dividends. The cost of losing good employees is far greater than the cost of fixing the problem.

Key Elements of Success

Clear definition of roles and responsibilities, so that individuals truly understand their jobs and how they fit within the organization
Feeling of being part of a team and having an impact on the organization is performance
Achievable growth path and expectations, and defined performance evaluation process
Skills and training needed to do the job well
Roving leadership which provides active direction, encouragement, and openness to feedback
Culture that encourages openness, trust, and sharing, and empowers staff to make decisions
Keep your staff informed of how the organisation is going - "state of the nation" address - each month - will ensure that your staff are kept informed and make them feel that they are achievers - good news and bad news - staff are entitled to know.

Finding the Drive

'Offering opportunities for personal and professional growth - and a balanced life - achieves better staff retention than higher salaries alone'.

Retaining high performing staff in organisations that are constantly changing in the global marketplace has been a difficult task because of the mistaken assumption that money is the key to retention.

Increasingly, organisations are discovering that offering more money is not the simple answer. While money is often stated as the motivator to employment it is not the primary influence that binds a person to their work. The reality is that no amount of money can make you like a job you don't want.

The challenge that confronts the HR professional is understanding what motivates and drives staff. Determining and then fulfilling the motivation of people with outstanding qualifications, education and a high degree of business acumen is the key to retaining them.

One of the most significant ways to improve retention of key staff is to provide high quality career development programs targeted at the needs of individuals. Increasingly, organisations are adopting succession planning, career development and executive coaching programs to make sure people develop appropriately - in line with the business objectives of the organisation.

Employers are learning to train and coach staff for career, personal and business growth. Executive coaching is being used as a valuable non-remunerative benefit. Leadership development techniques and training are also being used to develop key talent, assist people moving into new responsibilities and develop appropriate management styles.

The success of career development programs also relies on an understanding of the needs of the individual at each stage in their life and career. Striking a balance between work and lifestyle as a contributor to retention recommended by many human resource professionals. This important aspect is, however, often overlooked.

The opportunity arises during performance reviews to discuss non-remunerative workplace options with staff. Management needs to listen carefully when employees describe what they like and dislike about their jobs. There are several professional 'tools' available to help them in this process. Once fundamental life interests have been determined and discussed then HR and management can tailor packages and future work assignments for the individual.

Deep personal motivators provide a picture of the individual's place in life; professionally, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. These motivators determine degrees of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, enabling organisations to know if an individual has the skills and capacity to grow with the organisation. They also identify whether the individual is likely to move from where they are, and if the employee and employer can work in partnership to achieve the goals of each.

Understanding the importance of individual motivators is a key to understanding the choices individuals make in different areas of their lives. They are also important in assessing future direction and laying a foundation for career development and personal growth.

Taking the time to professionally assess and identify individual motivators can provide very detailed and personal feedback. This type of assessment is becoming increasingly valuable in educating individuals about themselves, clarifying what is intrinsically important to them, their place within an organisation and how they can achieve a better work/life balance.

Non-remunerative benefits are a crucial element in maintaining and increasing staff retention rates. Retention is not just about better and more remuneration; it is about creating opportunities for professional, and in turn corporate, growth and profitability!