Customize Your Employee Retention Program
As a husband I have spent a lot of time in the dark. I was hoping that when the movie “What Women Want” came out in theaters I would at last be given the answer to the question most men spend the first 5 years of marriage trying to figure out. What I have learned along the way however is how women vary greatly in exactly what it is they want. I guess the same thing could be said of men with a few exceptions.
Creating a company wide retention program for you organization is kind of like telling a room full of men that to make their wife feel appreciated they just need to start bringing home flesh flowers every week. There would be a percentage of wives that would be very happy at this, a percentage that would consider it a nice gesture but are really not that into flowers, and another percentage that might simply answer, “not tonight honey!” The point is each woman is different and one size will not fit all. The same is true of employee retention.
Company wide initiatives can have a hit and miss effect. Certainly for some, the new program will make a difference, but we are not interested in retaining just some. We want to have the best chance at keeping them all. The more individualized you can make your retention program; the more effective it is going to be. In fact the companies with the highest retention are the ones who spend the most time engaging each employee one on one. How on earth do I make an individualized retention program with limited time and budget?
Follow these four steps:
1. Set up meetings with each of your direct reports. These can be formal or informal; it’s up to you. During these meetings you want to find out three basic facts: What keeps them here, and what would drive them away and what would they like to do more of in the future. There are any ways to find out this information. Your questions can be direct or subtle. Here are some examples.
• What do you like most about your job here?
• What are the things about this organization that really motivate you?
• What would be something that might cause you to look elsewhere for employment?
• Is there anything here that you find challenging to your motivation?
• Are there any things you would like to see changed with your job or the team you work with?
• What would you like to do more of in the future?
Again these are just a few examples. You have to figure out the best way to gather this information. Is it in your office, or over a casual lunch? You can best decide based on your relationship and style.
2. Create a report for each employee that you interviewed and break it into three sections. In one area list all of their Motivators, the things they like most about their job and make them want to stay. The second section is for De-motivators. Here you want to list the things that if not dealt with might lead them to look elsewhere for work. The third area covers what the employee wants to see added to their job.
3. Make a commitment to eliminate at least one of their de-motivators over the next 30 days.
4. Make a commitment to do something about their desired future in the next 30 days.
See below for an example.
Employee: Jane Doe
Motivators
• Team culture (most everyone on the team is a lot of fun to work with)
• Weekly staff meetings are a lot of fun and motivational
• Believes in the mission of the organization
De-motivators
• Don’t get to give much input on direction of projects
• One of team members is incredibly challenging to work with
• Job can be mundane at times
What they would like to see happen:
Jane wants to get a chance to learn some management skills, and be more involved in some of the creative processes in our project management.
Commitment for next 30 days
- Pull Jane in on next project brainstorming meeting.
- Send Jane to an entry-level management seminar.
There are other things on Jane’s list but when you have another 10 employees to go through, its best to keep your commitments manageable. In this situation the manager is able to make two very easy commitments to Jane that will significantly enrich her job and her feelings about her future. Once you have completed these reports you will also want to look for any common themes among your employees. For example maybe seven other people all have a problem working with that one challenging team member. Those are numbers you don’t want to ignore.
The whole process is incredible simple and yet it is rarely done. It does take some time, but not nearly as much as finding a replacement for Jane. Review these reports in 90 days to check your own progress as a manager. You want to be eliminating the de-motivators while finding ways to increase the motivators. You should aim to do this process quarterly, as it will make an immediate impact on your retention and level of engagement for your employees.
Want more ideas on building workplaces with low turnover and high engagement? Contact James at info@ontothesummit.com of call us 1-866-590-9588
