Retain Top Talent

This quote by Richard Branson is one of my favorite quotes. I am amazed at how many CEOs will not invest in training and development because they feel it's only giving employees the capability to seek work elsewhere. Is that not the ultimate in dysfunctional behavior?

How many studies do we need to look at that training and development is a powerful attraction, retention, engagement, and motivational tool?

Why do so few entrepreneurial companies see little value in training and development?

Good article on the impact of culture in your company. I zeroed in on this quote:

"According to Gallup, disengaged employees are almost twice as likely as engaged employees to seek new jobs. And it’s not just the disengaged ones that you should worry about - 51% of U.S. employees say they are on the lookout for new jobs."

Is that not frightening? The entire job market is about to degenerate into pure poaching. We could be looking at another 10-12 years of an increasingly difficult job market for employers. How do you protect your existing employees from considering that the "grass might be greener elsewhere?"

Are your younger workers demanding more flexible work hours and the chance to work from home. Have you tried to experiment with virtual work arrangements. It's one of the strongest desires from the younger generations. Are you adapting or resisting? Is the lack of a structured approach to managing virtual employees limiting your ability to hire younger talent?

Great article on Mashable about keeping employees happy. How many studies have you read over the last 4-5 years that talks about the importance of feedback - yet nothing has really changed.

This Office Vibe study is gaining a lot of attention.  It's one of the largest studies conducted in recent years and mirrors a lot of the research from the Gallup organization on employee happiness, satisfaction, and engagement. Note the statistic that only slightly over 50% of employees would recommend their company to friends. If your Net Promoter Score was that low, you would fire your Marketing-Customer Success-Sales Executive. How can you allow such a low level of satisfaction to exist in your organization?

Interesting practical research by Google on team research that extends into why people enjoy working in a company or with a particular team. This article focuses on teams - but could actually be an article about retention. Notice the points about work being meaningful to each person, and that it matters to others. This goes all the way back to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and basic motivation.

Is there any doubt that there is a strong correlation between employee engagement and customer engagement/quality of experience?

Great infographic demonstrating simply the correlation.

My question is if it's that rock solid of a correlation, why are more companies not investing in employee engagement, and why are more companies not tracking the metrics around employee engagement and customer experience?

Have you had a chance to review the research Goggle did on the conditions or elements that led to optimal team work. Fascinating stuff to improve how your teams work. Are you focused around any of these issues in improving the results and outcomes your teams generate?

Just like a hiring process, you should also have a retention process. Praying that employees love their job and your company because they show up for work every day could lead to your best talent exiting over the next few years. You need to be intentional about working on culture, feedback, engagement, mediocrity, non-monetary rewards and recognition to mention a few key areas. When should be the best time to create a retention process or system?

The author writes from the perspective of improving the customer experience - but talks about how the employee experience has to come first. Interesting trend developing in recent surveys - particularly among the younger generations - is that they want a more flexible work schedule and opportunity to work from home. What does this say about supervision, performance management, and work productivity - particularly for companies that are not prepared to manage flex time and remote working?

Opposing view of the argument to work on your culture. The author suggests that perhaps all the work on "culture" is over-rated and harmful. Do you hold this same view? Do you think the obsession with creating a better culture has negative effects?

I loved this article on the impact of rudeness in working together - whether it be non-profit teams, executive management groups, or on projects. Rudeness, incivility is one of the killers of motivation and high performing teams. In my own work as a non-profit Board President, I get to improve the civility of how people interact, and continually reinforce group norms around civility. One of the books I am reading right now is titled "Choosing Civility". What do you tolerate with your team?