Even in a down economy, employee retention is a key management issue.  Despite rising unemployment, some employees have critical skills and intellectual capital that make them very attractive to your competition.  These employees, likely amongst your top performers, will look for continuous reinforcement that your company is right for them, and that they should stay.  If you don’t identify, recognize, and reward top performers, the inevitable WILL happen:  Your best employees will be working for your competition.

It’s no secret that this is a complex topic.  Employee retention sits somewhere at the intersection between stimulating and challenging work and recognition and rewards. What I do know is that intrinsic rewards are a huge factor.  In 2002 I participated in an extensive analysis of the results from a longitudinal study on Air Force retention across two types of motivators: extrinsic, intrinsic (for a full analysis, altruistic and social motivators could also be considered). The study found that intrinsic motivators – such as personal development, intellectually stimulating work, and the ability to produce feelings of accomplishment – outweighed extrinsic motivators like level of pay and yearly pay increases.  With that being said, I’ll leave the real heavy lifting around incentive, recognition, and reward strategies to guys like Paul Herbert but I’d like to talk about one critical piece of employee retention that should not be overlooked: Company Culture.

One key to retaining top talent is to establish a meaningful relationship between the employee and the company.  It comes down to creating an environment that breeds bidirectional loyalty.  What does this mean for you as a company?  In a world of thinner margins and tighter budgets as long as compensation is within a reasonable range, you can retain employees by focusing on your corporate culture.  Good, transparent “what you see is what you get” leadership and a strong focus on hiring and protecting the door can go a long way in developing loyal employees.

The importance of team chemistry cannot be emphasized enough.  I can speak from experience – In 2006 when I was making the decision to leave the Air Force, the one thing that kept nagging at me was the feeling like I was letting my coworkers down.  I felt an intense loyalty and closeness to the people I served with, and despite traveling 180-200 days a year, and being paid about 25-30% less than my market value, I didn’t want to leave.  Lucky for me, I eventually landed at SEI.  Recruited by another colleague who I have immense respect for, I’m working for a company that really get’s this right.  SEI has an intense focus on recruiting the right people, and then reinforces a strong business model with an engaged leadership team.  Recently, leadership reinforced their proactive approach by unveiling a well planned 5-year succession plan, which in itself was architected with a focus on ensuring the long-term viability of our unique corporate culture.

So when considering retention, focus on what matters and what you can readily influence – your corporate culture.  Hire the right people, protect the integrity of your organizations culture, and don’t sacrifice long term team chemistry for short term revenue gains.  Be loyal to your employees, and give them a reason to be loyal back.

(Photo Credit: http://www.aurora-tds.co.uk)

Retention Issues? Focus on Culture First is a post from: HR Think Tank

I love the concept of this video – taking the best parts of the 25 hottest pop songs from 2009 and create an audio and video mashup that provides a collective output that no single song can by itself offer the listener.

I’m a proponent of taking a similar approach to your personal development.  If you really want to be a leader in your field of expertise – it takes more than the same skills that everyone else has.  It takes learning the best of other associated fields and jobs, and wrapping those into your repertoire to consistently outperform your competition.

Are you a recruiter? Master the skills you need to find and attract candidates, and also understand your client’s business better than your peers.  Know what the jobs you are hiring for actually do, and not just on paper.  Really understand what it takes.  Project Manager? Learn your system-development-life-cycle methodologies, but don’t ignore marketing tactics, or proficiency in technical areas required to deliver projects.  Public Relations?  Advertising?  Find new ways to exploit technology to deploy more effective communication strategies and to get to your target markets in unique and innovative ways that your peers aren’t even thinking about.

I’m not suggesting to become the proverbial generalist “Jack of all trades and Master of None”.  You ABSOLUTELY should have a core skill that defines what you can offer, but supplementing this core set of skills with some high-impact, strategic knowledge that sets you apart from your competition is a great idea.  Make it a priority in 2010.  I am.

The United State of Pop Personal Development is a post from: HR Think Tank

Back in March, I was asked to write the monthly ‘Living the Value Proposition’ column for my company’s monthly newsletter.  In a very Jerry Macguire-esque effort – I stayed up all night thinking about value propositions – the tough to define, ever-continuous search to define the elusive catch-phrase that pops into peoples minds when they think of our company.  I wasn’t looking to write marketing collateral or website material here – I wanted to dish some old school stream of consciousness thoughts on some basic questions: Why do people work here?  Why do clients hire us?  What enables us to get long term traction?

I decided to talk about the value of people and trust, and what they meant to our company – About how they defined our sales and delivery approach.

I wasn’t on Twitter yet – but I found Amber Naslund (@AmberCadabra) who wrote in her blog back in 2008 that “Delivering something worthwhile is not achieved in a board room with big flip charts or spreadsheets and ideation sessions. It’s not delivered with a slick brochure or well-written copy, or a stack of press hits in the Wall Street Journal.  It’s not delivered in key messages or brand attributes, even.  It’s delivered in the work that you do with and for your customers, each and every day.  The hard stuff, where you roll up your sleeves and show what you’re made of.  Solving real problems for real people.” When I read this – it instantly resonated with me – it sounded like my company.  It was at the heart of why we were experiencing real traction with clients.

I used Amber’s message as a spring board into talking about our hiring model as a key differentiator for the firm.  We don’t hire ‘revenue streams’ for short term opportunities; We don’t bend on out model to snatch up a high performer that isn’t a cultural fit; We don’t have partners and directors and mangers and associates and note takers in an endless ongoing hierarchy of escalating bill rates.  We hire good people that do great work and we give those people the opportunity to be part of a great company, and it works – Good candidates come here – and stay here – and we’re better because of it.

I also ran across Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s blogs and their pre-Trust Agents eBook called Trust Economies.  They spoke about a business universe build from decades of empty promises, overused buzz words, and buyer skepticism.  They were hitting on the key to our value proposition: linking great people with great clients with a relationship grounded in the common currency of trust.

As we know all too well, a typical sales person (and in many cases a typical consultant) has a short-term mindset, focusing on monthly targets, quarterly/yearly quotas, and high-profit engagements.  But in the Trust Economy – it’s the relationship that drives the sale. Some companies will come in with glossy paper and big names and sell on reputation, but their long-term viability and stickiness are hampered by the lack of a sound, trusting relationship with their clients and numerous cases of non-delivery.

Companies and individuals alike can learn some valuable lessons here.  A strong commitment and focus on building sound relationships, and then adding value to those relationships without a greedy, take more than you give approach can lead to long-term benefits.  Focus on selling this way – Deliver.  Do what is right.  Focus on doing what is best for the client, without selfish and misaligned agendas.  Don’t gouge clients on rates because you can, and don’t change order clients to death. Take Amber’s advice and treat them like peers – roll up your sleeves and solve real problems together!

It’s about the Fuzzy Stuff: People and Trust is a post from: HR Think Tank