Retaining Your Employees:

1
Retaining Your Employees
Whats needed to keep the Ship on the Right
Course
2
Employee-related Concerns that Impact Turnover

• Lack of loyalty to organizations
• Desire for challenging work
• Need for autonomy, flexibility and independence
• Need for rewards linked to performance
• Need for recognition for accomplishments
• Need to learn new skills, stay current
• Need for a caring, supportive environment
• Need for work / life balance
• Desire for specific benefits
• Desire for competitive pay

from Retaining Your Best Employees by P.
RPhillips (ed.), ASTD, 2002
3
High Retention Benchmark OrganizationsSome
Similarities

• Valued their Employees
• Linked workforce initiatives to organization
  strategies
• Emphasized values and culture and used them in
  selection
• Linked training to HR and Operations
• Understood the importance of employee growth
  development
• Provided training development for everyone
• Used competencies in HR decisions
• Tracked, measured and evaluated their HR programs

Based on study of 7 benchmark companies by ASTD
and SHRM
4
Managing For Retention A Checklist

• Create a Great Environment / Culture
• Develop and train managers get rid of jerks
• The three rs respect, recognition and reward
• The three cs communicate , connect and care
• Seek Feedback and act on it
• Create Great Jobs
• Allow autonomy, be flexible
• Stretch and challenge people
• Encourage innovation and creativity

5
Key Role that Managers Play in Retention

• Engage and motivate their people
• Support learning and career growth
• Select for organizational fit
• Recognize good performance and behavior
• Listen for understanding

As identified in Love Em or Lose Em Getting
Good People to Stay by Kaye and
Jordan-Evans(1999, Berrett-Koehler Publishers)
6
Strategy Steps for Retaining Employees

• Assess / value human assets
• Differentiate between A, B, C employees
• Understand differences based on performance and
  needs
• Communicate rationale clearly
• Measure the value replacement cost of A
  employees
• Implement appropriate strategies for each
  employee group
• treat people the same use them differently
• rules policies need to be flexible, yet
  consistent and fair

7
Selection Process for Retaining EmployeesAn
Example

• Step 1 Develop Candidate Profile
• Base on Job Analysis
• Tie to key attributes of successful incumbents
• Use action items based on critical incidents
• Step 2 Recruit continuously
• Step 3 Screening Candidates
• Base selection on success profile
• Screen for results and behavior
• Emphasize value and opportunities in position
• Use structured interviews based on critical
  incidents
• Use trained interviewers
• Step 4 Evaluate Candidate and Process
• Use multiple evaluators
• Track turnover and candidate quality

8
Some Case Examples of Retention Strategies
See Retaining Your Best Employees by Patricia
Phillips (ed), American Society for Training and
Development, 2002
9
What do High-Performers Look for?
What they said was important 1. Work/life
balance 2. Job security 3. Rewards 4. Career
satisfaction 5. Control over own work
X
Key factors in retention 1. Career
advancement and Learning opportunities 2.
Feedback and coaching from bosses 3. Rewards
based on company performance 4. Creative
environment well-communicated strategies helped
to identify with company but did not affect
retention
presenrtation at Wprld Economic Forum, 2001
based on large scale survey of high-tech
organizations, 2001 and Hay study, 2006
10
Differences between High-Performance Cultures
and Traditional Work Organizations
Selected Human Resource Activities
High- Performance Organizations Emphasis on
potential to learn fit with organization
culture Developmental - based on performance
needs/targets - done often - problem-solving
emphasis Coordinated at unit level Multi-skills
emphasis Connected to factors needed for
success Unit/organization based
Traditional emphasis on
knowledge/skills Administrative - based on job
requirements - tied to individual rewards - done
once a year Centrally controlled sporadic - on
as needed basis Focus on skills
only Individually-based
STAFFING PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL TRAINING
/ DEVELOPMENT REWARD
11
Benefits of High-Performance Cultures
Tangible
Intangible
Employees make suggestions
Trust is created Suggestions are implemented
Expanded Knowledge /
learning base Process improvement occurs
Increased sense of - costs
decline
- achievement - revenues improve
- esteem
- customer satisfaction increases
- growth
12
Additional References

• Books
• Retaining Your Best People by Paul Michelman
  etal.. Harvard Business School Publishing, 2006
• Finding and Keeping Great Employees by Jim Harris
  and Joan Brannick. AMACOM, 1999.
• Retaining Your Best Employees by Patricia
  Phillips (ed.) American Society for Training and
  Development, 2002.
• Websites
• www.gallup.com
• www.workforce.com