Company Blog

Staff turnover can be disruptive, expensive and affect team morale. You have spent time recruiting committed and talented employees and your department cannot afford to lose them. So how can you keep them?

Employees leave for many reasons, and it is generally not because they want more money or better benefits. Importantly, employers can control why employees leave, as this article will demonstrate.

Essentially your relationship with your employees is key to their satisfaction and their decisions to stay or leave. A good boss who cares about keeping good people will help them find what they want from their organisation. You can do this by talking with them and listening and by discussing the issues that are most pertinent to them as individuals.

So, what should managers do to keep their staff?

1. Make their jobs interesting

Employees need opportunities for personal challenge and growth. If good workers find out that they are no longer receiving these necessities then they may decide that they have outgrown the company and consider leaving. Their current job may pay well, be enjoyable, provide security and attractive benefits and it may be an excellent department doing important work. However the day-to-day tasks may not provide the stimulation or sense of achievement that make an employee want to stay. The simplest way to enrich jobs for individuals is to ask them questions such as:

• In what ways would you like your job changed?
• In what areas would you like increased responsibility?
• What skills do you have that you are currently not using?

The manager's job is to help employees evaluate their jobs and discover ideas for enrichment. These discussions need to be collaborative with an understanding that the manager doesn't need to have all the answers but can facilitate the process.

Managers therefore need to focus on job enrichment for their employees if they wish to retain their services and this just doesn't mean "fascinating work and more money". This can be achieved through a variety of ways including rotating assignments; having employees visit more customers so that they can obtain first-hand experience and involving employees in the decisions that impact on their work.

A major cause of turnover is workplace boredom. Job enrichment is not difficult, but it does require staying alert to opportunities for all your employees and working with them to enrich their jobs.

2. Support their career goals

Discuss your employee's futures, openly and frequently. Involve them as you discuss their abilities, choices and ideas. Too many managers avoid career conversations. Employee's don't expect you to have all the answers, but they do want you to listen to them and to offer your perspective. They will also benefit from specific feedback with examples of their performance and how it relates to their future goals.

Take time out to have serious and in-depth discussions about how the industry will be changing over the next 2-5 years and what skills your staff will need to compete for roles in the new environment. For instance, should they be doing marketing or business studies, a qualification in health economics, gaining exposure to new therapeutic areas or undertaking overseas assignments. Career development of staff is a responsibility for all managers and should be undertaken in a considered and structured manner.

3. Share information with them

Make your employees feel part of the organisation by telling them what is happening. If you don't tell them what is happening they will make it up together with all the associated inaccuracies. Information sharing is important at all times but critical during periods of change (downsizing, mergers and acquisitions). If employees are worried about events and don't have sufficient information they are likely to worry about their job security and update their resumes.

Managers must give information as early and as honestly as possible and this will make employees feel important and valued. These employees are likely to have insight into the specific problems and may be able to offer solutions.

The role of the manager is also to help employees look into the future, by providing information that helps with the employee's development and career advancement. Employees want to know about the company's direction and goals, the industry's future and the emerging trends that may affect career possibilities. Employees with this information will feel more confident in their future within the company.

4. Get them connected

Employees leave when they don't feel connected with others in the organisation. Employees need groups of colleagues who can support them, offer information or help, or just listen to them. Connections are a major reason why people stay with a company. Managers need to give attention to strengthening the bonds between people in their team and others within the organisation. Employees need to link with others to get their jobs done effectively. Managers need to be asking their staff 'who else in the company do you need to be liaising with to optimise your role?'

Relationships with others will help your employees get their work done and will give them insights to enhance their productivity. As employees are linked to other functions within the company their knowledge and skills will grow and they are more likely to stay.

5. Respect them

Even if employees are well paid and have opportunities to learn and grow, if they don't like their bosses they will leave.
It is unacceptable for managers to exhibit any of the following behaviours: acting in an arrogant or condescending manner; intimidating staff; slamming doors; pounding tables; swearing; behaving rudely; showing disrespect; being sexist, bigoted; using inappropriate humour; humiliating and embarrassing others; deliberately ignoring or isolating some people…and the list goes on.

If you do exhibit any of the above behaviours then think about the implications of your behaviour on your staff. Are you causing good people to leave? What can you do to improve your interpersonal skills?

The same applies to what managers should expect from their staff. To ensure the integrity of the functioning team managers need staff who respect each other and respect the contribution that each can make.

So, is turnover an issue? Employees generally don't want to leave for more money or better benefits. However the other reasons that may make them consider their options are within the control of the organisation. It is not always possible to cater for every individual request, however with frequent and open communication employees are more likely to understand and appreciate the constraints.

2010 has begun and everyone is back at work. They’re talking about how tough 2009 was and how much better 2010 will be. They’re refreshed and motivated, upbeat and optimistic. The challenge now for managers is to maintain this motivation.

That’s why I found an article in the latest Harvard Business Review (“What Really Motivates Workers” HBR Jan-Feb 2010, p.44) highly relevant.

In a research survey 600 managers were asked to rank the impact on employee motivation of five workplace factors: recognition for good work; incentives; interpersonal support; support for making progress and clear goals. These managers rated “recognition for good work” (either given publicly or privately) as number one.

However the managers were wrong.

The authors (Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer) had conducted extensive additional research tracking the day-to-day activities, emotions and motivation levels of hundreds of knowledge workers and found out that the top motivator of performance was ‘progress’. Interestingly this was the factor that survey participants ranked last.

On days when workers feel they’re making progress in their jobs, or when they receive the support to help them overcome obstacles, their emotions are positive and they are motivated to succeed. On days when they’re encountering roadblocks to meaningful accomplishment their moods and motivation are lowest. It was noted that even making incremental progress in one’s work is more frequently associated with positive emotions and high motivation than any other workday event. Therefore the key to motivation is largely within the control of managers.

So, what can you do?

Managers can provide resources; facilitate introductions; offer tips, techniques and training on work flow planning; provide hands-on coaching;  and prevent irrelevant or unreasonable demands – all to ensure that employees are progressing forward in their daily tasks and not encountering obstacles or setbacks. As a manager, make sure that your people’s efforts are properly supported and you will be rewarded with a highly motivated workforce.

2010 is already shaping up to be a very busy year. In 2009 many companies placed roles on-hold, pending a review of business needs and in line with the changing economic conditions. Now that the economy is improving these roles are no longer on-hold and clients are moving very quickly to fill them with top talent. As such, we are experiencing the beginning of a new ‘War for Talent’. We’ve seen this before, about 3 years ago, when there were more jobs than candidates, and we’re now seeing it again as the economy takes off. For business’ today, the most important resource is talent, and this is also the resource that will be in short supply as we move into 2010.

In candidate tight markets some companies try a range of tactics to entice candidates. Some offer inflated salaries and attractive sign-on bonuses to secure the talent. However talented candidates seek a lot more than just money. They know that companies generally offer fair compensation and for them the monetary compensation is not that important. Talented employees seek ‘enrichment’ packages. They want to be professionally, intellectually and emotionally enriched. They seek new positions which will offer them professional development, intellectual stimulation and cultures aligned to their own values so that they can emotionally thrive.

In winning the War for Talent managers need to appreciate the significance of the interview process. For the available candidates there are many roles to choose from. Talented candidates expect a lot from the moment they make first contact. They expect a highly professional encounter. This means that they expect the interviewing manager to be on time, to be courteous, well–prepared and knowledgeable. In this day it seems unusual, however we regularly hear stories where the interviewing manager has left them waiting too long, hasn’t prepared for the interview, asks inappropriate questions, can’t interview properly, takes phone calls, appears distracted, isn’t knowledgeable about the role, uses inappropriate humour …and the list goes on. Talented candidates join companies with talented leaders. If these behaviours are witnessed by top talent they do not go back for another interview nor do they accept any role that may be offered.

Talented candidates expect a lot from the interview. They want a two-way engaging conversation where both parties can explore their mutual interests. The role of the hiring manager is to determine if the candidate is suitable for the role, and equally the candidate needs to ascertain whether this is the company for them. In determining whether the current role is aligned to the candidate’s true strengths and abilities the hiring manager needs to ask a series of probing questions. One particularly effective technique is to ask the candidate about their current role and ask them: “How would they have liked their job to have been changed?”; “What areas would they have sought increased responsibility?” and “What skills do they have that they were not using?”. The answers to these questions will then allow the manager to determine if there is alignment between the candidate’s motivation and ability and what the current role can offer. By taking this approach the interviewing manager can evaluate the candidate’s skill set and to discover ideas for enrichment. This approach also sends out a positive message to the candidate and highlights that the manager is interested in enriching the future employee. Quality candidates are always seeking roles to enrich their skill set.

At the interview stage it is also necessary to discuss the candidate’s future within the company. Again ask probing questions about their abilities and ideas. Too many interviewing managers either avoid career conversations or over-promise and then later under-deliver. Candidates want to have the opportunity to frankly discuss their aspirations so that there is no future mis-match between their goals and the company’s capacity to deliver. Candidates need to clearly understand the career path and the specific competencies required to advance. They benefit from hearing stories of other employees who have been with the company for several years and who have advanced their own careers. In order to secure top talent, it is therefore necessary for interviewing managers to take the time to have an in-depth discussion about how the company will be changing over the next 2-5 years and the skills required to compete for roles in the new environment.

It’s also important to make the candidate already feel part of your company by telling them what is happening, the issues you are facing, and the challenges and opportunities ahead. If you don’t openly discuss these issues and control these messages the candidate will conduct their own research from past employees or unrelated parties and come to their own, often inaccurate, conclusions. Candidates want to know about the company’s direction and goals, and the emerging issues that may affect career possibilities. Candidates with this information will feel more confident in their future within the company.

Top candidates are attracted to companies who clearly differentiate themselves in the marketplace and these top companies clearly communicate their value proposition in order to secure the talent. The messages must convince talented professionals that your jobs represent the best opportunities for them.
In formulating a differentiated position manager’s need to ask themselves:
1. Why would a talented person choose to work here?
2. What is our company’s reputation in the candidate marketplace?
3. What would convince a candidate to join our company if they had a similar offer from another company?
4. Compared to other companies what is the competitive advantage of our company?
5.  What motivates our people?
6.  What values do our people have?

Talent is a critical driver of company performance and competitive advantage.
Quality employees generally don’t join for more money or better benefits. They do join for packages of enrichment and opportunity. Managers therefore need to focus on job enrichment to attract quality candidates in 2010’s War for Talent and these conversations need to start during the interview process.

There’s a lot of research that shows that a nap at work increases productivity (The Simplest Way to Reboot Your Brain by Robert Stickgold, HBR Oct 2009, p 36, http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/web/2009/health/simplest-way-to-reboot-your-brain)

In our knowledge-based economy which depends on sharp minds, a few minutes of shut-eye can be good for business. It’s known that sleep boosts memory and that a nap with REM sleep improves people’s ability to integrate unassociated information for creative problem solving. Important memory processing occurs as you’re falling asleep. The brain appears to be “tagging” memories of unresolved problems for subsequent processing.

Some organizations have implemented a pro-napping policy. They have nap rooms and nap pods.

So, what do you think? What would you do if you saw a staff members asleep at their desk?

Personally, I won’t be installing sleep pods in my company. I take a more holistic approach regarding work/life balance. I advise people to come to work to work, come refreshed and motivated, sleep well, eat well, exercise, put everything into perspective, seek support, don’t burn out and be consistent and balanced in their approach.

What do you do to encourage your staff to remain refreshed throughout the day?

Following on from the previous article “How do you add value as a leader?” we are going to focus on how a leader should be spending their time.

Leadership is time-intensive. There’s not enough time to do everything and an effective leader must prioritise.

Patrick McKenna and David Maister (First Among Equals. 2002. The Free Press) have listed their top tips.

1. Spend unscheduled, informal time with individual people, serving as coach and helping them develop themselves.
2. Be active in the development of junior people by suggesting new assignments so that they can build their skills.
3. Connect with customers, grow relationships and monitor customer satisfaction.
4. Help team members differentiate themselves in ways that clients recognize and value.
5. Help your people stay current with the trends affecting the industry.
6. Monitor performance and results with group members and discuss results with them.
7. Devise methodologies to capture and share knowledge.
8. Help your group to explore new and innovative ways of using technology to better deliver services and reduce costs.
9. Spend time recruiting, interviewing and attracting new staff members.
10. Spend time following up and actively helping colleagues execute their planned activities..
11. Initiate and plan regular meetings to collectively plan activities and initiatives.
12. Conduct formal performance appraisals with senior people.
13. Conduct counseling sessions with people on the basis of these performance appraisals.
14. Celebrate individual and team achievements – both the minor wins and the major successes.

There are many activities a leader feels that they should be spending time on, however to be truly effective it's important to prioritise and the above list provides guidance.

You’ve just been promoted to Project Leader and now you are managing a group of people. Your previous colleagues report to you and the dynamics have just changed. They treat you differently, they want different things from you, so how do you respond?

Patrick McKenna and David Maister’s book “First Among Equals” is an excellent management text on managing a group of professionals and is recommended reading for new leaders.

Being a leader involves a different mindset in terms of what you do and how you do it. You need to be energetic and optimistic and create shared communication within your team. Your job as group manager is to help your people succeed and to assist with the overall performance of the team, not just your individual performance.

This transition can be very difficult, and the key is to appreciate the importance of both skill and attitude. Leaders need to be able to influence other people without dominating them, and this is a skill that can be taught. Leaders also need to be willing to focus on the success of other people. This change in attitude can be confronting for many. It’s no longer all about you. It’s about us and them.

The role of the leader is to create energy and excitement in the team and a large portion of your activity should be aligned to raising enthusiasm and excitement and hence performance.

To be successful as a leader focus on what excites each of your team members and not only on what excites you.

So, what drives the people around you?