This week at Wily Manager Jed & Bob discuss how individual leaders can maintain their best people. Good help has always been hard to find, and as the economy recovers, the demand for top talent is going to worse. You can’t wait for HR or your organization to fix this problem for you – what are you doing right now to make sure your good people stay?
Monday’s Tip: Ask. You need to have ongoing discussion with key employees as to what they value, and what will keep them working for you. Hint: It’s usually not money. Surveys and focus groups are usually good ways to ask such questions.
Tuesday’s Tip: Don’t Impose Your Values on Others. Just because you value a fancy title, and a corner office doesn’t mean that others do. Often people of different generations may have completely different work values than you do.
Wednesday’s Tip: Tell People They’ve Been Heard. After you’ve asked people what they think, it is important to get back to them as soon as possible to let them know what you’ve heard. You need to state simply what you’ve learned from your survey or focus group.
Thursday’s Tip: Act on a Limited Number of Things. You will likely get a wide variety of feedback when you ask people what will retain them. You need to pick one or two things that you can act on, and get those things done. Once you have done so, you can move on to another one or two.
Friday’s Tip: Invest in Leadership. People most often “quit their boss” rather than the organization. As such, you need to develop yourself as a leader if the organization will not do it for you.