Retention: A Big Challenge

Fundamental changes are taking place in the work force and the workplace that promise to radically alter the way companies relate to their employees. Hiring and retaining good employees have become the chief concerns of nearly every company in every industry. Companies that understand what their employees want and need in the workplace and make a strategic decision to proactively fulfill those needs will become the dominant players in their respective markets.

The fierce competition for qualified workers results from a number of workplace trends, including:

• A robust economy
• Shift in how people view their careers
• Changes in the unspoken "contract" between employer and employee
• Corporate cocooning
• A new generation of workers
• Changes in social mores
• Life balance

Concurrent with these trends, the emerging work force is developing very different attitudes about their role in the workplace. Today's employees place a high priority on the following:

• Family orientation
• Quality of life issues
• Autonomy

To hold onto your people, you have to work counter to prevailing trends causing the job churning. Smart employers make it a strategic initiative to understand what their people want and need -- then give it to them.

Retention Strategies

This is not an exhaustive list, one can add or delete any of the below mentioned strategies. Secondly, the need of the hour is to have "right basics". Every individual is different, his needs are different, and his emotions, his problems are different. So, dear HR-Professionals.sit down and concentrate on your basics. I have classified retention strategies into two parts: Main and Ancillary.

Main Retention Strategies

First this is not an exhaustive list, one can add or delete any of the below mentioned strategies. Secondly, the need of the hour is to have "right basics". Every individual is different, his needs are different, and his emotions, his problems are different. So, dear HR-Professionals, sit down and concentrate on your basics.

Communications - Getting Your People To Care

Communication is the first step toward creating the kind of environment that people care about, and if they care, they just may stay. I'm not talking about a lot of New Age stroking designed to bring out the inner person or false praise that creates a misplaced sense of security. Instead, keep your people in the loop about what's happening with the company. At any time, all of your employees should have a pretty good idea of how business has been, and they should be aware of what issues the company is attempting to address.

That means that you regularly keep your people up to date with important events affecting the company. If November was good, let them know, and while you're at it, tell them what you expect to happen in December. Share good news, as well as points of concern. If you've got "issues," talk about them before they start making you crazy. And if they don't get resolved, figure out whether the problem stems from a couple of individuals or from your system.

The point here is that you want to treat these people as your partners, which they are. They may not have to worry about covering the payroll this week, but they do have worries of their own. Treat them with at least as much respect as they give you. As the call center's manager, you set the tone for the entire organization. If your salespeople, for instance, enjoy their encounters with you, they are much more likely to greet customers with a positive attitude. They are also much more likely to enjoy their work when they don't have a fire-breathing dragon looking to singe their butts.

Listen to your employees when they have ideas for improvement. Again, the benefits extend beyond just making people feel appreciated for their contributions. These are, after all, the people who do the work every day. They may have some ideas to improve productivity, and when they do come up with one, let everybody know where it came from. Post a "brag board" in your break room, or circulate an internal newsletter that touts these contributions. The pay-off is a contagious feeling of pride and, perhaps, some new efficiency that saves the company money.

Set Clear Expectations

• How often do you appraise your employees/team-members?
• What are your expectations from your employees/team-members?
• What are the parameters to measure their performance?
• Have you communicated to them?
• What will be the consequences, if they fail?
• What will be the rewards, if they exceed the expected level?

If you are not having any expectations, how you are going to appraise, your employees? Yes, you are going to be biased, because you don't have set standards.The role of a CEO, HR Manager is like a director of a movie; choreographer of a stage show, where there is a defined role for each character, each participant.

Setting expectations initiates the process. Managers need to sit down with each employee and clearly define what's expected of them. Management consultant, Kenneth Philips, states that when expectations are not clear, employees may not be in sync with their job's current demands and priorities. Setting expectations is not a once and done activity. Jobs change. Priorities change. Resources change. Managers need to revise and set new expectations throughout the year. Setting expectations revolves around the following three areas:

• Key job responsibilities
• Performance factors and standards
• Goals

Why is a setting expectation important? Quite simply, this process can be the cornerstone of improving the motivational climate within your sphere of responsibility. If your employees know what is expected of them, it allows them to focus on results and to monitor themselves against the set standards. Environments in which expectations are not clear, or change from week to week, seldom create high-performing work groups.

The three principles that should drive expectations are clarity, relevance, and simplicity.

Clarity. Expectations should focus on outcomes, not activities. In other words, you achieve clarity when you identify the expected results rather than the method for achieving them. Managers often make the mistake of attempting to direct the process that an employee will use rather than being clear about results. The advantage of identifying the outcome is that you, the manager, focus only on the goal; after all, the employee will develop the method for achieving the desired results. Defining the objective often requires some thought on the part of the manager because it is easy to fall into the "activities trap." While developing a strategic plan for a department or division is a worthy activity, it does not represent an outcome. In the activities trap, developing a plan is the goal, rather than increasing your market share.

Relevance. The principle of relevance helps define the "why" of the assignment. If your employees have a full understanding of the project's importance, they can make adjustments as unanticipated factors crop up within the process. They probably also will be more committed to the result because they can see more easily how it fits into the big picture and how their efforts impact the company. This understanding typically is accomplished through dialogue between the manager and subordinate, which allows for a more thorough review of the situation and for feedback and discussion. This process builds good will with the employee and sets the stage for additional responsibilities.

Simplicity. Simplicity creates a sense of grounding for employees as they endeavor to carry out assignments. If managers identify the work in simple, straightforward terms, employees will find it much easier to follow through on managers' wishes. To accomplish this, a manager must identify the key message in a fashion that the employee can embrace.

Proper Rewarding

A research reports says that in today's scenario,

• 70% of your employees are less motivated today than they used to be.
• 80% of your employees could perform significantly better if they wanted to.
• 50% of your employees only put enough effort into their work to keep their job.

As you might be aware of Employee Reward covers how people are rewarded in accordance with their value to an organization. It is about both financial and non-financial rewards and embraces the strategies, policies, structures and processes used to develop and maintain reward systems. The ways in which people are valued can make a considerable impact on the effectiveness of the organization, and is at the heart of the employment relationship.

The aim of employee reward policies and practices, if any in your organization is to help attract, retain and motivate high-quality people. Getting it wrong can have a significant negative effect on the motivation, commitment and morale of employees. Personnel and development professionals will be involved frequently in reward issues, whether they are generalists or specialize in people resourcing, learning and development or employee relations. Keep following parameters in mind, while designing a reward policy:

Date Published : 7/18/2005 re-published with the permission of ContactCenterWorld.com http://www.contactcenterworld.com/

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