{"id":10557,"date":"2017-10-16T06:33:50","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T13:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/blog\/?p=10557"},"modified":"2023-05-09T19:09:47","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T02:09:47","slug":"5-ways-hang-top-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/5-ways-hang-top-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Hang On to Your Top Talent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0<\/strong>This is a guest post by Dan Scalco\u00a0\u2013 Owner and Director of Growth at\u00a0Digitalux.\u00a0His opinions are his own.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an often-cited truth that talent is a business\u2019 biggest expense and asset. Keeping talent retention<\/a> rates high then should the concern of every conscientious HR manager. And yet, it\u2019s not an easy task at all. Retention is a serious challenge, and it\u2019s made all the more serious when businesses ignore the problems within their structure and organization that contribute to their best people walking out the door.<\/p>\n

We need to be asking ourselves better questions. How can businesses make sure that they\u2019re not simply paying lip service to valuing their staff? What are the ways that a company can walk the walk? These aren\u2019t simple questions, and they don\u2019t have simple answers.<\/p>\n

Rather than providing definitive, hard-and-fast solutions (it would be foolish to try) I want to offer businesses six ideas that, if properly equipped, may just mean the difference between their high performers staying happy and these same go-getters going-and-getting a better job somewhere else.<\/p>\n

1. Do your job at recruiting<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The best way a company can hold on to talent is to address any potential fit issues at the earliest stage possible\u2014recruitment. It\u2019s important for companies to remember that retention shouldn\u2019t simply be a passive, reactionary measure. The goal shouldn\u2019t be to plead with disgruntled employees and placate them into staying. That\u2019s putting out fires. Instead, companies and their HR departments should have the prescience to make strategic, killer hiring decisions that cut down the possibility of staff jumping ship<\/a> in the first place.<\/p>\n

This requires that a company\u2019s HR people have a couple of skills. First, they need to be able to be excellent judges of character. Does a prospective employee seem like somebody who would pack up at a moment\u2019s notice? Secondly, they need to be able to get a sense for the candidate\u2019s personality and work habits to see whether he or she would make a good culture fit. Figuring this out will take time, so it may be wise to protract the hiring process somewhat so that you have a well-rounded vision of your candidates. These questions can\u2019t be answered in a single \u201chey how you doing?\u201d-type interview. But, in the long run, this legwork will be worth its weight in gold. Have a robust recruiting system in place, and hire people who believe in your company.<\/p>\n

2. Work on your management<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Like I mentioned, businesses have a bad habit of ignoring the ways they\u2019re contributing to their retention problem. Don\u2019t be like this. Chances are, if a company is haemorrhaging staff at an alarming rate, there\u2019s something rotten within the company itself. Often, this will be your management, and specifically, your middle-level management.<\/p>\n

A business can have the best core values and principles in the world, but if they aren\u2019t being lived and embodied by management, who are basically the company\u2019s internal culture ambassadors, then they don\u2019t amount to diddly-squat.<\/p>\n

Work with management to make sure that positive company values are being practised at all levels of the organisation. This may mean convening special meetings and workshops with management to ensure that the company culture<\/a> you\u2019d like to promote is understood and adopted.<\/p>\n

Often, bad retention rates are partially due to interpersonal problems in a workplace, and particularly with bosses<\/a> and middle management. If people are leaving, it\u2019s entirely possible that it\u2019s not their fault\u2014maybe the people in positions of leadership are not really leading responsibly. Get to the bottom of it, and make sure management is the first and best example of company culture to your employees. Otherwise, it\u2019s only a matter of time before you start losing people.<\/p>\n

3. Build a strong company culture<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Of course, the above assumes that a company already has a strong sense of what it wants its company culture to be. Sadly, I\u2019ve learned from experience that this may be an overly generous assumption. Good company cultures don\u2019t grow on trees, and they can take years of thoughtful development and iteration to come to fruition.<\/p>\n

If a company is in its early stages, it may be timely to sit down and put together a draft of a core values statement. Reflect on what you want your company to represent to your staff, and how these values can be translated from the level of thought to action. So, for example, it\u2019s not enough to simply say that \u201cRespect\u201d is a core value and be done with it. Practically speaking, how will respect permeate the culture of the company? Will it take the shape of frequent check-ins with staff at all levels to make sure their needs are being met, or will it be some other mechanism?<\/p>\n

Even if a company is well-established, it\u2019s well worth it to dust off its core values page and see just how well these values are making their way from the page into culture. This is about way more than free drinks and snacks and occasional social gatherings (though that may be part of the deal). It\u2019s about creating a shared system of values under which everybody feels appreciated and understands their role. Top talent can go anywhere, and most are having their InMail carpet bombed by recruiters several times a week with competitive offers. What talented people value is a strong culture that honors them and gives a solid structure for their work to thrive.<\/p>\n

4. Respect work-life balance<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For many employees, what distinguishes a company worth staying with is whether or not this company respects and understands that work isn\u2019t everything. Of course, I\u2019m talking about the elusive work-life balance question. But it really is a no-brainer. The idea of a wage slave chained to a desk from 9-5 is antiquated, and, as studies are showing, it\u2019s not even the most efficient way to run a business. If talent feels like its employers are going to bat for them and their personal lives, they will repay those employers with loyalty.<\/p>\n

Quality of life<\/a> is a central conversation, and everywhere, everybody is trying to find and live their best life. With our culture, and especially among the millennial generation, this is almost an obsession. With even simple products like mattresses being closely scrutinized for their contribution to human well-being, how can something as big and time-consuming as a job stand a chance if it isn\u2019t making a positive contribution to this conversation?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 2017. Employers need to be providing competitive PTO, excellent benefits, and the flexibility needed for their staff to live fulfilling lives. Happy people are loyal people. It\u2019s as simple as that.<\/p>\n

5. Learn from those who are leaving<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Even if a company implements all the above to a tee, it will still lose good staff. There\u2019s just no way around it. This is understandable, and it\u2019s counterproductive to be hard on yourself for losing talented people every now and then. But what\u2019s inexcusable is not seizing the opportunity to learn from those who are leaving.<\/p>\n

For many companies, exit interviews are merely a perfunctory gesture: they don\u2019t mean much. But for any company interested in talent retention, this is its opportunity to learn what went wrong. Create a safe space for your departing staff and ask a few pointed questions<\/a> about what was good and what could have been better. This sort of autopsy of the employee\u2019s time with you will likely provide invaluable insights that you couldn\u2019t have gathered any other way. Through this learning, you may be able to forestall another potential loss.<\/p>\n

As you can see, talent retention is a complex subject\u2014it\u2019s not enough to simply stock soda in the break room and expect a lifetime of loyalty. But it\u2019s my hope that these tips will help you and your organization think a little more critically about how you can keep your best employees happy and working with you for many years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Staff retention is a serious challenge, and it\u2019s made all the more serious when businesses ignore the problems that contribute to their best people walking out the door.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":280,"featured_media":10559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Ways to Hang On to Your Top Talent<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Staff retention is a serious challenge, made even more serious when businesses ignore the problems that contribute to the best people walking out the door.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/5-ways-hang-top-talent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Ways 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