Tweet

Winning the Talent War In Turbulent Times

Written by: Eileen McDargh

Article Overview: Jettisoning employees in financial tough times can very well result in losing industrious producers, top talent, longtime workers, and top managers.

Winning the Talent War In Turbulent Times

No industry is immune to the influence of our current economic slowdown. The pace of change and the flushing sound heard on Wall Street throw many organizations into knee-jerk reactions. From consolidations, mergers, and acquisitions to re-engineering profit centers, creating new product lines and calming a variety of stakeholders, managers are faced with turbulent situations.

Responding to such pressures requires both a level head as well as the realization that it's still true that the business of building a business-whether new or old economy-still requires sound management, good marketing, and most importantly, good people.

Jettisoning employees in financial tough times can very well result in losing industrious producers, top talent, longtime workers, and top managers. Such short-sightedness can be costly on many fronts. The cost of recruiting talented workers typically runs 70-200% of their annual salaries. A loss of sales personnel can hurt a company's bottom line. Lose front-line customer service people and the customer might be penalized. A company doesn't make profits. People do.

And because people DO make the profits, keeping solid employees has never been more critical. Lose the war NOW in talent, have your best folks jump ship to the competition, or cut too far, and you'll be scrambling for the brainpower necessary when the economy turns around.

How DO you win the talent war in times like these? The good news is that "show me the money" is not the primary reason people stay. A recent study of 4000 professional and clerical workers found that job satisfaction keeps more workers than pay levels alone. The survey found that only 6% of people who were satisfied with their jobs but unhappy with their pay plan to quit. The percentage jumps to 27% when they were dissatisfied with their jobs but happy with their pay! If they were unhappy with both their pay and job situation, the percentage of those ready to bail jumped to 41%!

The challenge: what makes for satisfaction? What do valued employees want? A two-year study by Dr. Beverly Kaye, author of Love'Em or Lose'Em, said what employees valued most is: career growth, learning and development; exciting work with consistent performance expectations, accountability and challenge; meaningful work ( making a contribution), great people, being part of a team, good boss, recognition for a job well done, fun on the job, autonomy over work, work/life balance, and flexibility in areas such as work hours.

It's easier to put the burden of retention of pay. Pay is easier and quicker. But investing money without investing in the relationship with employees garners little true commitment. Creating a culture for satisfaction takes time, prompts internal analysis, and leaves long-term positive results on the bottom line.

Based upon the work done by Kaye and her team at Career Systems International (CSI), retention practices by good managers focus on three areas: development, style, and environment. The developmental focus begins with understanding what hiring practices make for a good fit from the outset. It includes such practices as job enrichment, career growth, mentorship, and expansion of goals into areas of challenge suited for each individual.

A manager's style has much to do with retention. This skill set involves informal as well as formal recognition practices, interpersonal skill development between a manager and the employee, sharing power, and self-awareness of behaviors that disenfranchise employees.

An environmental focus for retention means that managers explore practices that encourage information sharing, alignment of values, and the creation of workplace where laughter and joy are present. While few organizations can (or want to) match the zany reputation of Southwest Airlines, simple, spontaneous bits of fun can make a great difference. One power company in the Pacific Northwest has a Frisbee memo day in which all pieces of internal correspondence are twirled down a hall to the receiving party!

Turn a light on your management practices and see if you're winning the talent war. Retool, retrain and you will retain!

© Eileen McDargh, McDargh Communications. All rights reserved. You may reprint this article so long as it remains intact with the byline and if all links are made live.

Related Articles
  The overuse of "people" as competitive advantage
  The Value of Military Leadership Experience in Turbulent Business Environments
  An Apprentice Lesson in Leadership
  Organizational Talent You Need To Succeed
  Most of the Time Talent's Not Enough

Article Tags: bottom line, clerical workers, consolidations, current economic slowdown, good marketing, job satisfaction, line customer service, mergers and acquisitions, old economy, profit centers, profits, realization, salaries, short sightedness, survey found that, talent war, talented workers, top managers, tough times, wall street



Related Forum Posts
Re: Info for would be franchisers... - [quote="Sebastien":1d29sdv1]Like Franchise Times, Franchise Update is a very practical magazine. There is no blah blah, just straight facts that anyone in the franchise community can relate to. I just want to mention that all these magazines are NOT franchisee oriented. I mean these magazines are for franchise professionals. If you're looking to buy a franchise, you won't find much information in there. To answer your question, getting published in Franchise Times was fairly easy. I don't want to brag too much but I think I am known in the franchise industry. I was the marketing guy at Franchise.com for a few years before joining my new company, the World Franchising Network. So people know me and I have a very good relationship with Nancy Weingartner, the Managing Editor at Franchise Times. I was talking with her at the last Franchise Expo South in Miami and she mentioned she'd like me to be profiled. I was like "ok, sure!". I like this franchise executive profile thing in Franchise Times as it is rarely BS. People are usually really natural in there.[/quote:1d29sdv1] Thanks for the follow up Sebastien! And I can't say that I'm surprised that networking with the right people and managing your relationships with them properly are the keys to being published. I guess the old adage holds true of "it's not who you know, but who knows you" that's important.
Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - [quote="OmnivoreInk":dmj1i0sv]I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?[/quote:dmj1i0sv] I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not. It won't matter if the press release is well written if no one has the opportunity to read it. I also believe that credibility comes with having your press release in an established source like The New York Times, LA Times, etc... For instance, if you enjoyed playing tennis, who would you trust more? The advice from a recreational tennis player who has his own column in [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] [u:dmj1i0sv]or[/u:dmj1i0sv] the recreational tennis player who has his own blog? I don't know about you, but I'd listen to the guy on [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] over the blog owner at least 9 out of 10 times.
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I agree with Kevin [quote:3b8fyubd]I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not.[/quote:3b8fyubd] You dont a big company that will charge mega bucks as Im sure they will even add a %age to the cost of the press release. Im sure if you approach New York Times, the LA Times with every thing presented professionally I think it will still stand the same chance. I would start advertising online, then locally thats when the NYT can see what there missing out on! And to test the water first!
Quote of the Day - ?"I've never met a successful entrepreneu - ?"I've never met a successful entrepreneur that didn't simply outwork all others. Talent is important, but the work ethic is a necessity." - Adam Braun (Pencils Of Promise)


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Sales Training – Top Salespeople Are Not Dunces

The Golden Rule of Communications

Live To Work Or Work To Live?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.