Retain Top Talent

Here's a WAKE UP call: Why do so many companies resist going hybrid, or regret it after moving in that direction. A recent study shows that "85% of leaders believe the shift to hybrid work has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive.

This lack of trust in that your employees are not working hard, goofing off, not putting in their full effort, and giving you less than adequate productivity is silly.

The problem is not the employee - the problem is the employer who refuses to set specific quantifiable outcomes, deliverables, expectations, results, KPIs and metrics around performance.

When employees don't know what you expect, instead of giving full productive effort, they instead provide the minimum necessary to not get fired.

This survey result is very sad in that only 14% of employees feel their goals will help them to achieve great things - how depressing, uninspiring, and de-motivating.

As you are probably aware, we focus on defining goals, outcomes, deliverables and expecations in a time-based quantifiable format as the core of our workshops in the Vistage/TEC commuity with our Hiring Program "You're NOT the Person I Hired" and our engagement program "You're the Person We Want to KEEP".

Not only is the process of defining success and helping your employees realize their dreams important for hiring, on-boarding, and performance management - it's the number ONE issue that allows employees to self-motivate.

By not cascading goals and outcomes through-out your organization - are you inadvertently de-motivating your employees? #POWERofVistage

Here's a real stunner - its' one of the top five reasons for job change when I speak to women executives. Not sure the research is valid from a technical point of view - looking at Glassdoor comments - however, the authors may have poked the bear on this one and opened up an issue most companies would rather hide.

Here's the statement that grabbed me: "toxic corporate culture is the number one cause of employee resignations, and it’s ten times more likely to contribute to turnover than inadequate compensation."

It's hard to believe this still exists in most companies today. I guess it's hard to change the underlying culture of companies without the CEO taking direct action to make that change. Almost everyone of my direct and extended female family members have experienced some level of toxic work behavior toward women in every job they've held.

Are some of your best people - particularly women - leaving due to a toxic culture in your company? Have you tried to measure this independently?

In both of my workshops for Vistage/TEC with small businesses and entrepreneurial companies around hiring and employee engagement, I try to focus the conversation on performance not on gender or other irrelevant factors to success. #PowerofVistage

I am a huge proponent of using metrics and KPIs to determine success. If you've seen either our popular Vistage/TEC program "You're NOT the Person I Hired" or "You're the Person We Want to KEEP" - you'll that a core element of both programs is the issue of defining successful outcomes. The traditional job description is a worthless and useless tool for measuring and predicting success.

One of the key human capital metrics is eNPS. Here is an article that explores this metric in granular detail and provides some insight into the elements that comprise the metric. Why don't more HR executives use this as a measure of success for their initiatives?

One of things I press hard on in my Vistage Workshop titled "You're the Person We Want to Keep!" is that the number two element of employee engagement is having a vibrant and rigorous employee appreciation culture, initiatives, and programs. Lacking this effort makes your employees question whether they want to work in your organization. Are you doing enough to show your appreciation?

One of thee major topics we discuss in my Vistage/TEC workshop on "You're the Person We Want to KEEP" is that the manager accounts for 70 percent or more of the reason people stay and put in 100 percent effort vs. pulling back and giving the rock bottom minimum that they think will allow them to remain on the payroll system.

Are your managers in need of training to be a better coach in how to hire, coach, give feedback, recognition, and development?

Here's an interesting idea that I've never seen in a company, but sparked my interest. What about the idea of creating cultural ambassadors?

Here's a good article on employee engagement and some of the key issues to consider in driving a higher level of productivity from your employees. You'll notice that the article references the Gallup categories I keep referring to on engaged employees, disengaged employees, and actively disengaged employees.

There are a wide range of tactics you could employ to keep great people. Right at the top of this list is improving your hiring proces. Most companies hire candidates that have an invisbile expiration date on their forehead of when they are going to leave or cause problems. Avoiding hiring these candidates is one element of an effective process.

Good article on culture and sub-cultures, particularly in a remote environment. Good research to support the reasons people resign or leave - particularly out of Gallup and PEW.

Interesting article on increasing manager's ability to have conversations with staff transparently about pay. Unfortunately, the article doesn't give any guidelines on how to have those conversations other than you should be having them. Has anyone started doing managerial training or guidance on these conversations?

Is your employee recognition program stalled, dying, or becoming stale - perhaps it's time to revive the program since recognition is one of the most important elements (right behind people understanding what's expected of them) in driving engagement, productivity, effort, happiness, and retention.

Sometimes my clients get caught up in thinking it's just about money. The reality is that there are a number of other factors as important - or more important than money.

Here's another great idea on employee engagement. Conduct career coaching for your employees to help them realize their dreams - boost productivity, lower turnover, and improve retention. What's the number one issue holding you back? Is it not having someone who could do a needs assessment and develop a plan - hire a fractional or part-time HR executive to help you get it set up. Don't let the lack of capability inside your organization be the constraint.

One of the big trends in employee engagement is around work-life balance and work hours flexibility. Another good article here on companies experimenting with moving to a 4-day workweek. Is this on your agenda to examine and consider as another tool to boost employee productivity and retention?

I just had this conversation with a client yesterday who was struggling with employee retention of highly technical senior consultants. One of the issues was a weak training, growth, development plan for each consultant.

As a recruiter with over 30 years of experience, and 30 years of speaking to Vistage/TEC groups on hiring and employee engagement, I've found that one of the top 3 reasons people are open to leaving their jobs is a lack of learning and professional growth - I'm not talking about promotions - I'm addressing the issue of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Your employees want to get better, master their work, become more competent, and have a greater impact.

When you don't provide the opportuties for this to occur for your employees, they become disengaged, unhappy, and dissatisfied. They start giving you the rock bottom level of effort they think you'll tolerate and they start looking for a new job.

When are we going to show our employees we're willing to invest in them? #PowerofVistage

One of my greatest frustrations with many companies is the lack of using technology to enhance the employee experience, engagement, build culture, create a vibrant appreciation environment, and boost communication. Who wouldn't want this?

Here's the quote that really got me thinking about this issue:

"Many organizations fear that using technology in the workplace will only cause employees to waste time on social media and games when they should be working. However, it is not so. Technology is a blessing for the modern-day workplace."

I heard a Vistage Speaker during Covid that said all Vistage companies are now technology companies - regardless of their product/service. Unfortunately, I find few entrepreneurial businesses jumping on this bandwagon. So much to be gained through the simple use of technology in the workplace. #PowerofVistage

Are you in a recovery mode of trying to gain back your drop in employee engagement. Here's a scary statistic "Almost half (44%) of respondents reported having no learning and development opportunities available to them by their employer during the pandemic."

I've been pitching this idea for years to my clients - but most are still stuck in a 1970s command-and-control approach that requires a annual performance review.

Employees find it to be a sadistic exercise. Managers hate it and procrastinate doing it as long as possible.

Finally - linking it to pay creates a terrible environment for honest feedback and development.

Let's kill the traditional performance review and move to monthly coaching.

5 interesting ideas to improve employee engagment, working conditions, and retention without wage hikes. The article was written from a retail perspective - but could apply to any frontline roles in healthcare, service, or manufacturing. Have you attempted to implement any of these initiatives with your frontline employees?

Here are 8 different ideas to dramatically boost the level of employee engagement. Just doing one of them will have a tremendous impact. Why do most companies ignore these simple tactics to raise employee engagement?

Fascinating trial on 4-day workweeks to offset burn-out, work-life balance, compensation issues, and whole host of other engagement and retention tactics. Have you considered moving to a 4-day workweek in your organization?

Interesting perspective on specifically building trust with employees. Do you survey your employees and actually ask questions around their trust levels - whether they feel pyschologically safe.

Pick one initiative around employee engagement on this list and start to work through the implementation, tracking, metrics, and refinement.

My best guess why most companies are not impacting employee engagement through various initiatives is that they are overwhelmed by the sheer number of things that need to be done - from clarity of results on job descriptions to creating personal development plans for everyone.

Start small and build from there - or face an upheaval of weak effort, poor productivity, and increasing turnover.

I cannot emphasize enough the need to KILL the traditional performance appraisal annual process and replace it with regular monthly one-to-one coaching.