Newsletter – How to Keep the Ones You Love: The Number One Retention Strategy

How to Keep the Ones You Love: The Number One Retention Strategy

What Should You Do?

• From the first day on, let people know that you are in it for the long haul with them. You want to help develop their career. You hope they will have a long relationship with their organization, but even if they leave, you would hope that the relationship endures. You never know when someone is going to leave to work for a customer or potentially boomerang back to your team – even if they leave.

• Follow through on the above. Schedule regular one-on-ones where you focus specifically on their goals and objectives and how you can help. You should do these more often than an annual review – ideally once a month. Give them useful feedback – both what is working and what is not working.

• As the following questions: If there is anyone here who is interfering with your success, please let me know. If there is anything I can do, or that anyone else can do, to make you more successful, please let me know. The first time you ask these questions you may not receive an answer but if you keep asking, eventually you will receive useful information.
• Even if you can’t offer raises or promotions, look for other benefits:  can you offer cross training opportunities, educational courses, more flexible schedules and the like? These perks can mean a lot.
• Don’t forget the small things. I once worked with a new leader whose team was in mutiny because he never said hello in the mornings, spent time with them in the break room, or planned small celebrations. He was a task-oriented engineer and had no interest in wasting time on these niceties but his team felt otherwise, as do most employs.
• When you are with people, be present. Turn off your devices, practice active listening and ask open-ended (who, what, where, when) questions.
• Have someone else do effective exit interviews if people do leave so you have relevant data. Don’t just ask why they are leaving, but what was happening when they first started thinking about leaving. You will collect surprising information.