Employee Retention

Here Today, Here Tomorrow

Transforming Your Workforce from High-Turnover to High-Retention

GREGORY P. SMITH

Why So Much Turnover?

Fewer Workers, Better Times

Higher Expectations

Longer Hours, More Demanding Work

Family Demands

Changing Work Ethic

A New Class of College Graduates

The Biggest Challenge: Meeting the Needs of an Increasingly Diverse Workforce

Money: Still a Factor?

The Aging Workforce

Reasons to Stay, Reasons to Go

Needed: A New Workplace Paradigm

The Changes are Permanent

How to become an employer of choice organization.

Chapter 2: Retentionship: A New Strategy Based on Action

How Much Does an Ounce of Prevention Cost?

A Great Return on Investment

Why Doesn’t Everybody Practice Retentionship? Or, Take Your Pick: Keep Them or Lose Them

Retention Means Productivity

Leadership Makes the Difference

The Eight Elements of the High-Retention Organization

1. Clear Sense of Direction and Purpose

2. Caring Management

3. Flexible Benefits and Schedule Adapted to the Needs of the Individual

4. Open Communication

5. A Charged Work Environment

6. Performance Management

7. Recognition and Reward

8. Training and Development

SAS Institute: A Calm Ship in a Sea of Turbulence

Chapter 3: Provide a Clear Sense of Direction and Purpose

The Three Directions of Leadership

The Performance Satisfaction Quotient

You’re in the Army Now

Three Steps to Creating Meaning and Purpose at Work

Step 1: Discover

Steps 2 and 3: Align and Deploy

Flying Above Mediocrity: Organizational Alignment at Singapore International Airlines

TRC Staffing: Finding a Challenging Place to Work

Generate Purpose and Direction with a Mission Statement

Prescription for Action

Chapter 4: Become a Better Leader by Showing Me You Care

Leadership Myths that block High Retention

Leaders Who Care: Qiagen NV

Building a Structure of Caring: La Rosa Pizza Company

Measure What is Important

People Development Charts

Don’t Take a Tumble: Maintain Trust

God, Car Batteries, and Concern for the Family: Interstate Batteries

Best Practices for Caring Management

Prescription for Action

Chapter 5: Flexible Benefits Build a More Loyal and Productive Workforce

Good Benefits Equal High Retention

Good Benefits Equal High Productivity

Soft Benefits vs. Hard Benefits

Benefits that Attract and Keep IT Workers

Family-Friendly Benefits that Attract and Keep Working Women

Flexible Work Arrangements Promote Productivity

Better Parenting Skills Create a Better Workplace

USAA and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

Breast Pumps and "Lactating Rooms" for Working Mothers

Office Design and Employee Retention

Meanwhile, Back at the Cubefarm…

Best Practices for Benefits that Keep Employees Happy, Content, and Productive

Prescription for Action

Chapter 6: Keep the Doorways and Pathways of Communication Open

The Importance of Accessibility in Organizations

Symptoms of the Low-Access Organization

PeopleSoft: A High-Access Organization

Creating the High-Access Organization

What People Need to Know

Tools and Techniques that Create High Access

Personal Communication

Storytelling

Newsletters

Town Hall Meetings

Focus Group and Sensing Sessions

Employee Hotlines

Props

Signed, Anonymous

Don’t Confuse Technology with Communication

E-mail

Answering Machines and Voice Mail

Speaker Phones

Cellular/Portable Phones

Avoid Anger in Your Communication

Best Practices for Creating High Access

Prescription for Action

Chapter 7: Create a Charged Work Environment that Energizes and Engages the Workforce

Engage and Energize Your Workforce

Creating the Right Spirit

Set a Motivating Goal or Target that Shapes the Environment and Gives People a Purpose and Direction

Olympic Performance Events and Big Hairy Goals

Provide and Process to Capture People’s Ideas

Good Idea Boards

Idea Campaigns

Mini-Kaizens

Idea Expositions

Ideas Count

Results Motivate People

Involve Elements of FEST: Fun, Enthusiasm, Surprise, and Timing

Teams Build upon the Efforts of Others

Best Practices for Creating a Charged Workplace

Prescription for Action

How Joe Learned His Job

The ABC Model: Antecedent, Behavior, Consequences

Focus on the Right Thing: Antecedents

Translating the ABC Approach into Performance Management: Bates Ace Hardware

Creating the Behavior of Good Customer Service

Managing Performance through Employee Ownership: McKay Nursery

Financial Incentives for Performance

Performance Bonus Plans

Using Bonuses to Retain IT Personnel: Atlas Editions

How Nucor Steel Rewards Performance and Productivity

Best Practices for Performance Management

Prescription for Action

Why Reward and Recognition Works

Elements of an Effective Program

Warning: Reward and Recognition Cannot Replace Leadership

Basic Flavors of Reward and Recognition

Informal Programs

Peer Recognition: Employees Reward Each Other

Online Reward and Recognition Programs

Formal Programs

Traditional Employee of the Month Programs: Not Recommended

Achievement Awards

Merchandise Awards

How to Develop a Formal Reward and Recognition Program

Step 1: Focus on the Desired Behaviors or Goal of the Program

Step 2: Select an Implementation Team

Step 3: Outline a Strategy

Step 4: Pick the Type of Recognition or Award

Step 5: Develop a Communication Strategy

Step 6: Kick off the Program with Gusto

Step 7: Create a Meaningful Presentation Strategy

Step 8: Improve and Change the Program

Cautions Concerning Consequence-Based Programs

Best Practices for Reward and Recognition

Prescription for Action

Good for the Individual, Good for the Organization

The Bottom Line: Profitability and Productivity

Why Doesn’t Every Company Train?

Create a Career Ladder

Training Programs the Work: Bay Network and Dell Computers

Using Education to Attract and Keep a Part-Time Workforce: United Parcel Service

Psychological Payment: Job Titles Reflect Company Attitudes

Best Practices for Helping Employees Move Up

Prescription for Action

Step 1: Hold People Accountable

Step 2: Assess the Organization

Step 3: Measure What is Important

Step 4: Build a Sense of Employee Ownership

Step 5: Create a Good First Impression

Before the First Day of Work

The First Two Days at Work

The First Week at Work

Step 6: Devise Intervention Strategies

Counter Offers Have Limited Impact

Can I Come Back to Work Here?

Make Post-Mortem Analysis Part of the System

Re-Hire Your Employees

Golden Key National Honor Society: Creating Change through an Implementation Team

Hiring for Retention

Pre-employment Screening and Assessments

Best Practices for Welcoming New Hires and Preventing Departures

Prescription for Action

Appendix A: Chart Your Course Workforce Retention Survey Results

Appendix B: Individual Retention Profile

Appendix C: Awards and Recognition Resource List

Go to the Introduction

Go to the Testimonials and Reviews

Go to the Chapter Outline