Retention Issues? Focus on Culture First
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)
I believe retention starts and ends with team chemistry and reward. Chemistry/morale is incredible. It will keep someone at a shitty job for much longer, and almost make them regret it, even for taking a wonderful job. Chemistry to me is number one, but without a reward system, people will eventually leave. Finding out how each person on a team likes to be rewarded will keep them there.
Nice job!
Having a boss that cares is a great start. It will pervent a job turning shitty!
Balance…we expect employees to forget their personal obligations and hold their employer as almighty. It’s unreasonable.
We work employees too hard than threat them as liabilities when times get lean. I have heard the rhetoric too many times about how “valuable employees are” and how “employees are the lifeblood of the organization”. But, behind closed doors, Managers are plotting turnovers of problem employees. I have been in the game too long and I have seen it too often. I have terminated more employees than I wish. But as I get older, I hold people more closely than I hold the organization.
Want a good retention…set clear lines and hold people to them…EVERYONE. Treat people with respect and let the business run. When employees get out of line, address it, but do it every time with every employee. This has been the crux of my blog and I am glad to see more people raising awareness.
Rich – agree, agree, agree! Chemistry from employee to employee, employee to management, and employee to company (i.e. management that you don’t interact with, or other intangible aspects of ‘company’) are all important.
Dennis – #fact! Boss can be a make it or break it, even in a crappy corporate environment.
High – I agree that it has to be a ‘two-way street’ and that reasonable expectations are key. @TLColson tweeted “When you treat employees like children, they have a tendancy to lower themselves to your expectations.” That’s the truth!