Effective Talent Management: Onboarding, Utilizing & Offboarding
The prevalence of people spending their careers with a single employer has declined over the last five decades. Talent moves globally today without many of the burdens and stigmas faced in the past. In the 1950 – 2000 era people who worked for several organizations were often considered ‘job hoppers” or “one who cannot hold a job.” Career long stability has been more prevalent in the public sector, but even there it is becoming less common. Understanding why people move across employers is critical to determine whether movement is a good thing (functional) or a bad thing(dysfunctional).? HR professionals are charged with measuring turnover, to monitor what type of talent is moving and what the impact is on organizational effectiveness.
When facing a surly HR executive on a Monday morning in a Silicon Valley client I asked about what was troubling the person. This is risky business for a consultant, whose continued presence is contingent upon being wanted. The source of frustration was that one of their best software developers had gone to work for another organization down the street. Although one could understand frustration when a loss of talent impacts operations I was surprised. The typical mobility rate in the Valley at that time would make a McDonald’s workforce look stable. Further discussion shed light on the scenario. The person had resigned on the prior Friday after launching with someone from the other employer in the designated deli for tracking opportunity. Not giving notice is at the very minimum rude and unprofessional, but not uncommon in this context. The primary reason was that the ex-employee felt her current assignments were not utilizing her strengths or exposing her to the “shiny new stuff,” a common reason for turnover. Once that was understood the exit, although untimely, seemed not to warrant the HR Director’s blood pressure level. The source of the upset was finally uncovered… the person did not have a designated parking spot yet and had parked in the previous employer’s lot. This experience made it clear that even voluntary turnover of good people will elicit different reactions.
There has never been an “ideal” level of turnover identified, because the specific circumstances will determine the impact on an organization. The model below illustrates a way to break down the sources of turnover, enabling an organization to focus on dysfunctional avoidable turnover.
Factors Influencing Attraction, Satisfaction and Retention
Whether an employee is likely to join or leave an organization will depend on a long list of potential causes. Extensive research has identified the most prevalent causes. There are analytical software packages that may help to identify who might consider an exit by applying metrics capturing the most common causes.
Yet even when a systematic approach to minimizing dysfunctional and avoidable turnover is used there remains the question: what is a reasonable level?? At a conference the VP at a fast-food chain proudly spoke of several incentive programs used in their restaurants to control turnover. Their objective was to reduce the typical annual turnover from 300 – 400% to under 200%. Given the nature of the context, the nature of the work and the objectives of those doing the work this seemingly astronomical rate seems more reasonable. If a high school student wants to save for an expensive pair of athletic shoes the employment period may match the amount of time it takes to accumulate. From the organizational perspective if a replacement can be retrained within a shift or two and if there is an ample supply of candidates the acceptance of what would be intolerable turnover in another kind of organization may be manageable.
When consulting with Jet Propulsion Laboratory while they were completing the Mars Rover missions, I was amazed at the duration of employment within a group of highly skilled and in-demand people. It did not take long to find that people had psychologically “signed up” for the mission and had developed a sense of commitment both to the project and to their colleagues.? The mission objective was their single focus. Roles in long-term projects differ from work roles defined by job descriptions that enumerate recurring duties and responsibilities and performance standards. The Silicon Valley example sited earlier involved an employee that had finished a three-year project that created leading-edge software, giving the organization a competitive advantage (temporarily). Caught in a lull between engaging projects the employee was handling recurring work and found it to lack the rigor and defined aspirational objective.? After getting over the parking lot intrusion the HR Director made sure to let the departed know the company would stay in touch with new opportunities as they developed. The “our doors are revolving, and do not lock upon exit” mentality prevailed in the culture and fit both the nature of the work and those doing it.
Recruitment and Onboarding: critical retention factors
What a new employee experiences during the recruitment process and over the first one to two years has been shown to have an enormous impact on the ability of an organization to retain critical talent. Gallup research has identified “realistic job previews” as the best tool for minimizing unwanted turnover in the short term. RJPs are nothing more than telling candidates the truth and nothing but the truth. If recruiters consider their job to be marketing opportunities that will result in the highest acceptance rates there might be a focus on the good things associated with accepting an offer, while subduing any discussion of realities that may be viewed negatively. Providing a balanced view or the opportunity begins the relationship on an honest level and can serve to inoculate new hires against feelings the person was lied to when less desirable events occur.?
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The onboarding experience of new hires continues the obligation to equip them with a complete understanding of what is expected of them and what they can expect in return. Legal counsels often insist that new hires be told of their “at will” status, at least in the U.S. This means the employer can terminate the employee for any reason (or for no reason) and the employee is accorded the same free access to the exits. If the organization can convince the employees that it values its people the lack of employment security may be tolerated. Ensuring people they will be treated fairly and that their contributions will be recognized and rewarded is a stated commitment, but it must be demonstrated if it is to be believable.
Decades of consulting and doing research on what employees understand about their employer’s value proposition has shown the two workforce management elements that stand out as the least understood (or wrongly understood) are performance management and compensation management. Orientation sessions during onboarding often do a thorough job of explaining policies (though what they are, rather than why, is more common). The details of the employee benefits programs are also often covered in detail. How performance is defined, measured and rewarded is sometimes covered in a few paragraphs or modules that are brief overviews. Attempting to impart all knowledge required for a full understanding can rarely be done in less than one-hour segments on each of the two topics. Performance and compensation management start day one. An explanation of benefits programs may be of little use to someone who won’t be eligible for participation well into the future. This ignores the reality that the first performance review or pay action, if done badly, may alter an employees’ focus and trigger a search for alternative employment opportunities.
Offboarding is a clumsy term, but it suggests a defined process should be in place to remove employees.? Websites like Glassdoor can help employers polish their brand as a preferred employer or cause the brands luster to diminish. Even if comments posted are not fair and balanced. they are what potential aspirants see and are likely to believe. Involuntary terminations are the most common triggers of postings, although unfair performance appraisals and pay actions (or perceptions thereof) motivate many. How people are treated, and the legitimacy of the process used during terminations will shape their beliefs about whether things were done appropriately. Being known as a serial upsizer – downsizer does not generally have a positive impact on an employer’s brand. Unless large fluctuations in the workforce are a function of the nature of the work and the organization’s realities it subjects the workforce management philosophy to critical scrutiny.? There are justifiable terminations. Retaining employees who are not effective or whose capabilities are not needed is both poor economics and poor management.?If the criteria and standards used to decide retention are viewed as appropriate and iif they are administered fairly terminations can be accepted, albeit grudgingly.
The Bottom Line
Organizations must be able to attract, effectively utilize and retain the pool of talent it requires for success. There is also a continuing need to ensure the viability of the workforce into whatever future manifests.? There is no talent management system that is ideal for every organization, or for any organization at all times. Some organizations that engage in short-term projects may adopt a “film crew management” style that uses a continuously changing mix of capabilities. The objective is to have what is needed for each time. An organization requiring sustained focus on stable objectives over long periods may focus on building social and intellectual capital created by a stable workforce.?
What works is what is a good fit to the current context. When the context changes the size and nature of the workforce should be evaluated, to ensure it is suited to current realities.
by: Robert J. Greene, PhD
CEO at Reward $ystems, Inc., a Consulting Principal at Pontifex and a faculty member for DePaul University in their MSHR and MBA programs. Greene speaks and teaches globally on human resource management. His consulting practice is focused on helping organizations succeed through people. Greene has written 4 books and hundreds of articles about human resource management throughout his career.