Retaining Talent

You’ve found your superstars and they rock. They’re the right fit for their job; the right fit for your organization; and you secretly hate them because they’re so perfect. But then you read the studies that state “21 million Americans will change jobs in 2012.”* You want to believe that your superstars don’t fall into that category… but do you know that? Aside from handcuffing them to their chairs (not recommended at all!), what can you do to keep your valued employees?

Tips:

• Show appreciation — employees want to feel appreciated. People make decisions based on emotions and then justify their decision with facts**. Feeling appreciated will help your employees feel valuable to the organization.
• Connect with top performers — working with your top performers to map out their career path shows that you see them in the future of the organization. Simple informal communications, such as one-on-one conversations, touch-base emails or a simple phone call, can help your employees feel more connected with the organization.

Example of retaining talent:

We’ve seen companies print thank you cards with their HR branding on the front and then HR or the manager can write a note or stick a gift card into the thank you as a way of sharing appreciation. It serves multiple purposes:

1. Shares the appreciation with the employee.
2. Reminds the employee that the company cares for them (this should also be reinforced through the HR branding).
3. Provides an opportunity to informally communicate with the employee.
4. Increases the employee’s perceived value to the organization.