You feel as though you’re doing everything right when it comes to retaining your best talent. You treat your employees well, you offer competitive salaries, and job security remains high. And yet, you just had another resignation letter cross your desk.
What’s going on?
In the eyes of your top performers, what seems like a perfect employment picture to you may actually be perceived in a negative light, for a number of reasons:
- They see no opportunity to advance within your company. As crazy as it sounds, your retention rate may appear to be too high. Ambitious employees could take this to mean that you never fire anyone. Be sure you make it clear that as you maintain that 95 percent rate, you also provide plenty of chances for deserving team members to grow their careers.
- They feel that irrational precedents drive your talent decisions. If one of your policies is that “if we offer this job to Mary, then we have to offer it to everyone else on her team,” this could become a crippling factor implying that you take fairness too far. Your best performers will feel that their opportunities are no different than anyone else’s.
- Boredom sets in. Top talent wants to be challenged. If you’ve allowed your organization to hit a plateau where innovation is less critical than consistency and reliability, you may not be offering venues for creative thinking. “Business as usual” can become boring, often sooner than later.
How to Keep Your Best Employees
Retaining top talent is about more than just money. To stay ahead of the curve, get to know what’s on an individual employee’s mind. Learn their likes, dislikes, passions and aspirations. Be continually open to change and constantly mindful of growth opportunities for those you want to retain. Last but not least, reward and recognize appropriate to contributions made.
- Hold “stay interviews.” This is not the same as a performance review. It is a conversation specifically designed to communicate your company vision and the role an employee plays in bringing it to life. Nothing makes a bigger impact on an up-and-coming leader than face time with a senior executive, talking about their future together.
- Embrace change. For someone with big career plans, change is an important, invigorating experience. This requires you, as a leader, to manufacture change on the right occasions. It shouldn’t be difficult: The best businesses thrive as a result.
- Offer choices. A-level talent should have options that are not available to the rank and file. This conveys your trust and confidence in them, as well as the idea that you truly value their contributions. For example, allow a high performer to work from home one day a week if it means they achieve the desired work/life balance.
- Recognition matters. In a recent employee survey, 81 percent of respondents said appreciation by their manager made them work harder – and 55 percent said they would consider leaving their company to work for an employer who clearly recognized their contributions. Everyone needs to feel appreciated.
The recruitment professionals at PrideStaff Fresno can help you source, hire, develop and retain top performing employees and take the lead in today’s competitive talent war. To learn more, contact us today.