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What are some ways to retain your key people without increasing monetary rewards?
Any suggestions?
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6 Answers
What always worked for me when I was in line-management positions:
(1) Identify what "unmet needs" each person is trying to get met through their work.
(2) Assign a good number of special assignments that can help each employee get their unmet needs met -- discuss how each assignment could enable them to do that .
(3) With those successes in hand, discuss they might "tweak" their approach to their ongoing work to better serve them in meeting their unmet needs, as well.
(4) Encourage them to do things outside of work to help them get their unmet needs met so that they no longer need to use the workplace as their primary "place" to get their unmet needs met.
(5) Repeat (1)-(4) as necessary.
Example 1: A busy operations manager wanted to be recognized as someone more than just the person to complain to when problems occurred. So, I asked her to proactively interview company executives, and key vendor contacts, about how to improve inter-departmental workflows. She truly appreciated (and enjoyed) the "positive" visibility this afforded her and became significantly more engaged in the rest of her work, as well. Soon thereafter, she got herself a puppy!
Example 2: An executive was totally bored (and frustrated) by the lack of challenge his current job was offering him. He started letting important things slide just to get a buzz from having to work a last-minute deadline. I suggested he take advantage of the company's tuition reimbursement program and enroll in night school. Not only would an advanced degree help his career, but the challenge of learning new things might just re-engage his mind in a very positive way. It did.
Example 3: A highly-competent technician wanted a big pay raise. His skills were exceptional, job opportunities for him outside the company were plentiful, and if he did go elsewhere, our company would have suffered a devastating capability gap and a potentially huge risk. So we gave him a huge raise AND bonus, and immediately started training someone to replace him should he ultimately leave anyway. Which he did. But this time we were much better prepared for it so we just let him go.
(Yeah, I know, that last example actually DID increase monetary rewards, but, hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and there's just no way around it.)
Hi Susan,
You will need to first identify the reasons why undesirable turnover exists. If the reasons are non monetary, then you have the areas of your organization that need work right in front of you. IF it is primarily compensation, then you will need to identify ways to increase the value of employment with your firm, without raising top lines.
Quick ideas may be to allow more flex time if possible, increase the number of social events, random acts of kindness, public appreciation for good work (but don't overdo this - recognition should be for 'real' good jobs.) Match community work, put up a suggestion box --- and read and respond to everything in there, no matter how trivial.
There are more, ones that will depend on your company, and that can be gleaned via a consultant. = )
In addition to what my colleagues said, one key aspect of communication for retention is appreciation. Thanking employees and recognizing them for their good work with verbal acknowledgment goes a very long way. Acknowledging and recognizing an employee for a job well done is THE number one motivator for employees - it reaches far beyond salary and promotion. Make it a practice of saying thank you!
Lines of open and honest comunication are one key variable in making sure key people stay put. There must be a clear path of advancement in front of each and every individual with other non-monetary awards as well (verbal recognition, atta boys, etc.).
Work must of course be challenging and employees must have a say in decision making even to a small degree. Training must be ample and adequate and a sense of worth present.
Susan,
I think the best way to ensure retention is to ensure regular communication with your workforce. One method to accomplish this is to ensure there is a documented employee review every quarter. During this review/evaluation, the manager evaluates the employee while also getting the employee to evaluate himself, the organization, and his management. In my experience, enhancing retention is about knowing what makes the worker happy. When management assumes, it loses!
Susan,
I thought all of the respondents had something valuable to add.
Barry Zwiebels pragmatic approach to Example 3 was a really good example of dealing with the non-Bench ready situation while incorporating a succession plan strategy which turned a potential capability problem into a capability solution. (Barry, for what its worth you get a tick from me).
I'll add something to the pot. Have you considered some percentile of job redesign into your salary expectation problem? Where you are having supply gap issues (which would necessitate either wage increases or regrettable turnover) could you incorporate a 10 - 20% job redesign into your solution?
An example I recently saw was an executive who spent up to 1-day per week doing ESS authorisations. Rather than take away that authority or delegate it (which would have been a negative) we were able to put in an email authorisation upgrade into the companies system which reduced his overhead from 2-hours per day to approx 2-hours per week. In real terms this saved approx 8-hours with that executive regularily completing an average 60-hours per week. Outcome 10%+ percent shaved off his working time which could be dedicated to family/study etc and the company in a good position to discuss remuneration on their terms (CPI remuneration increase).
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