Perspectives
Calling
All Trainers: Have You Thought about Retention Strategies?
If
you think people are changing jobs more often, you’re right.
Retaining talent is a monumental challenge and things are only going to
get worse. Smart companies are designing retention strategies to avert
the crisis. Training and development professionals recognize the need for
retention strategies and are positioning retention strategy training programs
as a new imperative.
Consider
these facts:
1.
The average tenure at one organization across all industries and job
categories is 4 years (source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005).
2.
On average a 22 year-old will have 10.2 jobs in his/her career (source:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Longitudinal Study)
3.
The over 55 age group will multiply 4 times faster than any other age
group (source: Monthly Labor Review, Bureau of Labor Statistics and
Projections).
4.
There are 10,000 job and career-related websites on the Internet and
that number is growing fast (source: Fast Company magazine, September, 2000).
To
complicate the challenge of recruiting winning talent, the overall graduation
rate for U.S. teenagers entering high school today is a dismal 68%.
So our most seasoned employees are retiring and our selection pool is
drying up.
What
is the cause of all of this turmoil? Some
would say that the reason is the loosening of bonds between employer and
employee. Lower levels of loyalty – whether due to the layoff waves
of the past decade or a shift in attitudes among Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers.
For many the prospect of switching jobs is now less stressful.
Boomers and X’ers expect to change jobs more frequently than their
predecessors. More and more
workers no longer tolerate bad bosses. Simply more employment options are
available. Whatever the reasons, labor statistics indicate hiring and
retention problems could get worse before they get better.
Recruitment vs. Retention
Most
CEO’s and Human Resources professionals have at least a general
understanding of the financial impact of employee turnover on an organization.
The truly smart CEO’s and HR professionals
know their actual annual costs. The
U.S. Department of Labor very conservatively estimates a company will spend
the equivalent of one-third of an employee’s annual salary to replace that
individual. When replacing a
manager it will cost companies an average of 1½
times the manager’s salary to replace him/her. The cost of attrition is
phenomenal.
Does
it make sense to fight these trends by offering money and perks to attract
good people? Take the nursing
shortage as an example. If you
read the want ads you will see all kinds of sign-on bonuses, cars, educational
allowances, housing allowances, etc. While these techniques might work for
attracting candidates, they aren’t working for retaining them.
Keeping the Best
In
today’s competitive job market, understanding early warning signals through
behavioral observation and acting with an early intervention can prevent the
team member’s concerns from growing into thoughts of defection. Training
professionals need to develop course work which trains management on the early
warning signals when an employee seems to be thinking about leaving. The key
is to find out the meaning of the signals you observe. Team leaders must be
trained to be constantly aware of any cue that may be a signal of team member
dissatisfaction.
You
must rely on early detection of early warning signals to alert you to a
potential retention problem. Taking
time to monitor ongoing signals can help you prevent an unwanted resignation
and ultimately help the organization reduce some of the costs of attrition.
Guidelines
for Training Leaders
The
ultimate goal should be to create a climate where your team members feel
comfortable going to their team leader before they get to the resignation
stage. We need to develop conversation guidelines for team leaders so they can
openly discuss the team member’s possible concerns.
Knowing the signals and surfacing team member retention needs is not enough. It’s only the beginning. Companies suffering from turnover need a retention plan. Companies need a thorough understanding of attrition triggers, such as downsizing/reorganization, that increase risk. Understanding the ripple effects of the attrition triggers and the business impact on co-workers, other departments, the organization, the customer and the market perception is essential. Managing the ripple effect and business impact is like working in a medical emergency room. You need to act quickly and methodically to cover everything – missing any key element can be fatal.
Identifying retention strategies and tactics in the context of a corporate/organizational plan improves retention rates, saves recruiting dollars, improves productivity, and ultimately impacts the success of the entire organization. Strategically deployed human capital is the most powerful competitive lever today and the abilities to attract, hire, align, engage, measure and retain great talent are core skills for leaders throughout the organization. The training department’s role is to develop those core skills, train, engage, and champion a new initiative. It is a time for training professionals to shine.
About
the Author: Barbara Ashbaugh is the Vice President of Professional
Development. She is
the owner of Trade Secrets, a
training and talent management firm which offers talent management strategy
training courses. Barb can be
reached through her website at www.Tradesecrets-training.com
.