7 Steps for right employee "Retention"

1.??????Emotional Paycheck is “Equally” important as Monetary Paycheck

Don’t get into a war of monetary pay check “only”. Make an employee value proposition and share with employees. Your compensation strategy should be well defined that at what percentile of market you want to operate. The salary should be attractive and market competitive but will never be enough for some employees. The compensation should be sustainable. There are companies who play on compensation alone but fail to sustain and still lose employees. If an employee is always asking for more and more despite being accommodated, that doesn’t fit in the “Right Employee” criteria to start with. Also note that salary is the right of the employee so paying that company is not doing that employee a favor. Enrich the compensation basket with monetary and non- monetary benefits. Don’t just assume that every employee is after money only. Try to understand the individual need and aspirations.

2.??????The Line managers Spectrum

This is the most important spectrum. Both extreme ends are very harmful for organizations as described below:-

a) The Controlling Type

We have all heard the cliché term that employees don’t leave companies they leave the bosses. ?This statement is more valid today than ever before. The line manager “intentions” about employees should be right. Most like their direct reports to say “Yes” only. They are the supreme powers. These line manager usually has a sweet face in front of their own bosses but they can be nasty with their direct reports. As Daniel Kahneman, famous psychologist and Nobel Prize winner said that “Most of human decisions are based on prejudice, beliefs or intuition but not on facts or logic”. Companies should be aware of this consciously.

b) The Pleasing Type

?The other type is equally detrimental for employee retention who the indifferent or unable type and just say what can we do the “X” person has said no. They refrain from negative feedback to the employee even if they are not competent or have performed well. They are in a pleasing match all the time. They make verbal commitments to employees and in decision time just say that the company has not approved the case putting the blame on someone else.

3.??????Direct Communication

Communicate with the employees as often as you can and please don’t use the” random speech” or “town Hall” approach. Many employees don’t speak in a group of people or may be they can’t. Pick up random people discreetly and talk to them in a one to one call. Please send a SMS in advance. This will give the employee to gather some points and collect thoughts. Make few random calls to check have a “Dip Stick” check. ?Some employees leave as they feel isolated. The employees who are not in a race to stand at your door are the best ones to talk to.

4.??????Don’t Micromanage

Groom your line managers to be able to let go of employees and be able to manage performance from a distance. The Gen Y, Gen Z, Millennials and Gen Alpha don’t like to be micromanaged. They just want to know the direction not the path. Let them create their own paths.

5.??????The God Father's Approach

There should be less and less “God fathers” in the company in fact no one should have this such power. Make decision making and collaborative teams and most employee related decisions like “Promotions” should be taken by that management team. Change the team mix after a year to involve more people in the decision making process.

6.??????Know your “STARS” and “ KEY CONTRIBUTORS”

Employees will always leave and the key win is to retain “Stars” and “Key contributors” identified by a systematic process. Hence the term “Right Employees’. The performance and potential management system should be neutral and well defined.?Many times line managers enter their favorites in the talent pipe line so the system should be linked to business output. ?It is important to weed out the cribbers. There is a group of employee in every company who will be into “cribbing”, no matter what the company does for them. These employees are usually neither high performers nor high potential.

7.??????Know your “ Industry”

Know the employee attrition parameters of your industry as some will always have a high rate of attrition. One retention percentage will never fit all industries. Make pragmatic percentages considering company’s strengths and challenges. Employees are smart and they know their demand in the market. ?Some will leave just to experience life and other companies. Give them a good farewell and they might come back. Even if they don’t they will not speak ill about your company.