Source: inc.com
Talent retention is one of the primary concerns for CEOs and leadership teams.
Every leader has been there — the moment of dread when a top performer, a member of your A-team, enters your office bearing a sheepishly regretful expression with a resignation letter in hand. The competition across town gave them an offer they couldn’t refuse, or they simply got tired of working with a bunch of C-level players. You now face the overwhelming challenge of finding a replacement for someone who is truly irreplaceable.
You’re not the only one who has experienced this painful situation. I have found that the problem of talent retention is one of the primary concerns for CEOs and leadership teams in many different organizations and industries and for good reason. According to a survey conducted by Microsoft and LinkedIn, almost half of professionals—46 percent—say they are thinking of quitting their jobs in the coming year. If your A-team players are part of that 46 percent, you’ve got a big problem on the horizon. Here are five ways to help hold onto your top talent before it’s too late to do something about it.
1. Create meaningful growth opportunities.
Think back to the beginning of your career when someone showed their confidence in you by giving you a task that expanded your abilities. Your top performers crave that same feeling. Schedule quarterly professional development-focused “growth conversations” with your people that are separate from their performance reviews. By giving your people a clear vision of their future development path in your organization, you’ll have a better probability of retaining them.
2. Provide autonomy and ownership.
Nothing suffocates talent faster than micromanagement. Your top performers need the freedom to tackle challenges in their own way instead of constant handholding guidance. Your company will truly begin to innovate when you make the shift from instructing your top people on how to do their jobs to guiding them on which problems to solve.
3. Ensure compensation reflects value.
Although many things affect employee retention, your competitors gain an advantage when you’re not paying your top people enough money. Today’s most successful leaders have shifted away from strict compensation models to approaches that assess overall value. Wouldn’t it be better to pay a top performer a salary 30 percent above market value to retain them rather than lose them? Not only do you have recruitment and training costs to consider, but there’s no guarantee that their replacement will perform at the same level they do.
4. Make meaningful connections.
Even highly driven individuals have a fundamental need for connection with others. The top performers in your team stay with you at least in part because of the colleagues they work with and the connections they have made over time. Consider establishing weekly, cross-departmental lunches at which employees collectively address company-wide challenges. This may help your high-potential employees feel part of something special, reducing turnover through unexpected collaborations and faster problem-solving.
5. Align with purpose and values.
Countless top performers who quit their jobs cite variations of the same theme: “I didn’t feel my work mattered anymore.” Successful leaders who retain top talent consistently demonstrate how daily tasks contribute to meaningful outcomes. Invite customers to discuss their life-changing experiences with company products. The motivation your people derive from understanding their work’s purpose will far exceed any financial reward or benefit you might provide to them.