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Posted:  24 September 2007

Keeping good people

By: Maribel R. Gaite Manila Times

Companies have been so focused on getting rid of workers during downsizing that many have forgotten how to hang on to their best people.  Instead of just trimming the payroll to raise profitability, they need to keep more people onboard to prevent their boats from sinking.

Successful organizations know that the key to leadership is getting and keeping the right people.  This does not mean having 100-percent retention.  This would be a wrong goal for any organization.  It may sound heartless but departures are also means to enable problematic employees to find better opportunities and to give new blood a chance.

The key issue in retention is keeping the right people without forgetting management's part, which is helping them to become better.   Retention not only looks at the number of people leaving but also asks the question who is leaving and why.  Employers, as well as co-workers, need to understand why good people move to other places.

One common reason that we tend to think of is the presumably higher compensation offered by the other job.  But "total compensation" is not only remuneration and benefits but includes the elusive "psychic income."  Employees move on not only for money but also for the hope of a better job and community fit.

According to HR experts, the biggest misconception many employers have about retention is that it's a compensation issue.  Studies have repeatedly shown that money, as long as it's competitive, comes in about third among the reasons for job satisfaction.  The top two influences on job satisfaction are management supervisory practices and career advancement opportunities.  Surprisingly, the fourth reason after compensation is the physical work environment.  With more people spending longer hours in their offices, physical comfort, and the appeal and accessibility of their workplace have become very important.

In a study on "Recruiting and Retaining Qualified Employees,"  the following were some of the findings related to physical workplace: 

1)  employees who were pleased with their physical workplaces were 31 percent more likely to say they were satisfied with their jobs,

2)  the physical workplace would impact 41 percent of employees and job seekers to accept a position,

3)  the quality of their physical workplace would influence 51 percent to leave a company, and

4)  (astonishingly!) 73 percent were not satisfied with the physical workplaces at their current jobs.

So it's important not to forget the physical environment.  Nevertheless, a company on a very tight budget should at least focus on the other three reasons.  According to Peggy Simonsen,  president of a US career development and performance management consulting firm, some questions that employers should ask themselves to keep their best people are: "Do the realities of our organization align with our development message to employees?  Does our compensation system still reward tenure instead of contribution?  Do senior professionals need to move to management positions to get a raise?  Do new employees see burned out, low productivity employees receiving much more when they are accumulating accomplishments that your competition would die for?"

It used to be easier to say "If they don't like it here, let them leave."  But a better line of thinking for winning and keeping good people is "If the people I like don't like it here, I better find out why, and do something to stem the tide."

Although managers may pleasantly discover that it's not something they did that cause people to leave, it's a good bet that good people won't leave if they're happier to stay.