Dont Let the Good Ones Get Away vol-un-teer - n. 1. A person who performs or gives his services of his own free will.. Red Cross workers; certain firemen; Boy Scout troop leaders. These are the types of people we typically think of as volunteers. But whether you realize it or not, this term can also be used to accurately describe your best and brightest employees. You know who they are - that select group of people working for your company who are so skilled, they could work almost anywhere they chose. Have you ever stopped to think why these superstars stay working for you? Turnover can devastate an organization. But what can you do to keep your employees from "jumping ship?" This article addresses some of the primary factors leading to turnover, and suggests some great ideas for motivating and retaining your best employees. Factors Leading to Turnover Turnover is a source of major anxiety for managers. When employees quit, supervisors are left to wonder what they could have done to keep their staff happier. Many managers immediately point to money as the culprit behind employee turnover. But experts warn that increasing compensation alone won't improve loyalty. When an employee is already dissatisfied with his or her job, increasing compensation may only cause more stress. Ultimately this stress, combined with feelings of guilt, can cause an employee to quit. To reduce turnover, you must first seek to understand the primary causes behind it. Here are a few of the most common reasons cited: Significant Change - In an organization, change can take many forms. Events like mergers, acquisitions and reengineering breed insecurity among employees. They may not fully understand or accept their new responsibilities, and may even question their future with the company. Likewise, changes in management may also cause turmoil. Employees with a history of loyalty to one manager may not necessarily feel as loyal to another. Factors such as a manager's personality and management style can wield a strong influence over employees' motivation and performance. Bottom line, change is threatening. If not handled properly, it can lead to job dissatisfaction and turnover. When people are threatened, their immediate reaction is to run "When people are uncertain about what's going to happen to them, they tend to run." - Don Robinson, Manager, Pritchett & Associates. Poor Hiring Practices - When filling a position, hiring authorities often prepare a description detailing the duties of the job. They look for candidates who have the proper qualifications, and all but ignore psychological and behavioral factors which influence performance. When you hire someone, you are hiring more than just qualifications. You are really hiring the candidate's behavior. If a person's behavioral traits do not fit well with your corporate culture, that employee is likely to experience difficulty performing at an acceptable level. Turnover is the most common result . Lack of Challenge or Opportunity - For true professionals, fulfillment lies in the work itself. As a rule, knowledge workers thrive on exciting projects that challenge their abilities. Not surprisingly, if forced to choose between challenging work in an average environment, or mundane work in an outstanding environment, most skilled employees will lean toward the challenging work. While it's nearly impossible to make every day of work an adventure, managers sometimes overlook the importance of providing ongoing opportunity for their employees. If employees become bored or complacent, they're more likely to begin looking elsewhere . Bureaucracy and micro-management - Today's worker is intolerant of bureaucracy. When professionals believe the time and energy required to manage work is greater than the time they have for the work itself, productivity plummets and frustration soars. Understandably, employees dislike the thought of too many meetings, or bosses who supervise too closely. Control like this violates their sense of independence and professionalism. Management ignores factors other than money - While money is an important factor in motivating employees, it is not the only one. Often factors inside a company like recognition, time off, trust, quality of management and opportunities for growth influence employees' career decisions. When an organization ignores the importance of these emotional factors, it may force employees to look outside the company for sources of motivation. And if satisfactory compensation becomes difficult to achieve, these employees are more likely to quit. Given the fact that coercion is not an option, what can you do to retain the good employees you have? The remainder of this article addresses this very question. Improving Employee Retention Improve your hiring process - Some experts estimate that 75% of managers' efforts to prevent turnover should focus on improving the hiring process. This is based on the assumption that bad hires are the primary cause of turnover. In the grand scheme of things, you either pay now and develop a well-planned recruitment and selection process, or you pay later by using a hit-and-miss process which may translate into higher turnover rates. One key to making better hiring decisions, and reducing turnover, is to focus on behavioral traits. This is a term used to describe how a person thinks, acts, behaves or interacts with others. When you hire someone, you are really hiring his or her behavior. Every position within a company requires different behavioral traits. For example, good supervisors, managers, executives or sales people share a number of traits, such as: Assertive - they are straightforward; they make things happen and get them done. Relating - they know how to work well with others. Achieving - they have a strong desire for independence and recognition. Integrity - they earn the trust of others. To improve your selection process, consider incorporating behavioral hiring concepts. Before recruiting candidates, make a list of behaviors that benchmark for success in the available position - a behavioral profile. To get an idea of which traits to include in your profile, examine the behavior of your top employees in that type of position. When your profile is complete, use structured interview questions to examine trait information. If you require additional assistance in developing a behavioral profile or structured interview, a staffing service or other hiring expert will be able to provide assistance. Make Work Challenging - As leader, it's the manager's obligation to identify opportunities for making work more exciting and meaningful. Creating these opportunities is challenging, at best. To generate ideas, form a users group of your best customers. Bring them together with your top employees to cultivate new applications, products or services. For knowledge workers, the challenge of bringing these ideas to fruition will make going to work exciting. Minimize Red Tape - Remove management burden from employees by keeping roles and processes streamlined: Avoid elaborate project documentation. Make sure any reporting or other record keeping     is really necessary - if you won't refer back to the information, don't keep track of it. Keep meetings focused on pre-planned agendas. This will make meetings shorter and     task-oriented. Involve only the parties critical to accomplishing a specific task. Skilled employees' time     is much better spent doing work as opposed to managing it. Develop a formal plan to manage change - When you're looking to make a small change, it can often be done with only minor problems. But when change requires a major paradigm shift, it can cause a high degree of trauma - especially in an organizational setting. When you anticipate a major change in your organization - be it an acquisition, change in management, or internal restructuring - you must develop a plan to ensure good employees do not wind up "casualties of war." In essence, you need to implement a plan to "re-recruit" your staff, using the same amount of energy and commitment you'd use to bring on a new recruit. To retain key employees, a good plan should address the most important questions they are likely to ask, such as: Whom exactly will I work for? Will this change affect my compensation or daily responsibilities in any way? Will our products or services change at all? When will this change take place? What's in it for me? By anticipating questions like these, and providing adequate answers, you can allay the fear, insecurity and stress your employees will experience. The more positive the experience, the less likely your employees will be to leave. Provide frequent rewards and recognition to motivate employees - Results of a recent survey by the Council of Communication Management confirm what almost every manager already knows - recognition for a job well done is the top employee motivator. But what motivates one employee may not necessarily motivate another. To effectively use recognition and rewards as a means of improving retention, you must first match the reward to the person. Start by finding out the individual's personal preferences, and reward him or her in a way he or she truly finds rewarding. In addition, the reward or recognition must be timely and specific. It must be given as soon as possible after the behavior or achievement to have the desired effect. "Any time you make people feel better about themselves, you are building strong motivation." Rebecca Boyle, Manager Training Services, Empire of America. Guidelines for rewards and recognition - When designing a reward and recognition program, keep the following guidelines in mind: The program should be in line with your company's values and business strategy. Employees should participate in the program's development and execution. Since what is meaningful to one employee may not be as meaningful to someone else,     the program should include some variety. The programs should be highly visible and public. The programs should be easy to implement, and should be changed frequently. A quick-hitting list of no-cost and low-cost motivators: -Call an employee into your office just to thank him or her - don't discuss any other issue. -Coordinate a surprise celebration of the achievements of an employee or group of employees. -Give an outstanding employee a three day weekend. -Send birthday cards signed by the CEO to your employees' homes. -Acknowledge individual employees' achievements by using their names when preparing status  reports. -Develop a "behind the scenes" award, specifically for employees who are not usually in the  limelight. -Name a continuing recognition award after an outstanding employee. -Wash the employee's car in the parking lot during lunch. All of these suggestions relate to a key concept mentioned earlier - often the best ways to motivate and retain employees have nothing to do with money! Forms of recognition such as these go way beyond the power of cash. They tie employers and employees emotionally, and foster stronger interpersonal relationships within the company. These ties go a long way in promoting employee loyalty. Foster professional development of your staff - In reality, most employees want to work for managers who challenge them and develop their talents. People are less likely to leave organizations where they know managers really care about their development. This may sound "touchy-feely," but non-monetary factors such as professional development play an important role in promoting loyalty. Use emotional and other non-monetary motivators to your advantage, by making professional development an integral part of your operations. Consider the following: Offer tuition reimbursement as a performance incentive. Pick up the tab for course work     related to an employee's current job or desired career path. Send top performers to seminars or workshops outside the company that cover topics     they are interested in. Allow these employees to hone their skills in areas where they     feel they need the most help. Provide employees with literature, videos or tapes related to your business. Help keep     them on top of the latest trends in your industry. You may even want to set time aside     to review these materials and exchange ideas on what you've learned. Obviously, these suggestions will make your employees better qualified to perform their jobs. But what some managers don't realize is that investing in professional development is highly motivating for employees. Devoting time and money to professional development shows employees that management is willing to invest in their future. It conveys to an employee a sense of worth well beyond the weekly paycheck. Reward longevity - This suggestion is not universally popular. Many employers would argue that you should never reward longevity - only performance. This may be true from a productivity standpoint. But when it comes to reducing turnover, it's important that your staff realizes you value loyal employees. These rewards can take many forms, from an engraved pen to additional paid vacation. Whatever incentive you choose, make sure you celebrate employment milestones publicly - you want your entire staff to know how much you appreciate loyalty . The Upside to Turnover This entire article has focused on ways to reduce employee turnover. But, not all turnover is necessarily bad. In fact, some managers even encourage it. What are the upsides to turnover? New employees can bring fresh ideas to a company. They can bring positive     experiences and new perspectives to the table. Not all employees who leave a company are top performers who quit. As upset as     managers can be about losing a great employee, they can be just as ecstatic about     being free of a lousy one. Without turnover, an organization can suffer from stagnancy, boredom, and     complacency. New employees can make it easier for management to implement much     needed changes. So what is a healthy amount of turnover? Only you can decide what's right for your organization. As a general rule of thumb, a healthy turnover rate is somewhere between the two extremes - one that will invigorate your organization, but not undermine its ability to achieve its objectives. This article is brought to you compliments of Central Michigan Staffing © 1998. All rights reserved.

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