For most companies, the easy and common way to retain top talent is to increase compensation and provide a more monetarily rewarding bonus or incentive plan. However, extensive research suggests that retaining valuable performers can be achieved through non-tangible methods.
Retaining top talent in a corporate environment is not as simple as one assumes. For most companies, the easy solution is to increase compensation and present a more monetarily rewarding bonus or incentive plan. However, there has been extensive research that suggests that retaining your most valuable performers can be obtained through other non-tangible means.
Management plays a large role in maintaining strong retention rates. Trusting and loyal relationships with your employees is one of the main motivators in determining whether to stay with a company according to five hundred professionals, surveyed in a recent poll by Mastery Works. Also, in line with a study conducted by the Gallup Organization, the supervisor or hiring manager is an extremely important factor in retaining top performing employees.
Ultimately, you make the hiring decisions and are in charge of setting clear guidelines, rules, and objectives to ensure that your employees stay motivated and encouraged. To fit into a company and feel worthwhile, one needs to find some sense of accomplishment in what they do at work. Allowing one to work in ways that best fit their abilities is one way to recognize this. In turn, this helps foster the relationship between supervisor and employee and keeps an employee content in their position.
The importance one sees in their "quality of work life" can also be a determining factor in whether or not an employee is satisfied with their present job. Nurturing the idea that employees have the ability to make decisions and choices in various areas of their work allows them to feel self-assured and more confident. Having a positive work environment can make all the difference when an employee is weighing the decision to look for a new job.
Training, career development and growth, and performance evaluations all play a significant role in whether or not an employee is satisfied in their position. Initial training is vital; however, providing on-going training to your employees reinforces the importance of that employee's role with your company. Along with training is career growth. Many employees are interested in being with a company that has a realistic "career path". Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com says,
"What I've found here and at other organizations is that you need to provide clarity to employees so they have an educated view on the potential opportunities in their future. However, what seems to work for organizations less often are rigid, silo-ed, paths. The companies with the best employee loyalty, productiveness, culture, and retention rates (both customer and employee), are those that are creative with their paths.
For example, a financial analyst can grow into roles in areas outside of finance, such as working into an operations role; a sales person can tackle a role in marketing. How to ensure these cross-fictional career paths work is to match the qualities needed to be successful in the role with the person that is strong in these areas or can quickly develop them. If they are to work, career paths must expose employees to roles that progressively build qualities such as leadership and decision making, and not be focused as much on just growing technical or function skills."
Redesigning a position to keep employees motivated, and cross training them to take on other tasks, reinforces the loyalty and investment a company has in their employees. Employee rotation leads to better productivity while increasing retention rates. In addition, mentoring programs allow your top performers to develop into future leaders, while emphasizing their own self worth with your company.
Soft perks are another tool successful companies are using to hang on to their top talent. These perks do not have to be expensive, sophisticated, or as complex as you might imagine. They can be as simple as free gourmet coffee or tea in the break room. Also, wellness benefits are quickly becoming a standard practice among companies who realize the importance of a qualified and satisfied staff. Many companies reimburse up to a specific dollar amount every 12 months payable towards gym membership fees, smoking cessation classes, or an entry fee into a race.
It is no secret that top performers are a company's most valuable asset. To retain top talent, a company needs to incorporate a leadership structure that maintains strong and healthy relationships with its subordinates. A healthy and positive work environment that includes "soft" perks and benefits is also required. Providing a feasible and realistic future for top performers through career growth and development is also important to an employee's future with your company. When you fail to give even your hardest working employee a reason to come to work each day, you are opening the door to a top performer's early exit.
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