Why You May Be More Optimistic About Employee Retention Than You Should Be

At this very moment, one of your employee's is about to get plucked right out of your organization. Let's hope it's not the person you'd hate to lose.

Your first instinct might be to ignore my warning. After all, living in denial is so much less stressful than living in reality. But what if I'm right and you've done nothing to prevent this from happening. How would you feel then?

Here are three things you can do today to keep your keepers.

The first thing you can do is talk to your people. Easy right? A new survey conducted by Harris Poll found that a stunning majority (69%) of the managers said they were uncomfortable communicating with employees. 37% of the managers said they were uncomfortable giving negative feedback if they thought the person receiving it would react negatively.

That’s alarming, as one of the primary things employees say they need to feel productive and engaged at work is regular meaningful communication with their managers. To make it easier, let's chunk this down into three small steps.

1.   Hold regular one-on-one check ins with team members.

2.   Have the employee set the agenda.

3.   You provide the feedback.

The second thing thing you can do is to discuss their future. We know career development is high up on the list of what employees are seeking from their organizations. Here’s where you come in.

·     Ask your people what they want for their future.

·     Work together to create a career plan that will help them achieve their goals.

Keep in mind that if you don’t provide your people with opportunity to grow and develop, someone else will!

Lastly, and just as important, ask them to rate your leadership style on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being high. If their answer is anything less than a 10, ask them what you'd need to do in order to be a 10.

So why is this last suggestion so important? It's because employees don't work for companies. They work for people. They'll be deciding whether or not to go with the person pursuing them based on their relationship with you.

© Matuson Consulting, 2018. All Rights Reserved.

Want to create an organization that attracts and retains top talent? To schedule a call, contact me at Roberta@matusonconsulting.com.

I've partnered with LinkedIn Learning to develop courses to help you increase your ability to hire top talent that will stick around. Check them out!

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Roberta Matuson is the author of the newly released second edition of Suddenly in Charge, The Magnetic Leader and Talent Magnetism.