How to Retain Top Talent
Despite the recession and high unemployment rate, organizations in some industries still struggle to attract and retain people with critical industry, technical and leadership expertise. This skills gap is prevalent in segments like accounting, engineering and manufacturing, making retention of high performers a top priority. However, retaining top talent should be on the radar of any organization wanting to sustain long term competitive advantage.
Research shows that organizations with solid talent programs tend to be better positioned to attract and retain top talent.[1] What many organizations fail to realize is that the entire leadership and managerial teams within a company are the front line stewards of talent programs to support retention. With performance review season underway for many organizations, the cycle should be considered the perfect development and coaching opportunity.
At Clark Nuber, we have a strong coaching culture that has helped us ensure employees are accountable, highly engaged and focused on both their individual and the firm’s overall performance. As a retention strategy, this offers strategic benefit to both the individual employee and the firm as a whole. Our employees know that we are focused on making them successful and how they can grow and develop, while having a direct line of sight into how our firm is achieving its goals.
To aid in your organization’s retention efforts, here are a four ways managers can ensure employees are motivated and engaged in the work they do, and that they’re given clear opportunities for development.
1. Give meaningful feedback on a regular basis
At Clark Nuber, we conduct several reviews throughout the year and we use a web-based solution to simplify and streamline the process. Feedback is provided from a number of sources, not just the manager. Not only does this allow us to provide feedback when it’s most valuable, it gives employees a complete and accurate picture of their performance. As a result, the annual performance review meeting is used to focus on development and goal-planning for the following year.
2. Be clear about goals and expectations
When employees have the full picture of where they stand performance-wise, and what they are expected to be executing on for the next review cycle, they are better engaged in the work they do and thus far more likely to be high-performers. At Clark Nuber, we use a talent management system that gives our employees visibility into their progress on goals. This supports our overall focus on retention, as our employees have visibility into the process and feel empowered.
3. Provide development opportunities
We want our employees to be efficient, productive and appropriately challenged so we invest in tools and resources to help our employees manage their careers. We use review meetings to discuss the employee's career aspirations, both short and long term, and to explore opportunities to prepare the employee for advancement. We also offer a Leadership Development Institute – a series of classes and activities to help employees develop a wide range of skills sets. By helping our employees develop and achieve their full potential, they get excited about the work they do and the opportunities ahead of them.
3. Reward, recognize and appreciate!
Performance ratings should be a known and visible factor in determining employee rewards and compensation. Any form of employee reward or recognition should be integrated with your performance management process and serve to reinforce desired behavior and performance. This practice helps employees feel that compensation practices are fair and empowers them.
Our talent management partner Halogen Software offers a great resource on preparing for performance reviews – take a look at The Managers’ Checklist for Performance Appraisals.
At Clark Nuber we’ve fostered a development- focused culture centered on performance. This has boosted our retention efforts because we have created a workplace culture that values employees, their contributions and their growth within our company.
Tracy L. White, SPHR is the Senior Director of Human Resources at Clark Nuber, an accounting firm based in Bellevue. The firm is consistently ranked among one of Washington’s best places to work and credits its talent management philosophy and programs to helping achieve this employer of choice status.
[1] Deloitte, “Talent in the Upturn: Recovery Brings Its Own Challenges, Human Capital Trends 2011” https://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Services/consulting/all-offerings...
