Effective employee retention strategies, key to reduce attrition in BPO firms

Intelligent employers always realise the importance of retaining the best talent. Retaining talent has never been so important in the Indian scenario; however, things have changed in recent years. In prominent Indian metros at least, there is no dearth of opportunities for the best in the business, or even for the second or the third best. Retention of key employees and treating attrition troubles has never been so important to companies. In an intensely competitive environment, where HR managers are poaching from each other, organisations can either hold on to their employees tight or lose them to competition. For gone are the days, when employees would stick to an employer for years for want of a better choice. Now, opportunities abound. It is a fact that, retention of key employees is critical to the long-term health and success of any organisation. The performance of employees is often linked directly to quality work, customer satisfaction, increased product sales and even to the image of a company. Whereas the same is often indirectly linked to, satisfied colleagues and reporting staff, effective succession planning and deeply embedded organisational knowledge and learning. Employee retention matters, as, organisational issues such as training time and investment, costly candidate search etc., are involved. Hence, failing to retain a key employee is a costly proposition for any organisation. Various estimates suggest that losing a middle manager in most organisations, translates to a loss of up to five times his salary. This might be worse for BPO companies where fresh talent is intensively trained and inducted and then further groomed to the successive stages. In this scenario, the loss of a middle manager can often prove dear.

Why people leave In an industry like BPO, the work can often be monotonous and opportunities for career growth minimal. So when opportunities beckon, the high rate of attrition is not surprising. However, there are some common reasons that especially cause people to leave. Surveys have listed night shifts, money, inability to handle various types of stress, monotonous work; company policies, lack of career growth, problems with those in senior positions etc., as some of the most common reasons listed by BPO employees, as reasons for quitting jobs. Finding the cause Have a survey among employees to find the reasons for attrition. If possible, have exit interviews to know the reasons for resignations. If a key employee resigns, it should be taken up on a priority basis and the senior management should meet the employee to discuss his reasons for leaving and evaluate whether his issues bear merit and whether they can be resolved. Steps can be taken to avoid similar reasons from occurring in the case of others, in similar positions. What can be done? Though, it is impossible to scrap problems totally, there are certain ways by which BPO managements can tackle attrition. Since the BPO environment is unique, these companies need to develop innovative ways to tackle them. Human Resources department of a BPO must address these issues, and along with the management need to evolve strategies to retain employees at all levels. At the time of Recruitment

Select the right people through competency screening. Use psychometric tests to get people who can work at night and handle the

monotony.

Offer an attractive, competitive, benefits package. Make clear of performance enhanced incentives and other benefits. Keep these promises, later. BPOs can set up offices in smaller towns, or recruit from there, where opportunities are few.

At the office

An employees work must be communicated to him clearly and thoroughly. The details of the job, its importance, the way it should be done, maximum time that can be allotted to complete it etc., must be made clear. If there are changes to any of these, let the employee know at the earliest

Give the employees necessary tools, time and training. The employee must have the tools, time and training necessary to do their job well - or they will move to an employer who provides them.

Have a person to talk to each employee at regular intervals. Listen and solve employee complaints and problems, as much as possible. Fairness and impartial treatment by seniors is important. Help employees manage stress, both at work and if possible, off work too. Give them special concessions, when in need. Treat the employees well & provide dignity of job.

The quality of the supervision an employee receives is critical to employee retention. Frequent employee complaints arise on this issue. Provide the employees a stress free work environment. People want to enjoy their work. Make work and work place cheerful and fun-filled as possible. Make sure that employees know that their work is important for the organisation. Feeling valued by their employer is key to high employee motivation and morale. Recognize their strengths and help them to improve those they lack.

Employees must feel rewarded, recognised and appreciated. Giving periodical raise in salary or position helps to retain staff. Offer excellent career growth prospects. Encourage & groom employees to take up

higher positions/openings. If they dont get opportunity for growth within the organisation, they will look elsewhere for it.

Work-life balance initiatives are important. Innovative and practical employee policies pertaining to flexible working hours and schemes, granting compassionate and urgency leave, providing healthcare for self, family and dependants, etc. are important for most people. Work-life balance policies would have a positive impact on retaining skilled employees, as well as on attracting high-calibre recruits.

Implement competency models, which are well integrated, with HR processes like selection & recruitments, training, performance appraisal and potential appraisal.

Night shifts 1. Have doctors to advise them about health problems and the ways and means to deal with them. Provide dietary advice: - Dos and donts. Help them to maintain their health. 2. Organise programmes where people from other professions, who have night shifts talk to BPO employees about their experiences. Other organisations like Army, Railways, Hospitals and various government services etc., also have night shifts. 3. Organise training, counselling and development programmes for employees. Tell them that their work is important. Encourage the best performers to share their experiences with others and guide others. The emphasis is to create the desire to learn, enjoy and be passionate about the work they do. 4. If needed, provide special lights in the office/workplace to ensure that their bodies get sufficient vitamin D. 5. One distinct disadvantage of night shifts is the sense of disorientation with friends and family members. Concentrate on this problem and develop innovative solutions and ways to deal with it. Additional holidays for work on national holidays and festivals, holidays for family functions etc., can go a long way.

Conclusion As they say, happiness can be contagious. So make sure the work place is a happy one, which every employee would love to spend time. Human resources department along with senior management must take steps to make sure of this. Effective human resource management must be practiced at both strategic and day-to-day levels. HR management practices must reflect company policy as to how it will manage and relate to its employees. The HR strategy should evolve from a transactional support role to partnering in the organisations business strategy. HR must take steps to be aware of employee problems and try to solve them, creatively.

Employee retention
Employee retention refers to the ability of an organization to retain its employees. Employee retention can be represented by a simple statistic (for example, a retention rate of 80% usually indicates that an organisation kept 80% of its employees in a given period). However, many consider employee retention as relating to the efforts by which employers attempt to retain employees in their workforce. In this sense, retention becomes the strategies rather than the outcome. In a Business setting, the goal of employers is usually to decrease employee turnover, thereby decreasing training costs, recruitment costs and loss of talent and organisational knowledge. By implementing lessons learned from key organizational behavior concepts employers can improve retention rates and decrease the associated costs of high turnover. However, this isn't always the case. Employers can seek "positive turnover" whereby they aim to maintain only those employees who they consider to be high performers.

[edit] Retention Strategies In order to retain employees and reduce turnover managers must meet the goals of employees without losing sight of the organization's goals, thereby creating a "win-win" situation. Valance and expectancy theories provided some of the earlier guidance for retaining employees. Valence is the degree to which the rewards offered by an organization align with the needs employees seek to fulfill. High valence indicates that the needs of employees are aligned well with the rewards system an organization offers. Conversely, low valence is a poor alignment of needs with rewards and can lead to low job satisfaction and thereby increase turnover and decrease retention. Expectancy theory details has several factors that can lead to high job satisfaction and high retention rates for organizations. Increasing expectancy in an organization can be done by training employees and thereby making them more confident in their abilities. Increasing instrumentality within an organization will be part of implementing an effective rewards system for attainment of specific goals and accomplishments.[1] However, while these theories may be valid they provide little practical assistant for business managers or human resource practitioners. More modern studies relating to employee engagement demonstrate that by developing a range of strategies that address various drivers of engagement, many positive outcomes can be achieved. These outcomes include higher profitability, improved customer satisfaction, lower absenteeism and lower accident rates as well as higher employee retention. [edit] Retention and Motivation Theory Retention has a direct and causal relationship with employee needs and motivation. Applying a motivation theory model, such as Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, is an effective way of identifying effective retention protocol.[2] Each of the five tiers of Maslows hierarchy of needs relates to optimal retention strategy. Since Maslows introduction of his motivation model, organizations have been employing strategies attempting to stimulate each of the five humanitarian needs described above to optimize retention rates. When applied to the organizational model, meeting the selfactualization and esteem needs of an employee tend to correlate to better retention. Physiological, safety, and social needs are important as well, however, and must be addressed to better the work environment. While implementing a retention strategy is ideal, successful satisfying all five needs of employees is not only difficult, but also expensive. That being said,

managers who attempt to maximize employee need coverage tend to be more concerned with employee satisfaction.[3] [edit] Herzberg's Theory An alternative motivation theory to Maslows Hierarchy of Needs is the Motivator-Hygiene (Herzbergs) theory. The theories have overlap, but the fundamental nature of each model differs. While Maslows Hierarchy implies the addition or removal of the same need stimuli will enhance or detract from the employees satisfaction, Herzbergs findings indicate that factors garnering job satisfaction are separate from factors leading to poor job satisfaction and employee turnover. Herzbergs system of needs is segmented into motivators and hygiene factors. Like Maslows Hierarchy, motivators are often unexpected bonuses that foster the desire to excel. Hygiene factors include expected conditions that if missing will create dissatisfaction. Examples of hygiene factors include bathrooms, lighting, and the appropriate tools for a given job. Employers must utilize positive reinforcement methods while maintaining expected hygiene factors to maximize employee satisfaction and minimize retention.[4] [edit] Equity Theory Equity Theory realizes the humanitarian concern with fairness and equality. While one party may be given motivational rewards and opportunities, the individual will assess the work-reward ratio based on similar, external positions. If the individual feels the rewards and motivators do not meet the standard, the employee will either lose motivation, request more compensation, or leave their current position in search of more favorable benefits. Because of this, firms must not only recognize internal obligations, but also attempt to equalize or outperform competition in meeting employee needs.[5]

Employee Retention
What is an Organization ? A set up where individuals come together and work in unison to achieve a common goal is called as organization. Individuals working together in an organization to earn their bread and butter as well as make profits are called employees. Employees are the lifeline of an organization and contribute effectively to its successful running and profit making. An organization cant survive if the employees are not serious about it and are more concerned about their personal interests. What is Employee Retention ? Employee retention refers to the various policies and practices which let the employees stick to an organization for a longer period of time. Every organization invests time and money to groom a new joinee, make him a corporate ready material and bring him at par with the existing employees. The organization is completely at loss when the employees leave their job once they are fully trained. Employee retention takes into account the various measures taken so that an individual stays in an organization for the maximum period of time. Why do Employees Leave ? Research says that most of the employees leave an organization out of frustration and constant friction with their superiors or other team members. In some cases low salary, lack of growth prospects and motivation compel an employee to look for a change. The management must try its level best to retain those employees who are really important for the system and are known to be effective contributors. It is the responsibility of the line managers as well as the management to ensure that the employees are satisfied with their roles and responsibilities and the job is offering them a new challenge and learning every day.

Let us understand the concept of employee retention with the help of an example:
Misha was a talented employee who delivered her best and completed all her work within the desired time frame. Her work lacked errors and was always found to be innovative and thought provoking. She never interfered in anybody elses work and stayed away from unnecessary gossips and rumours. She avoided loitering around at the workplace, was serious about her work and no doubts her performance was always appreciable. Greg, her immediate boss never really liked Misha and considered her as his biggest threat at the workplace. He left no stone unturned to insult and demotivate Misha. Soon, Misha got fed up with Greg and decided to move on. Situation 1 - The HR did not make any efforts to retain Misha and accepted her resignation. Situation 2 - The HR immediately intervened and discussed the several issues which prompted Misha to think for a change. They tried their level best to convince Misha and even appointed a new boss to make the things better for her. Situation 1 would most likely leave the organization in the lurch. It is not easy to find an employee who gels well with the system and understands the work. Hiring an employee, training him and making him fit to work in an organization incur huge costs and thus sincere efforts must be made to retain the employee. Every problem has a solution and the management must probe into the exact reasons of an employees displeasure. Employees sticking to an organization for a longer time tend to know the organization better and develop a feeling of attachment towards it. The employees who stay for a longer duration are familiar with the company policies, guidelines as well as rules and regulations and thus can contribute more effectively than individuals who come and go. Employee retention techniques go a long way in motivating the employees for them to enjoy their work and avoid changing jobs frequently.

Employee Retention, Employee Engagement & Talent Management Strategies

The issue of employee retention is once again becoming a major issue for many businesses. The talent shortage that plagued employers at the height of the economic boom has not vanished. It may be off the radar now, but it is returning strong as ever. What are you doing to improve employee retention? Successful organizations realize by having an effective employee retention plan will help them sustain their leadership and growth in the marketplace. Good organizations make employee retention a core element of their talent management strategy and organizational development process. Those that fail to make employee retention a priority are at risk of losing their top talented people to the competition. Chart Your Course International helps organizations design employee retention programs to recruit, manage, retain and engage the best workforce available by providing cutting-edge talent management strategies, hiring assessments, consulting, employee retention training and talent management programs. We help organizations design employee retention programs to reduce employee turnover and improve productivity. Greg Smith is a leading authority on employee retention and a former Examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award--America's highest award for organizational excellence.

Services Chart Your Course International Provides

For the past two decades, we have helped executives design employee retention strategies that provide a comprehensive road map for not only attracting and keeping talented employees, but for motivating and engaging them to achieve a higher level of performance. We are one of the few organizations providing a one-stop service for your employee retention and talent management needs. BETTER MATCHING -- With our specialized employee selection assessments, we show you how to spot and develop people who "fit" with the job description, the company culture, and the supervisor or manager. We also provide retention tools and surveys to measure employee satisfaction and exit surveys. BETTER MANAGERS -- Our employee retention training programs help insure managers learn how to build teams, manage performance, develop individuals to their full potential, and help them achieve success on the job. Read our employee retention articles. BETTER INTEGRATION -- We can show you how to design effective

employee orientation and onboarding programs to build enthusiastic employees that stay longer. BETTER CONNECTIONS -- Our talent management programs help measure employee and job satisfaction individual needs and helps build productive relationships with their co-workers and supervisors. BETTER CULTURE -- We have discovered the eight critical drivers employees need and expect from their job that drive high employee retention. BETTER ACCOUNTABILITY FOR EMPLOYEE TURNOVER -- Our system makes it easy for HR and line management to capture critical information such as retention plans, training needs, and job performance, and communicates this information to the entire management team for accountability. To help you become better at retaining your workforce, we are offering a free employee retention training course. You will receive many tips and ideas to help you with your retention efforts. Please click here for more information.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"Four hours of my time in your seminar has resulted in a 51% improvement of our revenues during the first quarter . . . Our teams work smart as well as hard and each member is having a lot more fun working together. You are the deal of the century!"
Dave Dibble Director of Marketing, Sunshine Companies

"As a result of your training we are now seeing measurable improvements in reduced turnover, increased sales, better customer service and improved communication and morale of all concerned."
David Doss President, Bates Ace Hardware

"Realizing that the talent crisis isnt likely to go away. . .Greg Smith provides a comprehensive road map for not only attracting and keeping talented employees, but for motivating them to achieve a higher level of performance. Chock full of practical ideas and real-world examples--a must-read for any leader who wants to create a highretention business that achieves results."

David Shadovitz Editor-in-Chief, Human Resource Executive magazine

Employee Retention How to Retain Employees

Tips
o o o o

Offer a competitive benefits package, including health and life insurance and a retirement plan. Provide employees financial incentives such as raises, bonuses and stock options. Consider hiring a human-resources manager if your company is nearing 100 employees. Make sure employees know what's expected of them and how they can grow within your company.

Hiring employees is just a start to creating a strong work force. Next, you have to keep them. High employee turnover costs business owners in time and productivity. Try these tactics to retain your employees. Offer a competitive benefits package that fits your employees needs. Providing health insurance, life insurance and a retirement-savings plan is essential in retaining employees. But other perks, such as flextime and the option of telecommuting, go a long way to show employees you are willing to accommodate their outside lives. Provide some small perks. Free bagels on Fridays and dry-cleaning pickup and delivery may seem insignificant to you, but if they help employees better manage their lives, theyll appreciate it and may be more likely to stick around. Use contests and incentives to help keep workers motivated and feeling rewarded. Done right, these kinds of programs can keep employees focused and excited about their jobs. Conduct stay interviews. In addition to performing exit interviews to learn why employees are leaving, consider asking longer-tenured employees why they stay. Ask

questions such as: Why did you come to work here? Why have you stayed? What would make you leave? And what are your nonnegotiable issues? What about your managers? What would you change or improve? Then use that information to strengthen your employeeretention strategies. Promote from within whenever possible. And give employees a clear path of advancement. Employees will become frustrated and may stop trying if they see no clear future for themselves at your company. Foster employee development. This could be training to learn a new job skill or tuition reimbursement to help further your employees education. Create open communication between employees and management. Hold regular meetings in which employees can offer ideas and ask questions. Have an open-door policy that encourages employees to speak frankly with their managers without fear of repercussion. Get managers involved. Require your managers to spend time coaching employees, helping good performers move to new positions and minimizing poor performance. Communicate your businesss mission. Feeling connected to the organizations goals is one way to keep employees mentally and emotionally tied to your company. Offer financial rewards. Consider offering stock options or other financial awards for employees who meet performance goals and stay for a predetermined time period, say, three or five years. Also, provide meaningful annual raises. Nothing dashes employee enthusiasm more than a paltry raise. If you can afford it, give more to your top performers. Or, if you dont want to be stuck with large permanent increases, create a bonus structure where employees can earn an annual bonus if they meet prespecified performance goals. Make sure employees know what you expect of them. It may seem basic, but often in small companies, employees have a wide breadth of responsibilities. If they dont know exactly what their jobs entail and what you need from them, they cant perform up to standard, and morale can begin to dip. Hire a human-resources professional. If your company is nearing 100 employees, consider hiring a human-resources director to oversee and streamline your employee structure and processes. Putting one person in charge of managing employee benefits, perks, reviews and related tasks takes a huge load off of you and makes sure employees are treated fairly. HR managers are also more up to date on employment laws and trends. They can set up various programs and perks you may not have known existed.

Employee Retention Strategies

Retention Home Employee Retention Strategies The basic practices which should be kept in mind in the employee retention strategies are: 1. Hire the right people in the first place. 2. Empower the employees: Give the employees the authority to get things done. 3. Make employees realize that they are the most valuable asset of the organization. 4. Have faith in them, trust them and respect them. 5. Provide them information and knowledge.

6. Keep providing them feedback on their performance. 7. Recognize and appreciate their achievements. 8. Keep their morale high. 9. Create an environment where the employees want to work and have fun. These practices can be categorized in 3 levels: Low, medium and high level.

<Low>

<Medium >

<High>

Low Level Employee Retention Strategies

Retention Home Low Level Strategies

and thank-you cards from supervisors

-cards or cards sent to spouses/families

Recognizing professional as well as personal significant events

Wedding gifts Anniversary gifts New born baby gifts Scholarships for employees children Get well cards/flowers Birthday cards, celebrations and gifts

o o o o

Home insurance plans Legal insurance Travel insurance Disability programs

o o o

Discounts in cinema halls, museums, restaurants, etc. Retail store discounts Computer peripherals purchase discounts

Providing workplace conveniences

o o

On-site ATM On-site facilities for which cost is paid by employees

laundry facility for bachelors Shipping services

o o o o

Assistance with tax calculations and submission of forms Financial planning assistance Casual dress policies Facilities for expectant mothers

Parking Parenting guide Lactation rooms Flexi timings

o o o o o

Celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, retirements, promotions, etc Holiday parties and holiday gift certificates Occasional parties like diwali, holi, dushera, etc Organize get together for watching football, hockey, cricket matches Organize picnics and trips for movies etc

o o

Sports outings like cricket match etc Indoor games

o o o o o o o

Casual dress day Green is the color day Handwriting analysis Tatoo, mehandi, hair braiding stalls on weekends Mini cricket in office Ice cream Fridays Holi-Day breakfast

o o o o

Personal loans for emergencies Childcare and eldercare services Employee Assistance Programs ( Counseling sessions etc) Emergency childcare services

Medium Level Strategies for Employee Retention

Retention Home Medium Level Strategies

Appreciating and recognizing a well done job Special bonus for successfully completing firm-sponsored certifications Benefit programs for family support Child adoption benefits Flexible benefits Dependents care assistance Medical care reimbursement

o o o

Sabbatical programs Professional skills development Individualized career guidance

High Level Strategies

Retention Home High Level Strategies

-time schedules

Services -site day care facility etc.

done through proper management style and culture

ideas

Appreciate new ideas and reward risk-taking Show support for individual initiative Encourage creativity

opportunities: It can be done through:

o

Mentoring programs

o o

Performance feedback programs Provide necessary tools to the employees to achieve their professional and personal goals Getting the most out of employee interests and talents Higher study opportunities for employees Vocational counseling Offer personalized career guidance to employees

o o o o

ication is the most important and effective way to develop trust.

o o o

Suggestion committees can be created Open door communication policy can be followed Regular feedbacks on organizations goals and activities should be taken from the employees by:

Management communications Intranet and internet can be used as they provide 24X7 access to the information Newsletters, notice boards, etc.

employee retention is not a process that begins at the end. The process of retention begins right from the start of the recruitment process.
o

The new joinees should fit with the organizations culture. The personality, leadership characteristics of the candidate should be in sync with the culture of the hiring organization. Referral bonus should be given to the employees for successful hires. They are

the best source of networking.

o

Proper training should be given to the managers on interview and management techniques. An internship program can be followed to recruit the fresh graduates.

HR Analytics
Human Resource Management is one of the most critical functions in any organization and a strong analytical approach to managing the people assets is a source of strong competitive advantage in the market place. HR Analytics integrates data from a wide array of functional areas in HR and Finance, presenting the best tools available to better source high quality applicants, and to reduce employee retention and absence costs.

HR Analytics Hexawares HR Analytics solution offerings stems from its rich experience of more than 10 years in the HR functional space.

Our HR Analytics and warehousing services enable organizations to get meaningful insights from HR data collected from various enterprise-wide HR and non-HR systems. Hexaware service offering encompasses consultation, selection of HR products, Implementation and ongoing maintenance. HR Analytics Solution offered by Hexaware

Workforce Analytics Retention Analytics Environment Analytics Compensation & Benefits Analytics Capability Analytics Staffing Analytics Organizational Effectiveness Analytics HR Service Delivery Analytics

Top Ten Employee Complaints

Are you interested in discovering your employees most serious complaints? Knowing what makes employees unhappy is half the battle when you think about employee work satisfaction, morale, positive motivation, and retention. Listen to employees and provide opportunities for them to communicate with company managers. If employees feel safe, they will tell you whats on their minds. Your work culture must foster trust for successful twoway communication. HR Solutions, Inc., a Chicago-based management consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, analyzed recurring themes in employee surveys and compiled the following top ten list. These are the items employees consistently complain about on surveys and in interviews. How many are true in your workplace?

Higher salaries: pay is the number one area in which employees seek change. You can foster a work environment in which employees feel comfortable asking for a raise.

Internal pay equity: employees are concerned particularly with pay compression, the differential in pay between new and longer term employees. In organizations, with the average annual pay increase for employees around 4%, employees perceive that newcomers are better paid and, often, they are. Benefits programs, particularly health and dental insurance, retirement, and Paid Time Off / vacation days: specifically, many employees feel that their health insurance costs too much, especially prescription drug programs, when employers pass part of their rising costs to employees. Over-management: Employees often defined by interviewees as: Too many chiefs, not enough Indians. Workplaces that foster employee empowerment, employee enablement, and broader spans of control by managers, will see fewer complaints. A popular word, micromanaging, expresses this sentiment, too. Pay increase guidelines for merit: Employees believe the compensation system should place greater emphasis on merit and contribution. Employees find pay systems in which all employees receive the same pay increase annually, demoralizing. Such pay systems hit the motivation and commitment of your best employees hardest as they may begin asking whats in this for me? As you adopt a merit pay system, one component is education so that employees know what behaviors and contributions merit additional compensation. Employees who did not must be informed by their manager about how their performance needs to change to merit a larger pay increase. Human Resources department response to employees: The Human Resource department needs to be more responsive to employee questions and concerns. In many companies, the HR department is perceived as the policy making, policing arm of management. In fact, in forward thinking HR departments, responsiveness to employee needs is one of the cornerstones. Favoritism: Employees want the perception that each employee is treated equivalently with other employees. If there are policies, behavioral guidelines, methods for requesting time off, valued assignments, opportunities for development, frequent communication, and just about any other work related decisions you can think of, employees want fair treatment. Communication and availability: Lets face it. Employees want face-to-face communication time with both their supervisors and executive management. This communication helps them feel recognized and important. And, yes, your time is full because you have a job, too. But, a managers main job is to support the success of all his or her reporting employees. Thats how the manager magnifies their own success. Workloads are too heavy: Departments are understaffed and employees feel as if their workloads are too heavy and their time is spread too thinly. I see this complaint becoming worse as layoffs; the economy; your ability to find educated, skilled, experienced staff; and

your business demands grow. To combat this, each company should help employees participate in continuous improvement activities. Facility cleanliness: Employees want a clean, organized work environment in which they have the necessary equipment to perform well.

The job satisfaction study included over 2.2 million respondents with 2,100 organizations representing various industries, all surveyed by HR Solutions, Inc.

Top Ten Ways to Retain Your Great Employees

Key employee retention is critical to the long term health and success of your business. Managers readily agree that retaining your best employees ensures customer satisfaction, product sales, satisfied coworkers and reporting staff, effective succession planning and deeply imbedded organizational knowledge and learning. If managers can cite these facts so well, why do they behave in ways that so frequently encourage great employees to quit their jobs? Employee retention matters. Organizational issues such as training time and investment; lost knowledge; mourning, insecure coworkers and a costly candidate search aside, failing to retain a key employee is costly. Various estimates suggest that losing a middle manager costs an organization up to 100 percent of his salary. The loss of a senior executive is even more costly. I have seen estimates of double the annual salary and more. Employee retention is critically important for a second societal reason, too. Over the next few years while Baby Boomers (age 40 to 58) retire, the upcoming Generation X population numbers 44 million people (ages 25-34), compared to 76 million Baby Boomers available for work. Simply stated: there are a lot fewer people available to work. Employee retention is one of the primary measures of the health of your organization. If you are losing critical staff members, you can safely bet that other people in their departments are looking as well. Exit interviews with departing employees provide valuable information you can use to retain remaining staff. Heed their results. Youll never have a more significant source of data about the health of your organization.

Ive provided retention tips in earlier articles, but will add ten more retention tips to your arsenal with these top ten ways to retain a great employee.

Management thinkers from Ferdinand Fournies ( Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed to Do and What to Do About It) to Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman (First Break All the Rules agree that a satisfied employee knows clearly what is expected from him every day at work. Changing expectations keep people on edge and create unhealthy stress. They rob the employee of internal security and make the employee feel unsuccessful. Im not advocating unchanging jobs just the need for a specific framework within which people clearly know what is expected from them.

The quality of the supervision an employee receives is critical to employee retention. People leave managers and supervisors more often than they leave companies or jobs. It is not enough that the supervisor is well-liked or a nice person, starting with clear expectations of the employee, the supervisor has a critical role to play in retention. Anything the supervisor does to make an employee feel unvalued will contribute to turnover. Frequent employee complaints center on these areas. --lack of clarity about expectations, --lack of clarity about earning potential, --lack of feedback about performance, --failure to hold scheduled meetings, and --failure to provide a framework within which the employee perceives he can succeed.

The ability of the employee to speak his or her mind freely within the organization is another key factor in employee retention. Does your organization solicit ideas and provide an environment in which people are comfortable providing feedback? If so, employees offer ideas, feel free to criticize and commit to continuous improvement. If not, they bite their tongues or find themselves constantly "in trouble" - until they leave.

Talent and skill utilization is another environmental factor your key employees seek in your workplace. A motivated employee wants to contribute to work areas outside of his specific job description. How many people could contribute far more than they currently do? You just need to know their skills, talent and experience, and take the time to tap into

it. As an example, in a small company, a manager pursued a new marketing plan and logo with the help of external consultants. An internal sales rep, with seven years of ad agency and logo development experience, repeatedly offered to help. His offer was ignored and he cited this as one reason why he quit his job. In fact, the recognition that the company didn't want to take advantage of his knowledge and capabilities helped precipitate his job search. Here are six additional employee retention tips. Here are the first four tips and a discussion about why retention is critically important.

The perception of fairness and equitable treatment is important in employee retention. In one company, a new sales rep was given the most potentially successful, commissionproducing accounts. Current staff viewed these decisions as taking food off their tables. You can bet a number of them are looking for their next opportunity. In another instance, a staff person, just a year or two out of college, was given $20,000 in raises over a six month time period. Information of this type never stays secret in companies so you know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the morale of several other employees will be affected. For example, you have a staff person who views her role as important and she brings ten years of experience, an M.B.A. and a great contribution record to the table. When she finds she is making less money than this employee, she is likely to look for a new job. Minimally, her morale and motivation will take a big hit. Did the staff person deserve the raises? Yes. But, recognize that there will be impact on others.

When an employee is failing at work, I ask the W. Edwards Deming question, What about the work system is causing the person to fail? Most frequently, if the employee knows what they are supposed to do, I find the answer is time, tools, training, temperament or talent. The easiest to solve, and the ones most affecting employee retention, are tools, time and training. The employee must have the tools, time and training necessary to do their job well or they will move to an employer who provides them.

Your best employees, those employees you want to retain, seek frequent opportunities to learn and grow in their careers, knowledge and skill. Without the opportunity to try new opportunities, sit on challenging committees, attend seminars and read and discuss books,

they feel they will stagnate. A career-oriented, valued employee must experience growth opportunities within your organization.

A common place complaint or lament I hear during an exit interview is that the employee never felt senior managers knew he existed. By senior managers I refer to the president of a small company or a department or division head in a larger company. Take time to meet with new employees to learn about their talents, abilities and skills. Meet with each employee periodically. You'll have more useful information and keep your fingers on the pulse of your organization. It's a critical tool to help employees feel welcomed, acknowledged and loyal.

No matter the circumstances, never, never, ever threaten an employee's job or income. Even if you know layoffs loom if you fail to meet production or sales goals, it is a mistake to foreshadow this information with employees. It makes them nervous; no matter how you phrase the information; no matter how you explain the information, even if you're absolutely correct, your best staff members will update their resumes. I'm not advocating keeping solid information away from people, however, think before you say anything that makes people feel they need to search for another job.

I place this final tip on every retention list I develop because it is so key and critical to retention success. Your staff members must feel rewarded, recognized and appreciated. Frequently saying thank you goes a long way. Monetary rewards, bonuses and gifts make the thank you even more appreciated. Understandable raises, tied to accomplishments and achievement, help retain staff. Commissions and bonuses that are easily calculated on a daily basis, and easily understood, raise motivation and help retain staff. Annually, I receive emails from staff members that provide information about raises nationally. You can bet that work is about the money and almost every individual wants more.

Take a look at your organization Are you doing your best to retain your top talent? Employ these ten factors in your organization to retain your desired employees and attract the best talent, too.

The Bottom Line for Employee Retention

Want the bottom line when it comes to employee retention? The quality of the supervision an employee receives is critical to employee retention. People leave managers and supervisors more often than they leave companies or jobs. It is not enough that the manager is well-liked or a nice person. Sure, a nice, likeable manager earns you some points with your employees. A draconian, nasty, or controlling manager takes points away from your organization. So will below market benefits and compensation. But, a manager or supervisor, who is a pro at employee retention, knows that the quality of the supervision is the key factor in employee retention. Effective Managers Create Employee Retention Managers who retain staff start by communicating clear expectations to the employee. They share their picture of what constitutes success for the employee in both the expected deliverables from and the performance of their job. These managers provide frequent feedback and make the employee feel valued. When an employee completes an exchange with a manager who retains staff, he or she feels empowered, enabled, and confident in their ability to get the job done. Employee complaints about managers and supervisors center on these areas. Employees leave managers who fail to:

provide clarity about expectations, provide clarity about career development and earning potential, give regular feedback about performance, hold scheduled meetings, and provide a framework within which the employee perceives he can succeed.

How to Help Managers With Employee Retention Almost every manager can increase her ability to retain employees by developing her management skills. Teaching a manager about how to value people can be more challenging. Particularly if the manager doesn't already value people and their contributions in her mind and heart, it will be a leap for her to change her values.

These ideas will help your organization develop managers who believe in and act in ways that support employee retention.

Integrate core values about people and a mission and vision that enable people to align themselves with the company direction. Communicate the importance of these, and clear expectations about the behaviors expected from managers to accomplish these, to every manager. Negotiate a performance development plan with each manager that stresses the expected managerial areas of development, Provide training in core management skills to every manager. Core management skills include how to: integrate performance management including goal setting, give and receive feedback, recognize and value employees, coach employee performance, handle employee complaints and problems, provide a motivating work environment, and hold career development discussions with employees. Hold regular meetings to provide management development coaching and feedback. You can assist managers to improve their management style and skills. A regular meeting helps you debrief events as they occur, while memories of the exchanges are fresh in the manager's mind. Schedule and hold learning organization events such as book clubs, product training, project debriefs, and discussion and planning meetings. Provide funding for conferences and educational development opportunities for managers to continue learning. As part of a fully integrated performance management system, provide 360 degree feedback so managers know how their management style is perceived.

What if a Manager Fails at Employee Retention? If a manager fails at employee retention, the chances are good that the manager has been unable or unwilling to develop their ability to manage and value people across the board. Managers who exhibit a pattern in which their key employees leave your organization cannot retain their management role. If you have fairly and ethically provided the manager the learning opportunities suggested here, you can, in good conscience, remove the individual from the managerial role. My

experience has been that most managers consider this such a loss of prestige and "face" that they voluntarily leave the organization. If they choose to stay, however, they must commit to being effective, contributing employees. If the manager cannot make this leap, you will need to let the manager go before their negativity impacts the rest of your workplace. Given the management development opportunities listed here, most managers will be able to become managers who retain their best employees. Your investment in your managers can fuel your organization's ongoing success. After all, it is the quality of the people you employ and retain that is the heart of your business success.

Keep Your Best: Retention Tips

Recruiting the right employees and keeping the right employees matters, especially now. A recent Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) press release revealed the answer to the question of what people plan to do when the job market rebounds. The majority of the Human Resource (HR) professionals and managers surveyed agreed that turnover will rise significantly once the job market improves. Both groups felt that the job market will improve within the next year, according to the latest Job Recovery Survey. The survey is produced by SHRM and CareerJournal.com, the free, executive career site of

The Wall Street Journal, two of my personal favorite sites. The survey results include
responses from 451 HR professionals and 300 managerial or executive employees. "Were surprised by the percentage of executive employees who say they plan to jump ship once hiring rebounds," says Tony Lee, editor in chief/general manager of CareerJournal.com. "And with 56 percent of HR professionals agreeing that turnover will rise, were interested to see what types of retention efforts those companies launch to keep their best employees on board." Employees cited the following three top reasons they would begin searching for a new job:

53 percent seek better compensation and benefits. 35 percent cited dissatisfaction with potential career development. 32 percent said they were ready for a new experience.

HR professionals were asked which programs or policies they use currently to help retain employees. The following three are the most common programs employers are using to retain employees:

62 percent provide tuition reimbursement. 60 percent offer competitive vacation and holiday benefits. 59 percent offer competitive salaries.

Most HR professionals surveyed (71 percent), in large organizations (those with more than 500 employees), thought it would be extremely likely or somewhat likely to experience an increase in voluntary turnover once the job market improves. Forty-one percent from small organizations (1-99 employees) said it was extremely likely or somewhat likely that turnover would increase. Fifty-three percent of respondents from medium organizations (between 100 and 499) thought the same. In addition to the three retention tips offered by HR professionals in the SHRMCareerJournal.com survey, competitive salary, competitive vacation and holidays and tuition reimbursement, these are your key retention strategies. (If you think they read like the Golden Rule, you're right they do.) And, they're also common-sense, basic and incredibly hard to find in organizations today.

Select the right people in the first place through behavior-based testing and competency screening. The right person, in the right seat, on the right bus is the starting point. Offer an attractive, competitive, benefits package with components such as life insurance, disability insurance and flexible hours. Provide opportunities for people to share their knowledge via training sessions, presentations, mentoring others and team assignments. Demonstrate respect for employees at all times. Listen to them deeply; use their ideas; never ridicule or shame them. Offer performance feedback and praise good efforts and results. People want to enjoy their work. Make work fun. Engage and employ the special talents of each individual. Enable employees to balance work and life. Allow flexible starting times, core business hours and flexible ending times. (Yes, his son's soccer game is important.)

Involve employees in decisions that affect their jobs and the overall direction of the company whenever possible. Recognize excellent performance, and especially, link pay to performance. Base the upside of bonus potential on the success of both the employee and the company and make it limitless within company parameters. (As an example, pay ten percent of corporate profits to employees.) Recognize and celebrate success. Mark their passage as important goals are achieved. Staff adequately so overtime is minimized for those who don't want it and people don't wear themselves out. Nurture and celebrate organization traditions. Have a costume party every Halloween. Run a food collection drive every November. Pick a mmonthly charity to help. Have an annual company dinner at a fancy hotel. Provide opportunities within the company for cross-training and career progression. People like to know that they have room for career movement. Provide the opportunity for career and personal growth through training and education, challengine assignments and more. Communicate goals, roles and responsibilities so people know what is expected and feel like part of the in-crowd. According to research by the Gallup organization, encourage employees to have good, even best, friends, at work.

Now that you have the list, why not work to make your organization one of the few, the best, that truly honor and appreciate employees. If you treat your employees wonderfully, you will never lose them.

Nine Recruiting and Selection Tips to Ensure Successful Hiring

These nine tips will help you in recruiting and hiring a candidate who will become a successful, contributing superior employee. Hire for Todays Need and Tomorrows Vision

Remember that youre hiring for the future. While a new employee has to make economic sense for todays tasks, the best hires are people who position you to profit as your business moves into the future. New people should provide the skills you need in the future, not just match the job demands you see today. Be clear about your strategic direction for the future, and then hire the talent to help you achieve it. Understand the Job Finding the right people to hire is much easier when you first analyze the job you want to fill. Ask yourself what kinds of people do the best in this job? If youre lucky enough to have a top performer already in the job, learn from them. Observe their behavior, ask them questions and talk with their peers to get a clear understanding what characteristics make them effective in their job. This kind of job analysis drives your selection standardsdo a good job at this first step and the rest of the hiring process will be faster, easier and yield a better match. Be Legal The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the federal agency responsible for enforcing Title VII (Civil Rights Act), Title I, Title V (Americans with Disabilities), Equal Pay Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. If an interviewee feels he has been denied a job because of discrimination, he can file a lawsuit with the EEOC. If the claimant ultimately wins the lawsuit, remedies may include, among other things, compensatory damages, back wages, reinstatement and possibly punitive damages. Make sure your hiring process is legal. (For more information see the EEOC web site. Build a Standardized Hiring Process and Use It Dont count on your conversational skills to choose between candidates. At a basic level, your standardized hiring process should include criteria-based screening of an adequate number of candidates, a background check, standardized assessments and structured interviews.

Many assessment and interview tools are available, all of which will provide much more reliable results than the traditional interview. The more important the position, the more rigorous the hiring process should be. Hiring Top Talent Means More Profit The right person will make contributions to your companys productivity and profitability that far exceed salary cost. But the wrong person can cost you plenty. These four tips will help you in recruiting and hiring a candidate who will become a successful, contributing superior employee. Review the first five of the nine tips. A Bad Hire Is Worse Than You Think According to the Harvard Business Review, 80 percent of turnover is caused by bad hiring decisions. These are costly mistakes. The U.S. Department of Labor calculates that it costs one-third of a new hires annual salary to replace him. These figures include money spent on recruitment, selection and training plus costs due to decreased productivity as other employees fill in to take up the slack. But these numbers dont reflect the intangible damages an exiting employee can have such as lost customers and low employee morale across the rest of the organization. And, turnover costs climb even higher as you move up the organization: mid- and upperlevel managers can cost over twice their annual salary to replace. Interviewing Doesnt Work Traditional interviews dont help you select top talent. In fact, a large study conducted by John and Rhonda Hunter at the University of Michigan on the predictors of job performance found that a typical job interview increased the likelihood of choosing the best candidate by less than 2 percent. Worse, the traditional job interview is a highly subjective process. Interviewers often have a range of biases that dramatically affect their perceptions of individual job candidates. Despite

the best of intentions, interviewers and supervisors have an unconscious tendency to favor people who are similar to themselves. An interview-only hiring process can create teams that get along reasonably well - but lack the blend of skills needed to excel in business together. The Galliard Group of Boise, Idaho, works with family-owned and closely held companies to build cost-effective hiring practices. Managing Partner Lis Stewart points out that there is a real danger in simply collecting resumes and interviewing a few top candidates. Desktop publishing and resume writers can make almost anyone look good on paper. Stewart continues, Do a web search on job interviewing and youll find thousands of websites full of advice on how to ace the interview. Weve seen well-rehearsed candidates give great interviews. Unfortunately, those great interviews do not predict success in the job; they predict success in doing job interviews. The Most Neglected Aspect of Hiring A job analysis is the most neglected aspect of hiring. Performed correctly, a job analysis provides a list of the personal attributes required to work effectively in the role. This list of attributes is identified first by breaking down a person's job into logical parts. Next, each job task is analyzed according to the knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes required to perform the job correctly. Once a business knows what the position requires, the hiring process is faster and more effective because job candidates are evaluated on a common set of criteria. When you know exactly what talents are requiredyou know what to look for and what to test for. Most Human Resource departments know that a good job analysis is needed to get the best person but its surprising how many just arent doing it at a basic level, says Stewart. Turnover is reduced when the person fits the job. Its just common sense: people love their jobs when the position matches their personality, attitudes, and skills. Stewart says that an effective job analysis is critical in achieving this fit. Matching People to Jobs

Once a business understands what the job demands, there are several tools that help identify the right people for the job. Candidate screening, personality and skill assessments, performance-based interviews and behavioral based interviews all help identify top candidates. No single technique on its own can predict on-the-job performance so companies need to use a blend of tools that reflect their needs." says Stewart. The research on hiring is clear on one point: using multiple selection methods gives you the best employees. Stewart notes that a multi-faceted approach can both streamline the process and ensure much better, fitincreasing employee retention and productivity. She adds, Hiring people does not need to cost a lot or take a long time. Once a business has a sensible hiring process in place, finding top talent is much easier.