How to Retain Your Top Talent

There is no need to underline the importance of retaining your top talent in your team and organization. As a leader, you are already aware of this. However, there is a need for strategies that will maximize your retention rate. In this article, you will learn two simple, yet effective, ways that will significantly increase your chances of keeping your best players:

1) Listen

Although a lot has been written and said about the value of listening to your team's needs, much fewer applicable insights have been introduced on how to listen. First, and most important, is genuine care. As a leader, this is the quality that your people will appreciate most. Because we have already transitioned into a new era of leadership: a transition from force-based leadership to power-based leadership; from fear and scarcity to passion and purpose; from control and indifference to freedom and care.

How much do you care about your team members' fulfillment, success, and growth? And how do you actually demonstrate it? Next time they tell you they are doing "OK", "fine", or anything else, be more curious and follow up with the question like "I mean, how are you really?", "What do you mean by 'OK'/'fine'", or "How does this look/feel like". The objective here is to create an emotional safe space where they feel that they can share with you anything that's going on in their lives, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Furthermore, ask them every day "What can I do for you today?". Listen carefully and take notes. Then, follow up with another question: "Thank you for sharing! Anything else I can do for you?" Do take the latter into serious consideration because quite a few people tend to avoid asking for the help they really need at the first ask. Last but not least, how's their work-life balance? What kind of challenges are they facing outside work? At the end of the day, the best way to practice and show genuine care is by treating your team as family. That is, as you treat people you care about and with whom you know you have a long, meaningful relationship.

One more thing about genuine care: Take the time necessary to learn everything about their dreams, aspirations, goals, interests, values, favorite skills, favorite strengths, vision, purpose, and passions. Work closely with them to develop a fully customized career development plan. Do they truly enjoy their current role, or do they wish to do something else? And what can you do to help them transition into a new path inside the company? In other words, you need to be more than their manager. You need to be their career coach, their confidante. Do consider further support from career coaches and talent consultants because they can provide you with effective tools and insights that will be of value to your team's personal and professional growth. Remember, it's not about you, but about your team, so do whatever it takes for their career development.

Besides genuine care, it is also paramount to actively and consistently pursue feedback as a leader. You might expect that people are ready and willing to give you feedback, but this is far from the truth. Why? The reasons vary, from power dynamics and fear of retaliation to a person's tendency to avoid confrontation.

On the other hand, it is your job and your responsibility to know how your people perceive you and how comfortable they actually feel to share constructive feedback with you. Truth to be told, only a very small percentage of people will actually do that, because it simply takes a lot of courage to speak truth to power. So, instead of assuming that everything is ok and that everyone thinks that you're doing a great job, simply ask them: "What would you like to see more from me? And please be honest."

Similarly, you can ask them about their workload and what other tools could make a difference in their day-to-day work. Also, it is important to establish the best structure possible to consistently pursue constructive feedback. You can do this by scheduling a weekly or biweekly meeting, where you will have the chance to both ask for feedback and check in with them. But what's the next step after you practice genuine care and receive constructive feedback? This brings us to the second strategy that will maximize your retention rate:

2) Act on the Feedback You Receive

Otherwise, all the energy and time you have invested in listening to your team will be of no avail. And this would be just the beginning. You will also jeopardize the respect that your colleagues have for you. Remember: As a leader, you are always on stage. Do you want your people to feel heard and seen, or ignored and neglected? Do you want them to look up to or down on you? Your choice. It is always your choice.