Retain Top Talent

Next to not defining success in clear precise terms, not providing a rigorous approach to employee recognition and rewards is a guarantee of 50% of your staff seeking greener pastures elsewhere.

Some key points from this article:

• Companies that make employee recognition a priority have workers who are 56% less likely to be looking for a new job, according to a new Gallup/Workhuman survey.
• Employees are also 73% less likely to feel burned out when recognition is offered.
• However, 81% of leaders say recognition isn’t a major strategic priority for their company.

Simple tactics like peer to peer review, a hallway of honor, writing thank you notes expressing gratitude and appreciation can go a long way toward overcoming the depressing element in most companies that no one cares how much you try.

Why do so many companies barely scratch the surface on creating a great employee reward and recognition process/system. Are most organizations still stuck in a 1970s model of "I pay you for work - I shouldn't have to pat you on the back for doing your job well?' I like the structured approach in this article to laying out the foundation for why employee reward and recognition is important - and the benefits that come from it.

Interesting split between employers and employees regarding culture and engagement. Are you making the wrong assumptions about your environment or your people?

Many of my Vistage and TEC clients are frustrated by the discussion on employee engagement since objective measurement seems squishy. Here are some KPIs/Metrics you might consider using to measure your employee engagement. I would love to hear how these metrics have helped you to improve employee engagement.

How often should you be taking the pulse of your employees? Have you ever used an employee survey? Are you afraid of what you might hear?

Interesting perspective of why employees are leaving - work life balance and a lack of flexibility in work hours/days.

Take note - employees want their managers to be better commuicators and empathetic - surprise!

What's the link between engagement and retention (or the negative element of turnover) - it's direct. Right now the research shows that roughly 50% of your workforce is open to leaving because of a lack of engagement, and other studies show that roughly 50% of your workforce is seeking greener pastures somewhere else. Small changes in employee engagement can have a dramatic impact  on retention and productivity.

Most of my clients struggle to define their culture. In most entrepreneurial companies there is no culture - it's basically the persona of the company founder/owner.

What do you want your culture to be? How would you define it in an advertisement? How would you describe it in an interview? What would your rank and file employees say about it?

Decent article about motivating sales professionals. Everyone struggles with sales team motivation when we're not in the mode of a "rising tide lifts all boats". Are you prepared for the coming economic downturn in the business cycle - are your sales professionals prepared?

My big takeaway here is whether you've evaluated which jobs are appropriate for a hybrid/flexible work schedule. Employees are starting to resign when they perceive their job as eligible but you refuse to consider it. Are we trapped into a 1970s style of management which goes something like "I can't trust you if I can't see you?"

A key element of high performing teams are good friendships and close relationships between team members - supportive, I have your back, helpful, guidance, mentoring, shared experiences. How do you encourage this level of relationship-development in a flexible / hybrid work environment?

One of the most progressive companies drops the annual review process in favor of more frequent coaching discussions. How much more evidence do we keep needing to see before we drop the annual performance appraisal process - which is one degree removed from a sadistic experience for most employees?

34% of employees indicate they quit because of a lack of learning and growth. What a shame! A small investment in training, development, learning, career growth - could have a huge payoff in employee engagement, productivity, and retention.

Why don't more companies invest in employees - the most common answers: they don't feel there is enough of a return, or they don't want to train employees for better opportunities in other companies. 

Is that not the most dysfunctional thing youve heard? I'm so shocked when I hear it in workshops, I can barely speak.

Kill the traditional once a year peformance review - it's a sadistic exercise at best hated by both employees and managers.

Celebrating your employees is a powerful retention device focused around non-monetary rewards and recognition. How do you celebrate the people in your organization?

Some good ideas from Forbes on managing a remote workforce and sustaining culture - particularly for smaller businesses. One key point that they leave out is how you build trust to allow people to work when you can't see them -- through a rigorous performance management system!

Research indicates half of your employees who dont think you have an adequate non-monetary reward/recognition program - are looking for a new job. How do you execute on showing appreciation, gratitude and thankfulness?

If you've attended any of our workshops on hiring, engagement, or retention - you know we call this HR tactic of a stay interview the LIB discussion. My experience is that most managers lack the skills of how to have this conversation and thus avoid it. 

Take note - employees want their managers to be better commuicators and empathetic - surprise!

The article quotes a study showing 60% of employees do not trust senior management. I just did my program today titled "You're the Person We Want to Keep" (engagement, retention, and employee productivity) for a Vistage CEO group in Canada. We talked about using 1-to-1s as a tool in developing trust between managers and employees. Very few CEOs do it with their direct reports and even fewer cascade it through-out the company. So simple - yet not doing it causes failure in communication, trust, retention, engagement, performance management, and coaching. It's horrible not to have a rigorous process for communicating with employees on a frequent basis.

Kill the traditional performance appraisal process - it's sadistic at best. Move to process of regular monthly coaching - you'll be amazed at the drop in turnover, the boost in morale and engagement, and perhaps, most importantly, the uptick in productivity.

Basic elements of employee engagement, satisfaction, happiness that all lead to realizing the "grass is as green as it will ever be right here - no need to look elsewhere." The big question is what initiatives are you driving to move the needle on employee engagement in your organization?

How many articles do we need to look at to grasp the issue that a significant number of employees are disengaged and looking for a new job - and the key issue is the lack of effective management by their immediate supervisor. Is it time for some remedial training of your management team to boost retention/engagemnet and by extension productivity?

These are good questions for a survey, a personal development conversation which we call a Learning-IMPACT-Becoming Conversation - or in HR langauage a stay interview.

I just had this conversation with a couple of Vistage CEO groups last week. The management techniques practiced and learned by baby boomers doesn't work with the younger generations. And we keep scratching our heads wondering why the younger folks keep leaving??