Retaining your top talent in the midst of the “great resignation”

For years, we have been talking about the war for talent.  Personally, I don’t like the use of the word war here; we seem to use military and battle metaphors way too much when it comes to people, in my view.  These are human beings, whose lives will be affected by the decisions they take about who to work for and for what purpose.  During Covid, we have seen waves of resignations, as people realise there is more to life than working for a boss in a system that treats humans as robots without feeling, without personal needs, without unique sets of circumstances, without individual ways of being in the world.  We cannot treat every individual the same.

Does one size fit all?

In the past, we may have used the phrase “do unto others, as you would have others do to you”, but that doesn’t wash, because they are not you.  They are their own person, with different emotions to yours, different needs, different circumstances, different ways of thinking and working.  In lock-down (and beyond), we were not all in the same boat; we were in the same ocean but our boats were all different.  As we emerge (we hope) from another wave of Covid, this is a lesson we really need to hold on to.  As leaders, we need to treat our people as unique.  There is no one-size-fits-all for leading the individuals on your team.  They each need to feel understood and cared for, in their own way.

We all know that people leave leaders, not companies (Gallup).  So this is your chance to shine….to avert a great resignation from your team….by treating each person in a way that they would like to be treated.  Even if you are recruiting new people, don’t take your eye off the ball with your current people, otherwise, you will find yourself back-filling even more roles, as those current people start questioning whether they want to continue working for you.

The employee experience

Think about the employee experience (like the customer experience, but for employees).  Go digging (eg, ask) about each of your team members’ needs and desires.  Don’t guess: ask!  Start with needs and desires and then figure out how you can shape their role (or a new role, or a role somewhere else in the company) to achieve those needs and desires.  Don’t just throw money at them.  Find out what really motivates them.  Money’s sparkle will soon dull, but if you can enable them to meet their ongoing needs and desires, you’ll be creating an experience for them which will have longer-term implications for their loyalty to you and the organisation.

“Engaged employees plan to stay for what they give; the Disengaged stay for what they get.” [Source: Blessing White Employee Engagement Report 2011]

Leaders’ role is to make sure that the right people are in the right place, at the right time.  And in those “right” places, employers have wanted to get more from their employees. That hasn’t changed.  But looking through an employee experience lens, we could also want more for our employees.

We want them to feel that they:

• Can use their skills to the fullest
• Have a sense of meaning
• Are on a path to growth
• Have ownership and autonomy
• Are cared about

If employees experience these intrinsic motivators, then we are more likely to get more from them in terms of their productivity, because they will be more engaged.  “Organizations with higher engagement levels have lower employee turnover, higher productivity and better results”. [Source: Hewitt Associates. Why Managers are crucial to increasing engagement].

Employees don’t care about HR processes that appear to meet the business’ needs first and foremost.  They care about their own growth through the organisation, and the transitions that will support that growth.

So we should move away from treating HR and senior stakeholders as the experts in people’s careers, to seeing our employees as the best judges of what they need to be successful.  What could be more engaging for our people than knowing that we cared about their needs and desires, and weren’t making assumptions any longer?  That each individual could create and work towards an individualized development plan, based on their own aspirations?

Talent Management processes such as succession planning often discuss a person’s performance and potential without asking the employee what their aspirations are; and then the leader wonders why the individual doesn’t want that opportunity we’re offering them (that doesn’t fit their needs).

It’s time to start talking

If we want to get the right people in the right place at the right time, it’s time to start having more conversations with our people about their needs and desires.

With all of this in mind, I have invited several of my esteemed colleagues to write about the kinds of things that leaders need to pay attention to.  Things like mental wellbeing, neurodiversity, the need for recuperative nap time (yep!), menopause.  All with you and your team members in mind.

Watch this space, every other week, for things that you could and should be paying attention to if you wish to retain your talented people.

If you want to read more about Employee Experience, here’s my series from 2015: https://clarenormancoachingassociates.com/coaching-support-employee-experience/