Leadership Tip of the Day for Busy Leaders: Retention of Employees

This week at Wily Manager Jed & Bob chat abotu how individual leaders can hang on to their most valuable employees. Good help has always been hard to find, and as the economy recovers, the demand for top talent is going to worsen. You can’t wait for HR or your organization to fix this problem for you – what are YOU doing right now to ensure your top employees stay?

Monday's Tip (Retention Of Employees): Ask. You need to have a continuous discussion with key employees as to what they value, and what will keep them working for you. Here's a hint: It’s usually not money. Surveys and focus groups are usually good ways to ask questions like this.

Tuesday's Tip (Retention Of Employees): Do not Impose Your Values on Other People. Just because you value a fancy title, and an office in the corner doesn’t mean that others do. Often people of different generations may have completely different work values than you do.

Wednesday's Tip (Retention Of Employees): Let People Know They’ve Been Heard. After you have asked employees what they think, it's critical to get back to them as soon as possible to tell them what you heard. You need to simply state what you learned from your focus group or survey.

Thursday's Tip (Retention Of Employees): Act on Only a Small Number of Things. You will probably get a wide variety of feedback when you ask employees what will retain them. You need to pick one or two things that you can take action on, and do those things. Once you have done so, you can move on to another one or two.

Friday's Tip (Retention Of Employees): Invest in Leadership. Employees most often “quit their boss” rather than the organization. As such, you need to develop yourself as a leader if the organization will not help you.

3 Things to Remember about Improving the Retention Of Employees:

1. Do not wait for The HR department or the organization. Individual leaders need to take this upon themselves – particularly when the larger organization falls down on the job.
2. Other people might not value the same things as you. Do not project your own values on to others. They might not care about an inflated title and an office in the corner.
3. Do not commit to anything you are not prepared to do well. You will make employees cynical when you say you will do something and then don’t do it. Ensure you can live up to any commitments you make.

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