Strategies for Retaining Top Talent

We’ve heard a lot of talk about stagnant or faltering economies in the past few years. The digital revolution has brought with it a mismatch of skill sets and job openings, making it hard for people to find a job and for companies to keep top talent.

Employers around the world are still struggling to fill necessary roles.  According to the Talent Shortage Survey, 40 percent of global employers are not able to find the right talent for jobs that need to be done.

Salary, retirement plans and vacation benefits are high on the list of why great employees take the job, but they are not reasons enough to keep them in your company for the long haul. Job satisfaction will increase your employee retention rate. They need to feel that their contributions to the business are important. But the feedback and praise must be sincere. Top talent is smart enough to know the difference between sincere appreciation and platitudes.

The “lifetime employment” model is obsolete

In today’s climate, companies that want to attract and retain the best talent will look for the best ways to develop employees along the way. If that describes your company, you have to invest in people with the understanding that you’re going to help them grow professionally (even if you don’t retain their services).

With lifelong employee/employer relationships disappearing, the challenge today is to present your teams with a roadmap of exciting new things to take on and directions to explore, which can foster a longer-term outlook.

How large companies lose their top talent

• Big company bureaucracy is a common complaint of really talented employees. They don’t like rules that make no sense.
• Companies lack projects that will ignite the passion of talented people. Top talent isn’t driven by money and power, but by the opportunity to be a part of something huge, that will change the world.
• Companies do an ineffective job at annual performance reviews. If you’re talented enough, why stay?
• Bosses fail to engage with their employees about where they want to go in their careers. If your best people know that you think there’s a path for them going forward, they’ll be more likely to hang around.
• Company execs fail to impart  insights/observations/suggestions. Top talent demands accountability from others and doesn’t mind being held accountable for their projects.
• Your company is not open-minded. The best people want to share their ideas and have them listened to. Many companies find opposing voices to their strategy an annoyance and a sign that someone’s not a “team player.”

8 Strategies to Retain Talent

• Offer new employees training before their start dates. IBM is brilliant in this regard. Its Succeeding@IBM is a two-year course taken online that lets new hires in on what it takes to be successful at the company.
• Spell out for new hires a clear vision of what their next two to four years at your company will look like. Clarify exactly how you expect the employee will grow in that time.
• Look out for the welfare of your people by letting them leave earlier in the day! This will keep them productive, creative and loyal because they know you aren’t expecting them to sell their souls for a paycheck.
• Create an environment that makes your employees feel like an asset to your company. Let them feel secure in their job. Greet them by name, letting them know that you know who they are and what their contributions are to the company. Encourage goal-setting and let them make their own choices as often as possible.
• Be sure you have job descriptions so your employees know what is required of them.
• Create an open and honest work environment. Give feedback on work performed and be willing to listen, really listen, to the concerns of your employees.
• Provide opportunities to grow and learn, and let your employees know there is room for advancement in your company. Provide tuition for continuing education classes. Give challenging and stimulating work. Let them know what career development plans you may have for them and what opportunities are available for them to grow with the company.
• Recognize and reward good work. Monetary bonuses are always nice, but recognition of a job well done goes a long way to creating goodwill and loyalty.

The companies that have a hard time attracting top talent are those that can’t differentiate themselves in the market. If your company does something meaningful or novel, you will become a magnet for those truly talented people you seek.

If you can hire people whose passion intersects with the job, they won’t require any supervision at all. They will manage themselves better than anyone could ever manage them. Their fire comes from within, not from without. Their motivation is internal, not external.” – Stephen Covey

Diversity and inclusion are now a CEO-level issue around the world.

Corporate diversity and inclusion are now a CEO-level issue around the world. The diversity of perspectives, experiences, cultures, genders, and age are essential to the growth and prosperity of any company:

Why? Because diversity breeds innovation. And innovation breeds business success

Why has diversity and inclusion become so important?

Six business and cultural changes have come together to spotlight the importance of this issue in 2018:

1. Diversity and inclusion now impact brand, corporate purpose, and performance. Companies are starting to regard inclusion and diversity as competitive advantages, and key enablers of growth.
2. The global political environment has heightened employee sensitivity to diversity and inclusion.  Employees are personally concerned about what they read and hear, and they want their employers to offer perspective.
3. Many large organizations now define themselves as global entities, making religious, gender, generational, and other types of diversity a business reality. 
4. Research indicates that diverse and inclusive teams outperform their peers. Companies with inclusive talent practices in hiring, promotion, development, leadership, and team management generate up to 30 per cent higher revenue per employee and greater profitability than their competitors.
5. Issues of age and life transition are becoming more important. As the large Baby Boomer population ages, the need to broaden the focus on diversity and inclusion to account for the elderly in the workplace will increase.
6. In inclusive organizations, the way people operate will shift, and the everyday language of the business will change

What is diversity?

“Diversity” is generally defined as the mix of people, including differences in gender, race, ethnicity, national cultures, subcultures within countries, sexual orientation, disability, and age and generation. It also includes other differences such as service line, background or education.

“Inclusiveness” is about making the mix of diverse perspectives work – by teaming and
leading inclusively – to achieve better results. It is about creating an environment where each
individual feels valued, is valued, and inspired to perform at their best.

So why are so many FS organizations falling short on diversity and inclusion, and failing to broaden recruitment as a result? While employers tend to blame a lack of sufficient candidates,
employees point to the lingering assumptions and stereotypes so many women in financial services continue to face. Substantial progress won’t be made until these biases are rooted out.

Why Diversity Matters

McKinsey and Company’s latest research reinforces the link between diversity and company financial performance – and suggests how organizations can craft better inclusion strategies for a competitive edge.

Delivering Through Diversity

Diversity Trends: Old Rules vs. New Rules

Old models of diversity and inclusion are undergoing change, and this trend is expected to accelerate. Read More …

How To Hire A Diverse Work Force

1) Create Diversity Strategies That Work
Fill the talent pipeline with women candidates and keep the percentage intact as the pipeline matured. 

2) Hold Business Units Accountable
Diversity objectives need to be embraced throughout the entire organization. Require each business unit to have quarterly diversity events partnering with local diversity organizations.

3) Set Goals and Measure
Get results by setting goals for diversity and then measure and publicize the results.

4) Interview at Least One Diverse Candidate

Diversity recruiting often cites the Rooney Rule requiring National Football League teams to interview minority coaches which dramatically improved minority hiring. When a major technology company implemented “interview at least one woman” for a highly technical group, it doubled the hiring of women and women now represent 50 percent of this group.

5) Include Diversity in the Interview Panel

Interviewing can be subjective with people tending to hire candidates like themselves. An entirely male interview panel can easily include a female board member, Add different perspectives to the jury and listen to the input.

6) Introduce Diverse Role Models Early in the Interview Process

Clients have seen increased acceptance rates by diverse candidates when similar role models are introduced early in the interview process.

7) Improve Performance Evaluation Processes

Women are often evaluated as lower performers than male peers even when their performance is better. Companies should establish subjective performance reviews and provide equal career progression opportunities.

8) Create a Culture for Inclusion

A company’s culture can cause women to opt out of technical roles and companies. Companies need to diagnose their culture and get rid of these behaviours.

“Diversity and independence are important because the best collective decisions are the product of disagreement and contest, not consensus or compromise.”
~ James Surowiecki

Resources

Diversity Trends for 2018

Gender Equality
Still looking for room at the top: Ten years of research on women in the workplace

How and Where Diversity Drives Financial Performance
Diversity is an issue of fairness and a driver of innovation and performance. This is a large, cross-country study into the relationship between multiple aspects of managerial diversity, the presence of enabling conditions such as leadership support for diversity, and innovation outcomes.

How To Alter Your Hiring Practices To Increase Diversity