Employee Retention: Methods to Retaining Top Performers
First off, congratulations. You have secured talent that is worth protecting. Now comes the big question: How do you ensure they stick around? Truthfully, there is no one magic practice that will guarantee employee retention. But there are actionable steps you can take to keep top employees in place.
In this article 11 business executives share their employment retention strategies for keeping top talent.
Share the ‘why’
Jamie Schneiderman, Career Spark
Be a Successful Company with Room for Individual Ideas and Contributions
Keeping self-motivated and smart people is key to talent retention and is especially true in the technology industry. Therefore, the best thing you can do to retain employees is to be flexible and allow individual ideas and contributions to the success of the company. The more successful and respected you are as a company, the more successful the brand of an employee will be now and in the future. Focus on building a great company, and employees will naturally stay with success.
Dr. Marc M. Batschkus, Data Management Solutions
Take a Personal Interest in Employees
Take a personal interest in them and their future. In today’s world, having an employer who truly cares about their employees is a rarity. When employees know that you care about them, they will be transparent about what they are lacking in their current role and give you a chance to fix it before they think about leaving.
Rex Murphey, Pipeline Pigging Company
Lead by Example
The top method to helping retain our most valuable employees is to always lead by example. An underperforming team tends to be lead by underperforming management. Your team will always follow the example you set forth. So if you want them to get an early start, then be sure to start early yourself. If you want the team to have respect for one another and work well together, then be sure to praise in public and show respect at all times. Success begins at the top and has a way of trickling down.
Vicky Franko, Ohio Insurance Company
Train Them and Treat Them Well
I believe Richard Branson sums it up best – Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough, so they don’t want to.
Personalize a Professional Development Plan
Ask what he or she wants to do to move forward. Help them identify internal opportunities and develop a personal and professional development plan. Get them coaching. Reward them for their loyalty regularly according to how they want to be rewarded (ask!).
Yuri Kruman, HR, Talent & Systems
Strong Communication
Listen to your employees and communicate their value if you want to keep them. It is known that employees leave because of people, not place.
Make Sure Employees Feel Valued
Making sure people feel valued beyond a paycheck is an absolute necessity. If your people don’t feel heard or recognized for their effort, they’ll look elsewhere.
Sharon Delaney McCloud, Walk West
Customize Employee Benefits
Make sure they feel valued. Value can come in different ways to different people, so you’ll have to do some digging to make sure you know what makes each of them tick. Typical factors include salary, title, public praise, work-life balance, PTO, flexibility, and commute time.
Encourage Trust and Transparency
Have regular conversations that encourage trust and transparency. More than anything people want to belong, have a voice, and make an impact. Regularly having in these discussions will help you continue to engage your top performers.
Nicole Spracale, Nicole Spracale Coaching & Consulting
Reward a Job Well Done
Always ask them what they are looking for in career growth and find ways to help them. Reward them when they do a good job – annual salary increase, bonuses, even high-fives. A positive, reinforcing attitude goes a long way.
Janelle Amos, Marketing Manager
Meet Regularly
A top employee retention strategy is to meet regularly to talk about the future and how to prioritize skills and goals. Candid conversations go a long way. If there is a meaningful conversation taking place, then both employers and top performers will be on the same page in terms of desires and expectations. Then, employers just need to deliver on what top-performing employees want in work. If that opportunity exists (or can be created) at your company, then employees remain engaged and find enjoyment in the challenges that come their way.
