What is the one factor that distinguishes organizations that continuously win, from those that want to win but don´t: TALENT. What is it that enables organizations to be leaders in their field year after year: TALENT. What do these organizations do that others don´t: RETAIN TALENT. Studies have shown that it costs an organization less to retain their top talent than to acquire new talent. There are 6 secrets that these organizations have learned that enable them to retain their talent.
Secret #1: LEADERSHIP. Talented people want to work for organizations where they can trust their leaders. These are leaders who have the best interest of their organizations in mind over there personal interests. They have set a direction that all employees are engaged in, and they have implemented a set of values that all employees embrace.
Secret #2: WORK RELATIONSHIPS. The glue that holds an organization together is the relationships that are formed and sustained over time. The most important relationship is the one between the employee and the boss. It is true that "people join companies, and they leave managers." Also true is that employees work longer for organizations where they believe that their co-workers share their desire to do quality work, where cross-functional teamwork exists, and where people feel they have a friend at work. During exit interviews that we conduct with employees, most exiting employee state that they will miss their co-workers more than anything else.
Secret #3: WORK SATISFACTION. In a recent benchmark study of employed job seekers, the number answer to the question: "What is the single most important factor driving your decision to look for another job" was "meaningful, challenging work that fully utilizes my skills". When work becomes boring, lacks a purpose, or is not tied to a larger mission, employees tend to "check out". Productivity, quality, and urgency all suffer. Workers who are dissatisfied with their jobs tend to take more time off than satisfied workers. Absenteeism is a leading indicator of work dissatisfaction.
Secret #4: WORK LIFE. Much has been written on the subject of organization´s enabling employees to achieve a work/life balance. One important aspect of the work/life balance is the opportunity for employees to be able to manage on the job stress. This stress comes from a number of sources and manifests itself in different ways. One common stress creator is the perception that ones work load is much greater than a co-worker. Another common factor is the perception that an employee must put the company ahead of family. This secret of retaining talent is to provide a support system that helps each employee deal with the stress of everyday life.
Secret #5: VALUE PROPOSITION. Every employee wants to be fairly compensated for the work they do and the contribution they make to their organization´s success. This compensation or Total Rewards is a combination of base salary, benefits, and incentives. The Total Rewards package must be seen as having value to the employee and one that clearly outlines performance expectations and the related rewards for goal achievement.
Secret #6: PERSONAL and PROFESSIONAL GROWTH. Talented employees are never satisfied with the status quo. They strive for continuous improvement in everything they do. They seek feedback, coaching, and most importantly training and development. To retain talented employees, the secret is to provide them with opportunities to grow, develop, continuously improve, and work on a personal development plan that takes them to a self-determined level of competence.
When an organization learns to address each of these "Secrets", they will not only win the competition for talent, they will have larger pools of candidates to choose from, they will see higher levels of productivity, higher levels of customer satisfaction, and most importantly, they will be more profitable. All of these measures are indicators of competitive advantage. When a company has competitive advantage, it wins.
To know if you have the winner´s edge, you need to know if these secrets are a part of your organization. The best way to find out is to listen to the voice of your employee! An annual employee survey will tell you whether your employees feel it or not. Organizations with competitive advantage have it. To compete, you need to have it too!!
For more information, contact Brian Lowenthal, Managing Partner, The Benchmark Partners, LLC, blowenthal@thebenchmarkpartners.com or 216.295.9589.
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