7 Steps to Better Employee Retention

Employees are quitting more often now:

This is as high as we had back in the boom.  If you have employees, you need . . .

7 Steps to Better Employee Retention

 1. Track retention—if it doesn’t get measured, it doesn’t get improved.

2. Hire right in the first place.  A bad hire is an employee who isn’t doing a good job, and who leaves before really carrying his own weight (or perhaps stays on without ever carrying his weight).  Plan interviews, with more questions about typical work situations and less “tell me about yourself.”

3. Offer employees a path to greater pay and responsibility:

a. Consider more job grades: instead of accounting clerk, go back to accounting clerk 1, 2, 3, 4

b. Consider merit badges: merit badge in cross-selling mortgages, cross-selling investments, etc.

4. Train first-level supervisors on:

a. Soft compensation: pats on back, atta-boys

b. Fostering team spirit

5. Look for stressors and train leaders on how to help employees in stressful positions.  (Look at Dale Collie’s book, Winning Under Fire)

6. Be more flexible on work conditions:

a. Daily work schedule flexibility

b. Telecommuting

c. Vacation or leave-without-pay options

7. Re-evaluate benefits package—from employee’s perspective, not the senior executive's perspective.

These steps are usually cheaper than pay raises, though pay may have to be increased in a tight labor market.

Remember the costs of turnover are not simply the costs of hiring, but also the costs of training and of ensuring top quality production or customer service during the training period.

For books, articles and consultants who can help with these issues, see my compilation.

Comments

[roger fulton]

I've followed your economic newsletters for many years. Used them when I was in the hotel business in Portland. Often wondered within the subject of "employee retention" why you hadn't addressed the industry of hotels and resorts before.
I had grown so used to the super heated turn over, even without the seasonality, and in management, I made emotional, and economic adjustments. In management we began referring to it as the "annual spring outting." Love to hear more from you about it.
Roger Fulton
Yuma, Az

[Jim Abbondante]

Genuine 'leadership' really is the 'bottom line' when it comes to effectively developing and retaining your best people. There are very legitimate reasons why people join and then choose to stay with the organizations they're part of. We discussed in a recent leadership development session the fact that the number one reason why people 'choose' to leave their jobs can be traced back to ineffective leadership on the part of their immediate supervisor. We referred to real statistics that confirmed the fact that people have a tendency to leave managers and supervisors more often than they leave companies or jobs. It's certainly helpful when a manager or supervisor is perceived as being a 'nice person' and is well-liked by the people in his or her department, but what people really want and need is effective leadership on the part of someone they respect and they trust enough to follow. They need someone who they feel has something to impart when it comes to helping them achieve their full potential and to helping them achieve the success they desire on their job and in their career overall. When managers and supervisors make an employee feel respected, valued and also appreciated, the manager or supervisor is not only functioning more in a 'leadership' capacity but they are contributing to the ultimate retention of the employee. And in like manner, anything the supervisor does to make an employee feel un-valued will contribute to unwanted turnover. Probably one of the most important functions that will lead to employee retention involves letting team members know in specific terms what 'good' looks like, and why it's considered 'good'. Some of the most common complaints that have come out of exit interviews and from 'blind' exit surveys have included a lack of clarity regarding specific expectations, a lack of clarity regarding one's earning potential, a lack of feedback regarding one's performance, a lack of 'follow through' with regard to commitments made, canceling scheduled meetings, and a failure to create an environment that's conducive to the employee's achieving success; all of which reflect ineffective leadership on the part of their supervisor. In summary, one of the most important things I've learned over the years in this business is that 'work' is about the money, but true 'loyalty' is all about relationship and how people feel about themselves 'on the job' and how important they feel their contribution is to the success of the team (family), and whether or not they feel really appreciated. Why not take a look at your organization. Are you really doing your best to retain your most valued people? Consider these suggestions. Ask yourself what you can do to make an ever bigger difference in the life of your people and see how many ways it comes back to you. Leadership really is 'the bottom line' in the people business! (Leadership-The Bottom Line happens to be the name of our unique approach to the development of leaders. Feel free to contact me (Dr. Jim) for free leadership development materials or for a free leadership session at your location. We're happy to share!)