Save Money Through Employee Retention
Companies are really focused on employee retention these days. Is it a hot button for you or your organization?
Especially in a tight economy, the last thing you want to do is spend time, effort, and resources to recruit and train replacement employees. Here are some strategies to consider if you want to hang on to your valued employees:
- Conduct attitude or climate surveys to uncover areas of dissatisfaction. You can’t fix it, if you don’t know it’s a problem. (But, don’t ask if you don’t intend to take some action).
- Talk with your top performers to gauge any intentions to leave and ask what it would take to keep them. It may be much easier than you think (and don’t assume that money will solve the issue).
- Provide development activities (special projects, rotation programs, leadership development programs) that stimulate your staff and show them that they play a part in the organization’s future.
- Set aside time for training and development activities. Don’t expect your staff to put in additional time on top of their already full schedules (it will feel like a burden rather than a reward).
- Speaking of burdens, check to make sure you aren’t overloading your best employees (because they’re the only ones you can trust). Don’t burn them out.
If you have any particularly effective retention strategies to share or would like to learn more about how to reduce employee turnover in your organization, please contact Kammy Haynes.
Surveys in Confidence
Some surveys (like 360s or ones given to employees) are conducted in confidence, meaning that you only share group level data with others. Other surveys, such as those given to customers or asking group members for suggestions may not be. Under the latter condition, what level of confidentiality do you owe the participants?
First and foremost, you want to make the level of confidentiality very clear before giving the survey. In some cases, people are asked to give up any confidentiality (please give us your name if you'd like to be contacted). In others, the lack of confidentiality is explicity given up (in which projects would you like to be involved?).
However, even when confidence is given up, there are other factors to be considered before you would share results by name with others in the organization. Are the person's responses to the survey offensive or mean-sprited? Does it appear that the person thought that the comments would be made in confidence?
Remember, confidence implies trust. Use your judgment when protecting it.
If you want to learn more about conducting surveys, contact Warren Bobrow.
