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Effective Leadership – the key to staff retention

Guest post by: Melissa Gallagher

Article Overview: The current economic climate dictates that it is now an employers market, however what will happen when the economic crisis we currently find ourselves in subsides? Are you confident that your talented employees will remain with your organisation? Or do you believe you need to act now to ensure your talent is retained in the future? Over the next few weeks we will look at strategies for ensuring your key talent are engaged, motivated and ultimately committed to your organisation and its objectives, regardless of how green the grass may appear on the other side. This week we will look at the important role leaders play in talent retention...

Effective Leadership – the key to staff retention

The current economic climate dictates that it is now an employers market, however what will happen when the economic crisis we currently find ourselves in subsides? Are you confident that your talented employees will remain with your organisation?Or do you believe you need to act now to ensure your talent is retained in the future?Over the next few weeks we will look at strategies for ensuring your key talent are engaged, motivated and ultimately committed to your organisation and its objectives, regardless of how green the grass may appear on the other side.This week we will look at the important role leaders play in talent retention. According to recent research, it appears that there is a .86 positive correlation between effective leadership and employee engagement and indeed if effective leadership is present in an organisation then the negative impact of other factors such as perceived poor pay or limited work-life balance is reduced (Financial Times Top 100 Companies, 2008). This research reflects Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory (i.e. that different elements are more important to us as humans and if the lower level is satisfied then this impacts the level of need for the higher levels). So what are the characteristics of an effective leader in the current climate? There are many skills that an effective leader possesses but the following are amongst those with the most significance in determining success while operating during challenging times:

• The ability to influence others, without manipulation - leaders should focus on refining their use of the 5 key stages of influencing: gaining rapport, questioning, active listening, highlighting benefits, arriving at a decision
• The flexibility to tailor their skills and approach to meet changing demands (both internal and external) - leading during a recession, requires difficult decisions to be made to ensure the continued success of the business, in addition, priorities change so that key leadership skills must be tailored to meet the needs of this new operating environment
• Sound judgment (regardless of external pressures) - effective decision making is crucial when chaos abounds
• Being ethical - effective leaders are trusted by their colleagues and staff members, making the 'right' decisions and staying true to the organisations vision will be important
• Communicating openly and honestly at all times - this is crucial to building and sustaining trust amongst staff members.It can also be useful for leaders to develop their coaching skills in order to guide and advise staff members rather than 'telling' as this can enable more effective conversations to take place.

Leadership development remains a key determinant of future organisational success and therefore investment should be made proactively at this level to ensure your leaders are equipped with the skills to meet the changing demands of the market place.In doing so you will ensure that your organisation is well placed to survive the war for talent when it resumes once more!

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Article Tags: challenging times, characteristics of an effective leader, difficult decisions, economic climate, economic crisis, effective leadership, employee engagement, financial times, hierarchy of needs, hierarchy of needs theory, key stages, li li, manipulation, maslow s hierarchy of needs, negative impact, positive correlation, recession, talent retention, talented employees, work life balance



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