Category Archives: How to Retain Employees

Kevin had been hired to turn the company around. He arrived to find a sluggish, apathetic staff. Most were warry of the change and unwilling to stick their neck out for anything.

Kevin moved immediately to work on the three things that would most affect your employee’s productivity. He knew he had to energize the workforce. He had to learn who could rise to the top and which employees are worth letting go.

The PVI Model— Perception, Visibility, Influence— seemed designed to empower employees to take back control of their careers. Keven felt sure once they saw the impact they could have in influencing those around them, they would become energized and increase productivity.

1. Perception.

Kevin started educating his workforce on both how he perceived them and what he knew they were capable of. He encouraged them to look within themselves for their strengths and … Continue reading 3 Major Factors Affecting Employee Productivity and Overall Impact →

Client Theresa asks: Over the past year, two great employees on my team quit their new job. I was floored. I didn’t see any signs that they were unhappy. We lost a huge amount of talent, and it set us back substantially. How can I improve employee retention?

Coach Joel answers: Theresa, the six biggest reasons why employees choose to quit their new job within the first 180 days relates to their job satisfaction. Keep employees happy and fulfilled in their work, and retention is likely to be high. However, if your company is failing in even one of these six ways, it’s likely to push employees to look for better opportunities elsewhere. The good news is that as their manager, you have the ability to remedy any of these six major issues that may be influencing employees’ decisions to leave. Of course, you should … Continue reading 6 Biggest Reasons Why Unhappy Employees Quit Their New Jobs →

Client Suzanna Asks: We are building our HR department. We want to make it the star in our company—really there for every need. What professional qualifications should we look for as we augment our human resources section?

Coach Joel Answers: There are several things to look at as you hire HR employees. Of course you want them to be a good fit for you and your company.  You have a hard-charging company and so every employee you hire needs to be fully committed.

For your human resources department, you need additional skills.

1. Certification.

Certifications give you confidence your new hires will have documented professional qualifications. Degrees and other curriculum give people training and theory on best HR practices.

Still, this is theory only. Most human resources departments also look for those who have interned and gotten hands-on training.

2. Interns.

When … Continue reading Personal and Professional Qualifications & Human Resources →

Client Sarah Asks:  In this economy, money has to work very hard for us.  We want to retain our best employees.  How should we allocate our finances to maximize our retention?

Coach Joel Answers: That’s a great question, Sarah.  Your company has a number of options—different ways to spend your money.  To best motivate your workers to stay with you, you first need to understand them.

Not all workers respond the same way.  Some of your options have tax consequences that might matter to your top talent.  Others may perceive one or another of these choices as more prestigious or of greater value to them.

So your first step is to know your key players.  Assess them.  Find out what is most enticing and likely to keep them working for you.

Then choose from these four methods those that will work best for you, your … Continue reading 4 Ways to Use your Finances for Employee Retention →

Client Mindy Asks: Our tech company is growing and expanding. We’ve hired some managers in the past, and it hasn’t worked out the way we expected it to. I need to learn how to recruit and retain managerial talent. I want our people to stay with us and produce the results we’re looking for.

Coach Joel Answers: Mindy, you’ve hit on two key points.  When you recruit well, the second issue—retention—becomes much easier. So let’s start with some recruiting tips to ensure that you are recruiting managers who will be more likely to stick around.

1. Determine your needs.

First, it’s absolutely critical that you have a thorough understanding of what you expect from your manager.  You need to know not only the duties he or she will perform, but the intangibles, such as emotional intelligence.  Even if your new hire comes with great technical skills, if they don’t have people skills, … Continue reading 5 Tips for Recruiting & Retaining Managerial Talent →

Martin, a senior manager with a major financial services company, is facing a challenge. He knows he’s surrounded by talent. His younger, mid-level managers are performing well, and he knows some of them have the potential to be superstars. But lately they’ve been acting restless and he’s afraid some of them may be about to jump ship.

He’s tried talking to them one-on-one. He’s given them new, challenging assignments. But nothing seems to change the atmosphere. He knows they are focused on their own responsibilities and aren’t seeing the big company picture. An article about mentoring in one of his current business journals starts him thinking. He decides that corporate mentoring and training programs may give his managers a new perspective.

A conversation with his HR director gives Martin some helpful guidelines. She advises him that first of all mentoring programs need to be aligned with … Continue reading Show the Big Picture with Corporate Mentoring Programs & Training →

One-quarter to one-half of all employees are planning to quit their job this year, depending on which survey you look at. These record numbers of resignations have many employers petrified that they’ll lose their best talent. Employee turnover costs companies millions of dollars in direct costs for things like recruitment, replacement, and training. It also carries a heavy cost in indirect losses of productivity, team disruption, and quality problems—it takes time for a new hire to get up to speed. For all of these reasons, it’s time to buckle down and get serious about retention.

Count the (Hidden) Costs of Employee Turnover

You already know that employee turnover is costing you money. According to Gallup, replacing an employee costs at least one-half to two times that person’s annual salary. These are hard costs that drop straight to your bottom line. But what about the hidden costs? Consider these … Continue reading Guide to Employee Retention: A Program to Retain Top Talent →

Employees want to feel recognized, valued, and engaged. One way to insure you keep valuable employees is to promote them.

In a large company, there may be many places where employees can move up. In smaller companies it may take some planning to reward your employees with a promotion.

Here are 5 steps to help employee retention by promoting them. 1. Assess.

Who do you have working for you that’s doing a particularly good job? Who are your most vital employees? Take some time to assess their needs, goals and limitations.

Regular feedback will help you discern which employees might be considering leaving. Why would they move on? It could be things outside your control—like health or family. Or it might be factors you can influence—work environment, pay, work hours, or boring work. In addition, a strong and well publicized succession plan will help you avoid employee dissatisfaction … Continue reading Employee Retention & Promotion →

Businesses hand out retention bonuses to key employees at different times and for different reasons.

Mergers, Takeovers, or Hostile Takeovers.

Merging companies face having two employees for every one job. Who will stay and who will go? The company would like to decide, but smart employees see the handwriting on the wall and go off looking for a new job on their own.

This puts the company at risk that BOTH employees will leave and the gap in management will be detrimental to the company. So they offer retention bonuses.

In this case the bonus serves these purposes:

It’s a strategy to motivate the worker to stay with the company It’s a one-time deal. It’s a show of appreciation for the employee’s talents and experience. Often there is no written contract and no obligation that forces the employee to remain. Sometimes there is a contract that requires the … Continue reading Employee Retention Bonus →