Issue Archive: March/April 2007

Professional Development: Retaining Your Most Valuable Resource

Author: Cheyene Haase

Keeping people on your team is a matter of becoming the employer of choice or the manager for whom others want to work. More than just a manager, you must be a career coach, mentor, facilitator, and leader. Employees who enjoy their job, team, and manager work harder and contribute more.

To do this, you must understand what motivates each member of your team. Everyone has a different reason for working. The reasons vary from personal fulfillment, sense of accomplishing goals or contributing to something larger than themselves, the satisfaction of assisting clients, or maybe it is the camaraderie of working with co-workers and customers. To retain your top people, you need to maintain each employee's motivational desire to work.

Many employers are fooled into thinking that retaining personnel is a matter of money. Low pay and bad benefits will all but guarantee high turnover. But many professionals will move to another job for reasons that have nothing to do with finances. Some of these reasons include not having clear expectations, not being properly motivated or rewarded, not enjoying their work environment, not being challenged, and not feeling connected with their management. And when people do leave a job for more money, there are usually other factors contributing to their decision.

 
The following five principles will help you retain team members and ensure the stability of your continuity team.

Employees Want Control

People need to have the proper tools, time, and training, as well as clear expectations, to do their jobs. Employees also need clear, defined, measurable goals, which will lead to job enrichment. Without these, the result is often frustrated, unhappy employees. Additionally, many employees have a desire to contribute to their team and make a difference. Setting team goals and outlining everyone's responsibilities creates team involvement. Employees feel valued when they are contributing to the big picture and impacting decisions or the overall result of the program. There should also be a forum for employees to express concerns or new ideas. A comment box can be a great tool.

Belong to the In Crowd

Everyone wants to belong. Team and meeting participation encourages the value everyone brings to the group, especially if everyone is encouraged to bring their ideas to the table. Delegating tasks within the group can also encourage ownership, which increases commitment. The "in crowd" extends beyond the BC team. Your employees need to feel that management is part of the team. To do this, management must communicate timely information on new strategies, goals, and objectives. Employees also feel the need to understand what is behind management's decision making or process changes. Sharing management decisions within the company communicates that each employee is valued and that the company cares about keeping them informed. This also helps eliminate panic, which can spread among employees when sudden changes within executive management occur.

Give Them a Challenge

Of course, you want a well-oiled, efficient team; however, if your team can do the job with their eyes closed, there may be a problem. Although employees like feeling comfortable, they can quickly become complacent or bored. It is your responsibility to understand what your employees want out of their careers. What are their aspirations? Where do they want to be five and ten years from now? Sit down with each employee and create a career path with them. Although your ideal is to create a career opportunity for them within the organization, keep in mind their career path may involve leaving for another opportunity in five years. In the meantime, they will want to work hard for you since you took the time to mentor and coach them. They also will become your public relations team -spreading the word in the industry that you are an excellent manager and someone for whom people want to work.

Recognize and Reward

Rewarding people for their efforts is key. When a rewards program is not an integral part of your staff management, occasional rewards can have a misleading effect and backfire completely. It is best to tie a rewards program to deliverables or goals that will lead to an end result. This technique will help keep the team focused as well as working together. A rewards system will show that you value your personnel as a team and as individuals. They will respond by wanting to work harder for you, and they will be more committed to the company, team and you.

Keep it Fun

All work and no play is a recipe for a very stale environment. Find and share the humor in everyday work life and create opportunities for social interaction. Keeping it fun also includes keeping a work-life balance. Individuals can accept times of strenuous work if they are working toward meeting an important deadline or a customer request. But long hours or constant travel can wear your people down. If employees are not enjoying their time away from the office, how can they be expected to enjoy their time at work?

Becoming an employer of choice is a matter of implementing well defined motivation, training, and retention strategies. Like any solid continuity program, your staff management strategies must be documented, implemented, and assessed. Changes within the organization often occur that may impact your team's commitment and performance. Smart managers maintain communication with their teams and quickly address any concerns or changes. The rule of thumb is to treat others how you would like to be treated. Respect and invest in your team and they will respect and invest in you.

 

Cheyene Haase is president of BC Management. She can be reached at (949) 250-8172 ext. 204 or via e-mail at chaase@bcmanagement.com.