Let’s face it: retaining your best employees is a big challenge – especially when the job market is so competitive in attracting the best talent for bigger, better, and more well-paying jobs.
And who wouldn’t? After all, we all are, in some ways, vying for a challenging role that not only pays well from the remuneration point of view but also, a career that is mentally stimulating and satisfying for a long period of time.
But as mentioned in my previous post on what job switches can teach you about personal branding, it’s quite common to see this generation (especially women) ‘jobbing’ forward for a more competitive role. As a result, it had become painfully hard for employers to keep the best brains in the company.
That said, employers can still find respite in this situation if they can keep these 3 things in mind before they let their best brains bid a farewell spiel to them for something better.
Give them the experience of the best company culture. A lot of times, your best employees feel a misfit like a square peg in a round hole – trying to adjust but the output of people results suffer owing to a discomforting culture. In this context, look for not just culture ‘carriers’ but also culture ‘contributors’. They may not be the same in the bunch of people who define the culture definition of your company, but they may add that zing to the overall company personality by being extremely disciplined, goal oriented, and ‘maximizers’ (in Wharton professor, Adam Grant’s words). That way their work ethic can improve the company’s business results more aggressively and encourage the others to follow suit.
Appreciate and acknowledge – and maximize their potential. While constant feedback and criticism are essential for improvement but equally important for growth and personal satisfaction is to duly acknowledge and appreciate your employees’ contribution at work (even though they are paid to work, but still not all employees reach their full potential). Help them unearth their hidden strengths and work towards multiplying 100x on their respective strengths – irrespective of their strengths relevant to work or not. For example – you have a target achiever business development professional on the company’s payroll, but you also notice that the individual is also good in writing good emails and blog posts on sales. In this case, you can invite the person to write for your company’s blog and maintain the social media presence by sharing and creating great content. Sometimes added responsibilities by keying in the employees’ overall competencies into the job role (with a decent pay hike, of course) can work in the company’s favor in employee retention. Help them grow laterally – and they will stick on.
Provide them with a financial growth plan – and understand their purpose. Discuss your employees’ ambitions openly – irrespective of the job they hold in hand. Hold them accountable for their work targets and help them envision their ideal career in the company and the incremental steps it would take to achieve that financial goal. When you give them a financial structure to latch on to, they start performing better and improve their learning areas more diligently. But ensure you pay them the best- both financially and emotionally. It is extremely important to know your employees emotionally and deduce their purpose, which you, as an employer can help them parlay their purpose into a paycheck and a splendid performance. That way, your employees will find you a professionally matured [read: highly evolved] company that not only focuses on your professional growth but also keeps in mind what truly drives you in life.
So while your employees work hard to grow and sustain company’s business results, you work harder in making sure that you uplift and retain the best brains in your company more aggressively.
