Ever wonder why employees leave? You are reason number one. Then there are others.
When it comes to staff retention our attention invariably focuses on salary. Money=loyalty is a tempting but flawed equation.
First, if one were to pay cursory attention to various pieces of research and anecdotal evidence, employees’ needs and wants are more complex than the need to make money. Employees come, stay or leave for a variety of reasons. Money is one but there are many others that are equally important – respect for immediate supervisor and being treated with respect are the two others that come up often when employees are asked.
Second, employees do want to make money but making money is about compensation not salary. Compensation includes salary but also things such as benefits, stock options, paid time off, flexible work arrangement, training, pension etc. Many companies have tuned in to this message. Many others need to get with the program.
This topic is vast and cannot be discussed in one page. However, there are two low hanging fruit that business leaders can pluck and see immediate results:
1) Presenting a clear picture of total compensation in monetary i.e. dollar denominated terms to the employees. I have seen some excellent examples of employee compensation, broken down into various buckets, being presented to employees. This helps them see what they are really “making”
a. Avoid hyperbole or plain and simple “cow manure” when following this strategy. Making up numbers or “air brushing” them is a very bad idea. It will backfire immediately and irreparably.
b. Avoid “glorifying” or “gloating” in “look how great we are and how lucky you are to be working here.” Trust me, you do not fool anybody. Trust me, there are always better places to work and the employees know them and have their phone numbers; probably have had coffee with the recruiter already!
c. The simple rule for employee interactions was postulated long before Dr. Phil had hair and Oprah had a leadership institute in South Africa, by a certain “Dr.” Abraham Lincoln: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”
2) More training: I am amazed at how many “world class” companies are dumb to the bones when it comes to this simple and extremely effective employee magnet. No, you are not running a training academy. You are fixing to run Hotel California – employees can check in any time they like but they can never leave! How is the puniest part of your budget? What part of your budget gets the axe first when times are tough?
You could not be making a bigger mistake. Well, criticizing your boss is still tops, especially in the land of the free and home of the brave; in “we value diversity and work hard to foster a culture that promotes independent thinkers” corporate cultures. But I hope you get the point.
Or are you ready for some leadership training?
