The Straits Times, Employee Retention, 28th February 2000

Article from The Straits Times, 28th February 2000

Employee Retention

What makes your employees want to move on to greener pastures?  How can you make them stay?

PART I

We’ve read about the need for employees to take charge of their careers, given the fast changing landscape of the business environment and the job market.

Since it is very likely that companies will be experiencing more employee mobility as the economy improves, what can they do to manage the prospect of losing their key employees?

Here are some ways.

1     KEEP A CHECK ON TURNOVER

Identify the cause of the problem.  In almost all cases, there will be a combination of “push” and “pull” factors motivating an employee’s voluntary departure.

The former will consist of factors like “no clear career path”, “lack of job challenge and/or satisfaction”.

Among typical “pull” factors will be “external, more exciting opportunities, such as Internet start-ups”.

If you’re a manager, never be satisfied with this response: “I am leaving because I found a better job.”

Probe beyond this.  Why did the employee start looking for another job in the first place?

Doing an exit interview with departing employees will enable you to identify these “push” and “pull” factors, and let you take action on some of them.

The challenge here for companies, given the rapidly changing business environment, is a real need to be on your toes, all the time.

If you can shorten the decision-making process – very possible since we are supposed to be working in a relatively flatter corporate structure – so much the better.

2     EMPLOYEE RETENTION POLICIES

Once you’ve uncovered the reasons why your employees are heading for the “exit” door, it will not take a rocket scientist to quickly develop and implement strategic policies to stem the high turnover.

In the US, forward-looking companies are venturing into hitherto unknown territories to satisfy the needs of employees – all for the  sake of retaining them.

For instance, offering child-care facilities may not be a new thing.

But what is new is allowing employee-parents to go dating (with each other, of course) and leaving junior at the child-care center for the greater part of the evening.

And you may have read about organisations providing massage seats and a trained pair of hands to soothe away the day’s tensions and aching muscles.

If you have not already realized it, gone are the days when it was a simple matter of offering more carrots to retain your key people.

Today, creativity and innovation are the two key words when it comes to designing employee retention programmes.

PART II

The current generation of workers is becoming more demanding, especially when it comes to job exposure.

They ask for and expect more opportunities to be continuously challenged in their jobs.

Lateral movements will increase.  This incentive will be more powerful in retaining talent compared to vertical movements, which usually mean same job, more money.

Thus, it is possible for a human resource director to move to a business role.

I know of one who not only moved to a general management role, but had the added bonus of a posting in a regional country.

Similarly, it is also possible for a chief executive officer to move to a functional role, for instance, a Singapore-base banking CEO moving to the UK as head of human resources.

Instead of just a single job, think of a role.  This is because employees are increasingly being assigned multiple roles, across departments.

I am not advocating that companies should strive for minimal employee turnover just to look good.
 
A HEALTHY SIGN

In fact, employee turnover is a good and healthy thing for an organization’s growth.

What companies need to note are the following key points:

                       
  Paul Heng