Really good observation. I think retention has become a side effect of happiness, culture and efficiency. We've had low turnover so it really didn't cross my mind because I'm not actively trying to convince people to stay. My takeaway here though is to not take people for granted. Although we have regular 1-1s, sometimes people don't talk about the little things that chip away at them and become big unless they're explicitly asked.
Keeping some people even if they're "redundant" for some time can also be considered an investment in your workforce. You keep those people's experience so when activity go back up they're already there. And if you demonstrate some loyalty to your people you may get some in return.
Another important aspect about retaining good employees is to help them through their failures. The longer an employee stays at a company, the more likely it is that they will screw up. No one has a 100% track record. Good management teams recognize this, and should have plans to guide faltering employees back on the right track.
Yes this! Both most recent companies I’ve been at have/had problems retaining good people, especially past 4 years. At this point I think there must be some adage among leadership that is better to get fresh meat after a while.
That said I have known peers to go in and say they are looking at leaving and all of a sudden a solution is found…
Probably more important, with retention, are working conditions. If a company has a high turnover rate, women aren't going to stick around just because they're 20% instead of 10%.
The people you need to retain are the good ones who left because working conditions, pay, or management style were not worth it. The good people will be leaving when things start going bad, the people you are left with at the end are the ones who couldn’t find work elsewhere in the meantime.
Paying executives large bonuses is the last ditch effort of stripping value out of the company before the administrators roll in and start by clamping spending.
From what I can tell, we keep the best people around, or maintain good ties with them as they are leaving to ensure knowledge transfer. Many come back because they find the work environment to be unmatched elsewhere.
You don't bother thinking about that. Over time you have a large enough sample size for attrition rate and you hire based off that. it doesn't matter if a few leave, a few will always leave.
More than losing the people who have the best prospects, you lose the ones that feels the least connected to the company. Even if you have many other prospects, if you still feel strongly for the company you work, you'll probably stay. The ones that leaves if you ask them to, wouldn't have stayed for very long anyway.
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