As the labor market turns and recruiting activity picks up steam, are your top performers at risk? Have you proactively formulated a retention plan ... or are you gambling on your ability to successfully counter a competitor's offer?
Jessica Lee has posted a fabulous rant on the topic of counter offers, Three Counter Offers Later, I Lost the Candidate. And This Rant is for Her Employer, at Fistful of Talent last week. She tells the story about a terrific candidate that she lost after the third counter offer from that candidate's employer and takes that employer to task for waiting until the employee was recruited away to adequately recognize and reward what had clearly been a star performer.
... this isn't a rant about the candidate. This is a rant towards people managers out there and my fellow recruiting and HR pros. Three counter offers?! Really? At what point are you just being excessive, if not desperate? At a certain point, isn't it too little too late? So you offer more money. You hand out a promotion. You restructure a job. You offer the stars and the moon. You make all sorts of overtures to keep someone from leaving you. But you're only doing this after the fact - as a last ditch effort to try to make it work. Why did you wait until the situation was dire - when there was an actual threat for loss - to "do the right thing"? Where were you before? And would you have ever ponied up in the same way if there weren't the threat for loss, aka a resignation?
For stepping up and doing an employee right, congrats. I'm glad organizations are willing to go the extra mile in the name of retention for high performers. But the goal? It should be to get ahead of having to do counter offers (x3) and making grand gestures then and there. Pay your people fairly and be competitive within your industry. Give people growth and stretch opportunities so they never get bored. Show your people you value them and that the grass isn't greener on the other side before they wander to other pastures. Do the right thing before someone actually resigns to show you are capable of and, more importantly, willing to do the right thing because you value your people. Because when you don't, it's like admitting to doing wrong only if caught in the act. And that, I think, is kinda shady.
I know from conversations I've had that many of my HR colleagues recognize their risk for getting their top talent poached and are working on a strategy to address it. And a recent survey by Buck Consultants, Recovery Restoration and Retention: 2010 Compensation Trends, found that 30% of the 180 U.S. employers surveyed indicated plans for salary adjustment for just the purpose of retaining their top performers. I also appreciate that it can be a delicate dance at many organizations, trying to keep proactive retention plans in sync with actual business recovery, and not getting too far behind - or ahead - of the game.
Jessica's post reminds all of us, however, that the risk is real, personal and increasingly urgent. That it is important for those of us in HR to get ahead of the game, rather than waiting for the wheels start squeaking and then dealing with each case in a one-off manner.
What should your talent retention plan look like? Here are a few opening thoughts?
Identify your "tops". Work with line managers to identify those employees whose skills, performance and potential makes them a "must keep". Guide them with some criteria or standards, so that the identity of the high performers is determined as consistently in possible - and in a manner that matches up to business needs and economic reality.
Assess the risk. Individually review the circumstances of each high performer. Is any element of their reward package out of line with their value - to your organization and (potentially) to others? While base salary is certainly one piece of the package that should be examined, it shouldn't be the sole focus. Are they participating in the right incentive plan at the appropriate level? Is the structure of their role and responsibilities up to date and reflective of their ability to contribute? Have they been afforded sufficient development opportunity - in terms of formal learning as well as exposure to the right people and challenges within the company?
Make and implement a plan. Develop a budget and a menu of realistic options to draw on in developing an action plan for those employees considered at particular risk, flexible enough to tailor to the employee's unique circumstances but also in balance with the needs of the overall organization. Support and guide your line managers in getting the plan nailed down and implemented.
What else should be part of a solid retention effort for top performers? What steps or activities have you found to be effective?
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