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‘Talent
On Tap’
Practical Ways to Retain Talented Employees
Used with permission of the author:
Author:
Marion
Stone
Director
Cornerstone Connections
marion@cornerstoneconnections.co.za
www.cornerstoneconnections.co.za
20 April 2007
Back to ... Workinfo.com Human Resources Magazine Volume 1 Issue
7, 2007
You
are in the middle of a crucial project rollout and one of your key
project managers decides to leave the company. A big setback!
There is the obvious loss of their skills, but you will also have
to invest time to locate and train a replacement if you can find a
suitable candidate. Associated with this process are the obvious
primary costs, but in addition there are the secondary costs of
delayed deadlines, possible errors and potential loss of goodwill
with customers. Are you familiar with this scenario?
The growth of the economy and the challenges of the BEE scorecard
mean that South African business is starting to feel the impact of
skills shortages in specific sectors. Organisations have often
referred to ‘people being our greatest asset’ but never has it
been quite so true as in today’s environment.
For many years now, organisations have fought their competitors on
the battleground of efficiency and the tight control of resources.
Now that efficiency has become more of a given, competitiveness
rests on being effective, which is about working smarter through
your people. As a result, the engaging and retaining of your
skilled and talented employees has become an important strategic
consideration because it affects your competitiveness as an
organisation.
Who is ‘the talent’?
Many organisations consider the talent to be the top 10 to 15% of
their employees . In other words, those that hold the budgets and
make decisions that have far-reaching consequences. In a report,
from the UK Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the
second most common reason for investing in talent development
activities was to develop senior managers. This is one way of
defining talent because your top-level employees certainly have a
major impact on your organisational strategy. The risk of taking
this approach is that you could have a group of enthusiastic
captains steering the boat with an unengaged crew paddling out of
time behind them. A recent opinion poll revealed that 56,7% of
respondents felt insecure in their jobs
A more inclusive definition refers to high-potential employees and
these could be at any level of the organisation. Talent
development activities can be very controversial and
misinterpreted by those that are not ‘in the club’. It is
therefore essential that organisations define ‘high potential
carefully and have measurable standards that must be achieved for
someone to be considered as high potential. Instruments such as
psychometrics and 360-degree feedback tools are useful in this
regard.
How do we keep them?
Why do people work for charities and NGO’s when the salary
levels are generally lower than those in the private sector and
working conditions sometimes difficult? It is not a hard question
to answer because for many money is not the main motivator. Those
people working in the not-for-profit sector have found compelling
meaning in the work that they do and for them this more than makes
up for any other drawbacks.
Other organisations should learn from this. If they can find a way
to engage their employees then they will retain them since
engagement is a measure of commitment to the organisation. A CLC
study showed that employees who are engaged perform 20% better and
are 87% less likely to leave the organisation.
What can we do?
Equip your managers and make them accountable Employees experience
the culture of the organisation through their managers. Two
employees with different managers can have completely distinct
experiences of the organisation and if the experience is a bad
one, the employee will leave no matter how good the pay is or how
strong your company brand is. Employees tend to leave managers and
not the organisation. The same CLC study found that of the top 25
levers for engagement, 19 are within the control of the manager.
Top Tips
-
Ensure that your managers have excellent feedback, coaching and
development skills.
-
Make your managers accountable for the turn over in their
departments and reward those who invest time developing their
staff.
-
Managers must help employees make the connection between their
individual goals and the strategy of the organisation – this
helps employees find meaning in their work.
-
Check the culture of the organisation through well-structured
opinion surveys and face-to-face feedback forums.
Provide systems and processes that support motivational factors
We
have already talked about the fact that money alone does not
motivate people, which is why throwing money at a retention
problem is only a short-term fix. However, if the salary is not
competitive or realistic, you won’t even be in the talent race
to start with. Hertzberg’s Two Factor Theory separates
‘motivational factors’ from ‘hygiene factors’. Hygiene
factors are the foundational requirements for an employee to feel
valued e.g. salary, working conditions and status. If they are
absent or undermined, the foundations of motivation will be
compromised however they do not intrinsically motivate.
Motivational factors include opportunities for personal growth,
recognition for achievement and the freedom to make a difference
or leave a mark. A recent study by the C.I.A. referred to in the
Sunday Times Business Times found that this is the case even with
black talent where perceptions are that affirmative action has led
to an increase in job hopping.
Top Tips
-
Have a framework or a process in place for developing
employees.
-
Provide tools that employees can access in order to support
their career development. For example on-line personal
assessments, e-learning modules, learning centres and mentors Þ
Equip individuals with the skills to take charge of their
development e.g. do they know what they want, do they understand
what their skills are and do they know how to network?
-
Equip managers to be able to have career development
discussions.
-
Maximise opportunities for employees to develop their skills
and move on in their careers When promotions are not possible
think project-based roles or lateral moves to broaden the base of
knowledge.
-
Provide opportunities for employees to run with innovative
projects where they have a degree of autonomy and can make the
decisions, take the risk and reap the rewards.
Check the ‘whole picture’
Look at what is happening in the rest of the organisation – what
other processes could be frustrating the retention of talented
employees?
Top Tips
-
Recruitment – are you giving employees a 'realistic job
preview' at the recruitment stage? Take care not to raise
expectations only to dash them later. Þ Disclosure of personal
details – defend your organisation against penetration by
headhunters and others seeking to poach your staff. Keep internal
e-mail addresses confidential and train telephonists to spot calls
from agents and to avoid giving them useful information.
-
Communications – An absence of information will start the
rumours flying so communicate regularly. Be honest in your
communications about the state of the business but make sure that
you celebrate successes. Employees who are made to feel that their
jobs are precarious may put a great deal of effort in to impress,
but they are also likely to be looking out for more secure
employment at the same time.
Done right, talent retention strategies can be very powerful
resulting in committed employees who will go the ‘extra mile’
to get the job done for the organisation.
‘What is the city, but the people’ William Shakespeare
Marion
Stone is an
experienced training and development consultant with over 10 years
of experience both nationally and internationally. Her
comprehensive understanding of training strategy and practice has
been acquired in various sectors including manufacturing, FMCG,
construction, media and travel. Her work has focussed
predominantly on middle managers although she has worked with
various levels within the business from the shop floor to senior
managers.
Marion
holds a first degree in chemistry (UCT) and an MSc in Strategic
Training and Development (
University
of
Surrey Roehampton
). She is accredited by the South African Board of Personnel
Practitioners as a Chartered HR Practitioner. Her diverse
background ensures a practical approach to development activities
that are joined up with organisational goals and processes.
She can be contacted at marion@cornerstoneconnections.co.za.
For regular
newsletters from Marion click on 'Subscribe to newsletter' on www.cornerstoneconnections.co.za.
Cornerstone
Connections builds
connections between the organisation and it’s employees and
between managers and their teams. Consultancy and training are
offered in the areas of:
Short
description
The engaging and retaining of your
skilled and talented employees has become an important strategic
consideration because it affects your competitiveness as an
organisation. Keywords
and relevant phrases
Accountability, coaching, communication, corporate culture,
development, feedback, motivation, processes, recruitment,
retention, skills development, systems, talent.
Back to ... Workinfo.com Human Resources Magazine Volume 1 Issue
7, 2007
Back to ... People Challenges in SMME Organisations in 2007 by
Marion Stone
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