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by: Ross Blake
Even though it’s an “employer’s market” with millions of capable people looking for work due to the
recession, many employers are making these five costly employee retention mistakes.
Mistake #1: Assuming employees “won’t dare leave now due to the recession.”
Many organizations have discontinued their employee retention programs, figuring they aren’t needed
because their employees would be crazy to leave now.
While it’s true that most of your good employees won’t leave now, some employers lose some of their
most valuable employees during economic downturns and recessions.
Why?
Having already undergone several waves of layoffs, many organizations now operate as lean as
possible, continuing to employ only their critical skills and best-performing employees.
If even one of those key or high-performing employees leaves, the impact can be significant.
Every time there’s more bad economic news, reduced customer orders, or another layoff, many
employees ask themselves, “I wonder if I’ll be next?”
If another employer, possibly one of your competitors, can offer them a job with more security,
don’t you think some employees will at least consider it?
Or, if their families are complaining about increased workloads and time away from home, including
nights and weekends, and another employer offers a job with improved work-life balance, won’t some
employees consider taking it?
Is this really the time to potentially risk losing the employees who are getting you through the
recession?
You want to be looking for ways to better serve and retain customers, not dealing with costly
employee turnover.
Mistake #2: Assuming other employers aren’t hiring or making strategic job
offers.
Many organizations have kept only their most valuable employees: the ones with the most skills,
knowledge, expertise, important customer relationships, and highest productivity.
All of these are attributes other employers, especially competitive ones, value.
Even though their talent management plans don’t include hiring new employees now, some employers
will make special allowances to hire valuable employees away from key competitors.
And, it’s also not unheard of for companies to terminate one or more existing employees in order to
gain another employer’s “star.”
Mistake #3: Not talking with your best employees about how they’re coping.
Many high-performing employees were already working to full capacity before the recession; now,
many of them have even more demands and responsibilities.
Meet with them one-to-one in private, asking questions like these:
1) Do they feel overloaded or overwhelmed? If so, what might help reduce this? Can some of their
work or projects be delegated to others?
2) Have their families complained about the hours they’re working?
3) What would they like from you to help them work more comfortably and effectively?
4) If they were going to consider leaving the organization within the next six months, what might
make them do so? (Don’t be afraid to ask this question fearing you’re putting thoughts in their
heads that aren’t already there. They’ll appreciate your honesty).
5) How do they describe their relationship with their immediate boss?
While this dialogue is always important, it’s especially important now; it helps establish
relationships of open communication and trust which is one of the most effective employee retention
strategies there is.
Mistake #4: Not paying enough attention to the relationships between employees and
their immediate bosses.
Research has continually shown that the quality of the relationship employees have with their
immediate boss is the number one reason they leave.
If their boss places more and more demands on them while treating them as less than a valuable
asset during a difficult economy, this will prompt some employees to look now, or decide to leave
once the recession’s over.
Train managers how to retain good employees; make retention part of their job descriptions; and
make good employee retention at least 25% to 33% of their bonuses. Employee turnover will usually
decrease.
Notice that the one-to-one conversations recommended in Mistake #3 can help you uncover and correct
concerns in this area.
Mistake #5: Assuming employees will stay once the recession’s over.
Just because capable employees don’t leave during the recession, you can’t assume they won’t leave
once it’s over.
Because they often do.
Several times after past economic downturns and recessions, the Society for Human Resource
Management (SHRM), has reported that two-thirds or more of existing employees intended to seek new
employers.
When the economy improves, you don’t want to be spending resources on employee recruitment and
hiring and training replacement employees, you want to take advantage of increased business, and
recoup lost revenues.
Avoiding these five key employee retention mistakes will help you avoid spending tens or even
hundreds of thousands of dollars and substantial amounts of administrative time
later.
About The Author
(c) 2009 Ross Blake Associates, Inc.
Ross Blake, the Employee Retention Manager, shows small to medium size employers, businesses, and
HR professionals how to increase employee retention and save thousands of dollars by reducing
employee turnover costs including recruiting and hiring expenses.
He has authored How to Retain More New Hires and How to Develop An Employee Retention Blueprint for
Your Organization.
Learn more and get this special free report, “Five Employee Retention Strategies Outstanding
Employers Use,” http://www.EmployeeRetentionManager.com
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