To survive your company needs to be continuously winning and growing new clients, and the only way you can do this sustainably is to hire and grow the right people.
Why then, if hiring and keeping top talent is all that distinguishes you from your competitors, is the number one reason top talent leaves, is because they feel badly managed and their employer confusing and uninspiring?
“If you are spending a large amount of time combating absenteeism, addressing under-performance, coping with high turnover and dealing with negative and frustrated employees, your approach is reactive. If you’re active, you’re deliberately taking steps to influence employee engagement.” The Globe & Mail
Turnover is hugely expensive and let’s face it, there’s always another company who would be more than happy to hire one or more of your top performers away from you.
Why is It So Hard to Stop Your High Achievers From Quitting?
Sourcing, attracting and hiring great talent is just the beginning. In today’s employment marketplace sustainable workforce planning demands that companies be continuously planning, revamping, and implementing retention strategies that work for their employees. Retention means employee engagement. Let’s first take a look at the key indicators of employee dis-engagement.
Why Does it Matter?
Right employees are engaged. They bring commitment and energy to your workplace each and every day. They enthusiastically show up for work and thrive on taking charge of their job and being 100% accountable for their performance.
The numbers do not lie.
1. Only 31% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs
2. 88% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact quality of their organization’s products, compared with only 38% of the disengaged.
3. 72% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively affect customer service, versus 27% of the disengaged.
What would just a few improvement points on these statistics would mean to your company’s bottom line?
Here Are My Top 8 Drivers for Employee Engagement
1. Engaged Employees Despise Micromanagement
Do you empower your team to set and share ongoing milestones?
Are they clear on the benchmarks you expect them to achieve?
Do you demonstrate trust in their ability to set their own direction and pace?
2. Regular feedback and dialogue with superiors
Do you regularly recognize your employees’ contributions to your success?
Are processes in place for you to regularly guage your employee’s job satisfaction?
3. Employee perceptions of job importance and clarity of job expectations
Employees want to know where the business is going and what they need to focus on.
Do your employees know where they fit into the big picture going forward?
Would your employees, if asked, be able to articulate your vision and priorities?
4. Opportunity to Advance Their Career
What is the next step in their career moving forward with your company?
5. Professional and Personal Development
Do you encourage this?
Are you willing to invest if they do?
6. Personal Values in Line with the Organization
“I believe that a life of integrity is the most fundamental source of personal worth. I do not agree with the popular success literature that says that self-esteem is primarily a matter of mind set, of attitude – that you can psych yourself into a peace of mind. Peace of mind comes when your life is in harmony with true principles and values and in no other way.” – Stephen Covey
What gets your team out of bed in the morning to work for you?
Does this complement your company’s values and corporate mission?
7. Meaningful Incentives
While it’s certainly a key retention strategy, money is not always the answer.
8. Transparency
Are you really open to getting feedback from your team?
Do your employees feel safe to come forward with issues that are affecting them and their ability to do their work?
Engaged employees are far more productive and are the single biggest driving force behind customer retention and hence your bottom line profits. I’ve worked with client organizations that don’t really concern themselves with retention, feeling instead that their employees should be grateful they have a job at all – and it’s a revolving door.
That’s true for all levels – not just “top talent.” It fascinates me: Why don’t more business owners and managers make sure there are safeguards in place to keep their best people? What do you think?
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