The Overlooked Piece of the Employee Retention Puzzle
Chasing the problem of poor employee retention with dollars is like throwing money down the drain, according to People Keeper, Mark Holmes, who has lent his business savvy to well-known companies eager to learn how to keep the talent they attract. In his book, The People Keeper, Holmes, a management specialist explains why hiking pay doesn't work when it comes to keeping better employees, whose needs transcend the financial. "People want praise, not just pay, they want recognition, not just reward, and they want to feel valued, not just get a paycheck," says Holmes.
What's the real reason most employees head for greener employment pastures? The answer may surprise you. "The number one reason employees leave is because they work for a horrible boss," Holmes says. "An employee may go to work for what they think is a great company, but then leave when they can't escape the squeeze of Mr. Persnickety."
There are three fundamental needs that must be met to keep the best employees on the company team, according to Holmes. "People want to be challenged, they want to be fulfilled, and they want to be appreciated," he says. "If these needs are not being met, employees emotionally disconnect. Once this connection is broken, they are easy pickings for an employer who is willing to court them."
Ironically, the failure of an employee-manager relationship does leave an employee vulnerable to better pay offers from other employers. "For example, they start to think that if they're going to be undervalued where they currently work, they might as well be undervalued elsewhere and make more money," Holmes says. "The same is true if the job doesn't utilize their skills or provide the potential for a rewarding career path."
Paying attention to and gauging employees' levels of challenge, fulfillment and appreciation is essential if an employer expects to keep good employees over the long haul. "These elements can really create cohesion between the employee and manager if you have a manager that's employee-centered.," Holmes says. "Using pay raises to solve job discontentment is futile without meeting these other core needs." The first step in strengthening cohesion is to create open and regular employer-employee dialogue about job satisfaction. Holmes utilizes a 30-question People Keeper Survey as one way managers can monitor the satisfaction levels from their internal customers. "It's also a way to make sure that the company's retention efforts are getting the desired results," he says.
Addressing the organization's retention strategies as a whole is another important step in creating the cohesion that keeps good employees on the job. "You have to look at your organization and ask 'Have we made people-keeping a priority? Have we invested adequately in First-Choice Employer strategies? Have we developed a culture that's truly appealing to better performers?'" Holmes says. "The only way to permanently solve the problem of employee retention is to make sure employees are getting what they want from their time on the job."
For a free job satisfaction survey that your employees can take on-line with instant results, or free tips on cutting turnover visit: http://www.thepeoplekeeper.com/resources.html.
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ARTICLE BY: Christine Ballew-Gonzales.