Retaining talent in ScaleUps

As March drew to a close, we brought together ScaleUp people leaders to discuss how to retain key talent - a topic that’s front of mind for all investors and ScaleUp leaders this year. With the backdrop of layoffs, restructures, and a focus on profitability, leaders are being asked to do more with less. Keeping top talent in the business is vital. The brilliant Geraldine Butler-Wright joined us as our guest speaker to kick things off and share her insights. We then tapped into the wisdom in the room and invited everyone to share their perspectives.?As ever, the Elevayte team have done their best to capture the key takeaways for those of you who weren’t able to join us.

·?????Focus on the fundamentals – It may sound basic, but does your business have clarity on the purpose, mission, vision, and values? When times are tough, and the pace or direction has changed, it’s critical that leadership are clear on these fundamentals. Most of your people are with you because they believe in what your company is trying to achieve. Having a clear and compelling narrative about the future helps your people understand how they fit in and why they want to stay. Crucially, leaders then need to walk the talk on the values, setting the tone for everyone else.

·?????Your retention strategy will be specific to you – Again, it may seem obvious but it’s important to not get hung up on what competitors or peers are doing. Your retention strategy will be specific to your business needs. Across our audience there was a huge variance of approaches to retention. For example, one company had a laser focus on high performers, whereas another company wanted to ensure that every single employee was happy as they were worried about the ripple effects of even one disgruntled team member. Your approach will be tailored to your strategy and future direction.

·?????‘Borrowing People’ – It’s well known that not everyone is going to be on your ScaleUp journey forever, and that’s ok. It’s rare that a ScaleUp is looking for 100% retention as roles often outgrow the original team. As one ScaleUp people leader put it ‘if we instead thought of borrowing people’ – we might have a different approach to career development and retention conversations. As another leader shared, the early team members are likely to be subject to the ‘horns and halo effect’ – especially with the leadership team. This can get in the way of evaluating whether you have the right people in the right seats. It’s important to have a proactive and grown-up approach when talking about people’s progression within the business.

·?????Differentiate between trust and loyalty – Lots of our audience had stories of leaders (often Founders) being overly focused on loyalty, especially with early employees. This focus on loyalty often muddied the water when it came to retention and development conversations. The best people leaders help the leadership team to focus less on loyalty and more on trust. It’s also the people function’s job to showcase the growing pool of top talent to the senior leadership team, to widen their circle of trust.

·?????De-risking is critical – As leaders are able to widen their circle of trust, it’s essential that knowledge is shared effectively in a ScaleUp. You never want to be in a position where one person or team alone holds business-critical information. Yes, you want to retain specialists, but you also don’t want to be in a position where if a team member left, a whole function would be impacted. In this vein, de-risking your business is another important lens for retention planning.

·?????It’s still all about psychological safety – The term may turn some people off, but this topic came up again and again. If you want your people to share honest feedback, to have ‘stay interviews’, or career progression conversations – they need to feel safe to do so. This of course is not the people function’s job alone, it’s about creating a culture of psychological safety and ensuring your managers are equipped to have these important conversations.

·?????Prioritise your managers -We all know the adage that people leave managers not companies – but it’s true. If retention is high on your priority list this year, then supporting and empowering your managers should be your first area of focus. Give them an easy, accessible toolbox that they can make their own. Co-create these solutions with your managers so that you’re providing the things they really need. Here, often the main investment needed is simply time. So take the time to work out what’s missing and what will make a difference.

·?????Don’t try to keep people who want to go – We asked Geraldine to share a key failure when it comes to retention. Instantly she came back with ‘keeping people who want to go’. In her experience this is nearly always a waste of time and effort for everyone involved. You might get someone to stay an extra quarter, but it rarely works for the long-term. One to ponder on as you think about who will stay and who will go this year.

·?????Listen and then act – Especially in times of change (which is pretty much constant in ScaleUps), it’s important that your people feel heard. There are lots of cost-effective ways to find out how people are feeling. Our audience shared examples of surveys, focus groups, and other feedback mechanisms. What made a difference here was collating the findings, and then communicating this back to people in a ‘you said, we did’ format. And then keep seeking the feedback and keep communicating. This makes people feel listened to and informed.

·?????Exec team & Founder exposure – Your leadership team can be a great asset in driving retention. Some of our audience shared examples of granting more access to the top team and Founders through a variety of mediums. These became opportunities for leaders to share more about the future, and for team members to feel part of the journey. Some companies also included reverse mentoring as a great way to build relationships across the business. It also helps if leaders can show some humility and vulnerability in the process – e.g., ‘we haven’t always got this right’, ‘we are making these changes’, and so on. Not all top team members will be visionary storytellers but find the ones who are and make the most of them.

Hopefully this has provided some food for thought as you think about retaining your key people this year. Thank you again to Geraldine and all the people leaders who joined us.

Our next in-person event is taking place in June in London, where we’ll be discussing how ScaleUps are evolving their approach to culture. We have a flurry of other events in the pipeline too. To find out more contact Kusia Pell