Employee Retention
I have a friend who has been employed by a public utility for over twenty-five years. Talk about an industry and a company that most would not find sexy! Yet, at the age of 59 years old, she’s still receiving promotions and most recently found herself in a new job that she knows nothing about. She has no plans of leaving anytime soon. Why? Because she’s still learning and sees there are more opportunities in front of her than behind her.
Here’s how boring companies can use their even keeled personalities to win over the hearts and minds of those they are seeking to hire.
Be yourself. Up to 20 percent of employee turnover takes place within the first 45 days. A study recently revealed the reason why this is so.
I’m not doing the work I was hired to do.
I’m not doing any of the cool new things that were discussed during the interview process.
Let’s assume you’re hiring bright people. If this is the case, surely they’re going to quickly figure out they’ve been sold a bill of goods. Instead, why not be honest? You may not get as many acceptances, but you also won’t damage your reputation by churning people.
Go with what you’ve got. You may not be the sexiest company in town, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things about you that others won’t find attractive. Play on your strengths. For example, suppose your company has never laid off workers. That would be a selling point for a worker who is seeking a company he or she can stay with.
Or perhaps your company is known as an organization that gives back to the community. Lots of people today are looking for more than a job. They’re looking for purpose. Be sure to highlight this on your website and talk about this during interviews.
Invest in your people. Nothing’s more appealing to workers than great managers. Yet companies keep pumping money into perks that don’t work. All the free beer in the world won’t make employees delusional enough to stick around when they work for a boss who lacks leadership skills.
Now’s the time to transform your managers into magnetic leaders. These leaders retain top talent effortlessly. Do the math? How much does it cost you when an employee leaves your organization? You can use my complimentary employee turnover calculator to calculate this. I bet that number is far greater than the investment needed to ensure you have great leadership throughout your firm.
Boring is the new sexy in terms of employee retention. Don’t believe me? Then ask those long-term employees, whom you’ve been unable to recruit, why they are going home with the one who brought them to the dance.
