"Working on Staff Retention?"

.......... let's start with expectations!

This is one of the most frequently asked question amongst leaders and supervisors in organizations. HR practitioners are frequently requested to implement various talent retention programs to address staff attrition.

Like most things that involve people, the challenge of cracking the staff attrition code is like solving a multivariate equation; there are many variables involved and employees leave organizations (a common adage is that “people leave leaders not organizations”) for reasons that are differing and also personal to each individual. As such, there is no one or two “optimal” singular answer to the question. However, that does not imply that the staff attrition issue cannot be managed. If we take a closer look at all the relevant reasons and expectations that individuals look for when joining an organization, and similarly, what the organizations are looking for from joining individuals, we will be able to have a better grasp at some of the more critical factors that can be managed more effectively to address the attrition challenge.

Fundamentally, organizations and leaders (well?....some leaders) are concerned about staff leaving them, whilst on the other side of the coin, staff at most times want to hold on to their jobs and hope to find security and grow their careers in the organizations they are with. It would be worthwhile to pause and note here that the leaders representing organizations who are concerned about staff retention are also employees themselves (albeit that some hold more senior positions than others).

So far so good. It seems that expectations of organizations and staff are by and large on the same plane (they want to work together) and therefore, there shouldn't be any separation issues, right! Well, fundamentally, that's how things start-off when an individual is offered a career with an organization. However, like any relationship, both parties have their expectations (spoken and unspoken), and it is when expectations change or are not met, or when there is a lost of trust, chances are, that one or two of the parties involved would want out of the working partnership/relationship.

In the course of our work with leaders and staff (from various organizations), and references from various blogs and survey summaries, we have come across some common expectations that each group have repeatedly brought up. Let’s have a quick look at the more common expectations of both individual staff and leaders.

From a staff perspective they are looking for:

- a job role that they can apply their competencies too

- fair competitive compensation

- opportunities for development, growth and advancement

- trusting relationship with their leaders and peers

- up-to-date communication on organizational and business topics

- support from leaders and peers

- resources from leaders and peers to get work done

- acknowledgment and recognition for a job well done

- job security

- a reputable brand name to team up with

- a working environment that share/or are similar to their personal values

- a balanced work-life

From an organization/leader's perspective, they are looking for employees who are:

- diligent at carrying out work duties

- committed and loyal to the organization

- competent at performing their work

- resourceful when challenged with work issues

- innovative approach to problem solving and planning in business

- multi-talented together with the ability to multi-task

- productive at the work place (high work capacity)

- able to contribute to high levels of production or service

- provide quality work in production and service

- an ambassador for the company and brand

- a team player who has self-initiative at work (little or no instructions needed)

- able to bring multi-disciplinary skills and ideas that will grow the organization

- relationship of trust and co-operation

- fits into the organization and work “culture”

The list of expectations are not exhaustive, but represents those that are most frequently shared. For the purpose of discussion on voluntary staff attrition, we will focus on the expectations of staff.

In our view, one of the first steps in managing expectations in the work place is for leaders (supervisors) and individuals to understand and “balance” these expectations. It would be advantageous for leaders (and for individual staff to openly share) to understand what expectations each of their team members value most and to come to agreement on what is relevant and practical (and come to agreement what is not). This way, there can be a mutual working towards meeting the relevant individuals expectations and at the same time meet the leader’s (organizations) expectations. All these should ideally start early in any working relationship, (new staff joining, new leader joining, transferred staff, transferred leader, etc) or when that is a change in roles or in organization structure that require individuals to change teams and supervisors.

An important task/action, that would facilitate the sharing and understanding of these expectations is communication (I mean real-time, interaction type). In this day an age, when there are a myriad of tools that facilitate communication (mobile phones, emails, chat messaging , video conferencing, etc), the challenge is still about communicating effectively (then there are situations, when parties do not know how to communicate). In many conversations with individuals (leaders and staff), they have frequently indicated that they have “already communicated” or have “tried communicating” their expectations. However, on further probing, most times I find that they were not effective in their communications, for various different reasons. Having “done” it, is very different from having “done it correctly or effectively” (in my observation this applies to many processes, procedures in organizations). The latter effects understanding and action, whilst the former only allows the problem to continue to fester.

This is further compounded with the fact that many work environments are now so very cosmopolitan (due to globalization), with the added variables of language and ethnic culture diversity impacts the effectiveness of communication further. Oh! one more! what about virtual teams! with leaders managing regional teams, they are challenged by sheer geography and distance....and time zones!

As if these challenges were not enough! At the work-place, things are moving so fast that there is usually insufficient or no time for a proper "sit-down" or "face-to-face". Individuals are on impossible traveling schedules; there are countless fires to put out everyday and, the commitment to ever stretching goals and impossible time-lines; there is literally not time to "think" let alone finding time to meet, and making preparations for communication of any sort. I guess it would help tremendously if we were to develop additional skills in "mind-melding", "telepathy" and "mind-reading" to be effective this days.

When it comes to communication on work and tasks, there are always working meetings, conference calls, and task group meetings, etc. So there will be communication on things that individuals and teams needs to work on. What is also important is for leaders to set aside enough time and mind-space (if there’s any left!) to regularly discuss with team individuals, their personal expectations and in the process keeping the “balance”.

In this article, we have shared what I believe are some of the key essentials that if implemented well will have a positive impact on the level of employee retention in teams and organisations.

The challenge is that many leaders are already aware of the ideas mentioned above, the key is in IMPLEMENTATION!

#retention #HRstrategies