Retention
| "Stop guessing what will keep
your stars home and happy." |
| — Beverly Kaye & Sharon Jordan-Evans,
Love 'Em or Lose 'Em |
Depending upon where your business is located and the labor market
conditions, retaining key employees can dramatically influence your
competitive advantage and overall business performance.
Managers often rationalize high turnover as being beyond their
control. In an effort to understand turnover, they often ask exiting
employees "Why are you leaving?" Research indicates (and
this research is NOT new) that employees most often leave for reasons
other than compensation, benefits, proximity, etc. Most employees
leave because some or all of the following are LACKING:
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Learning and/or developmental opportunities
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Challenging or inspiring work
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Making a contribution or difference
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Recognition for quality work
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Good people and teams Inspiring and effective leadership
-
Pride
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Flexible work schedule/hours
-
Job security
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FUN…. imagine that!
How many of these factors could leadership have influenced? How
many of these factors (i.e., employee needs) could have been provided
for either in whole or in part? How expensive would providing for
some or even all of these needs have been versus the cost of turnover
or attrition?
Perhaps a more proactive approach to improving retention would
be to develop Emotionally Intelligent leadership. It might also
make sense to ask, "Why are you staying?" and continue
to do more of the high Emotionally Intelligent activities that contribute
to retention.
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