Retaining top talent is key to corporate success. These gifted individuals propel a company toward achieving its goals and remaining fiscally viable.
On the other hand, losing top talent has a boomerang effect. An exodus of corporate leaders undermines success and makes the workplace less attractive overall. This increased discontent encourages more employees to leave, further degrading that organization’s desirability as an employer. So, engaging employees and highlighting the importance of their jobs is clearly crucial to an enjoyable work environment.
Interestingly, attracting and retaining rising corporate stars requires businesses to manifest the same characteristics employers desire in employees.
Here are some steps toward creating an engaging corporate culture marked by thriving, loyal workers:
- Set realistic expectations for new employees during the onboarding process. Don’t offer vague promises of corporate ladder climbing without describing the time and effort necessary to achieve career objectives. Have current, successful employees share authentic stories of their own experiences.
- Provide helpful job and career training. Employees should walk away from a training session with skills or knowledge applicable to their daily tasks. This training should have an immediate application or pertain to new responsibilities they will soon handle.
- Challenge those who demonstrate excellent job performance, aptitude, and business acumen. These special projects that broaden perspectives and test capabilities reveal whether an employee should fast-track to the top.
- Identify weaknesses in top talent and assign mentors to coach them. For example, a whiz kid who lacks oral tact could derail her career before it starts. Provide training, role plays, and real-life experiences that demonstrate the impact of her words and actions. Allow her to see herself as others see her so she can adjust her behavior accordingly.
- Communicate frequently with top-notch employees regarding their career aspirations. Again, it’s critical to keep corporate and personal goals aligned.
- Formalize workers’ career development process. Discuss realistic goals, upward and lateral moves to increase their corporate competency, and potential time frames for these changes.
- Recognize and reward achievement in a timely, meaningful manner.
- Reevaluate the labor market regularly to ensure that each employee receives competitive compensation. Satisfied workers are less tempted to seek greener pastures.
- Offer unique perks such as onsite childcare, flexible work arrangements, training trips to attractive vacation spots, etc.
You should enact the preceding action plan fairly, based on personal merit. Favoritism only creates animosity and damages the social networks essential to productivity.
So, to reiterate, a workplace intent on retaining employees needs an engaging culture characterized by universal dignity and respect.
