Employee Retention 101: Enabling Your Organization’s Talent to Succeed

Employee Retention 101: Enabling Your Organization’s Talent to Succeed

by | Nov 9, 2021 | Blog, Employees, Organization

As we’ve discussed in prior posts, employees are resigning at abnormally high rates, and experts are predicting that we’ve not yet reached the end. With multiple factors such as remote work increasing access to a global talent pool, and employees rethinking their priorities after 18 months of life in a global pandemic, competition for talent is at its peak, and organizations who are not actively engaged in retaining their employees… won’t.

We’ve discussed 10 fresh ways to show appreciation to your team, and 3 indicators that you may need to sharpen your leadership skills, however, we’re now going to do a deeper dive into employee retention as a whole in a new series: Employee Retention 101. We’ll explore topics specifically designed to support you in your efforts to retain your top talent, including embedding training and development in your organization’s culture, creating a structured and collaborative career planning program, launching quarterly, forward-looking performance check-ins, and embracing equity in your workforce through inclusion, pay transparency and hiring.

The first topic on this series will cover a fundamental shift in HR strategy, and will provide an introduction to several of the other topics forthcoming: how to enable, rather than manage, your talent.

Management has become a bit of a bad word in business.

  • The best organizations hire leaders, not managers.
  • “Micro-managers” are sure to have an unhappy team.
  • A minority of progressive organizations are eliminating any kind of hierarchy, opting for “manager-less” workplaces.

 

All that said, management is still essential to business. Even without a formal hierarchy, someone must rise to lead the team. Similarly, tasks and projects must be followed up on to ensure proper execution, and teams, at times, do require some “managing”.

When considering your HR strategy though, consider the priority you place on your people to begin with. If your people truly are your most important asset, then it is time to shift your focus from “managing” talent (following up on specific deadlines or action plans with a structured program for addressing problems) to “enabling” talent (removing obstacles and supporting your team as they advance through the organization).

At the end of the day, this approach will leave your team feeling valued and empowered to achieve their goals – two keys to improving their likelihood of staying with your organization.

How an organization makes the shift from talent management to talent enablement varies widely, but there are several key areas of focus to consider, some of which we’ll explore in more detail later in this series.

 

  1. Performance Conversations: Yes, performance conversations are still necessary in a talent enablement approach. However, recognize the difference between a performance conversation with your manager who is ready to rehash every mistake you’ve made over the last 90 days, vs. one with your leader who coached you on those shortcomings on the spot, and is instead prepared to focus on providing developmental challenges and stretch assignments to move you forward. Employees with the second boss are much more inclined to stay with their current employer.

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  2. Learning and Professional Development: In order to actualize the developmental challenges discussed in a forward-looking performance conversation, the organization must have them available. Implementing a learning and development program in which employees can not only stay appropriately skilled for their current role, but upskill to the next level, will enable your organization’s talent and drive retention.

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  3. Policy: Again, there are some critical pieces of business in which “managing” is necessary – HR is no exception. The most forward-looking organizations embracing talent enablement will still need an HR policy. However, if the organization maintains a people-first mentality, then that should also carry to policy. HR can help to be a bridge to collect the voice of the employee, and ensure that when possible it is incorporated into a reasonable and well-structured HR policy.

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  4. Technology: As a leader of an organization, a team of employees that is well-trained, engaged in professional development, and receiving regular and constructive performance feedback is a dream. However, to take the dream a step further, that team also needs to be able to be accessible to you. Technology solutions can assist in tracking the progress made in these efforts and monitoring employee skills and aptitude to ensure that they are considered for any opportunity that they may be well-suited for.

 

Talent enablement is not a strategy in which simple boxes can be checked to say it is complete. Embracing this approach will require the organization’s full leadership team, with a big lift and dedication from HR. However, because it is a broad philosophy, there is certainly a method of implementation that will work for your organization. And, if implemented correctly, it will improve your organization’s productivity, your team’s morale, your staff retention and ultimately, your bottom line.

Six Steps to Improve Your Next Hybrid Meeting

Six Steps to Improve Your Next Hybrid Meeting

by | Oct 22, 2021 | Blog

We’ve all been there: a poorly managed meeting with both in-person and virtual attendees, where neither type of attendee knows the proper protocol for how to participate. Perhaps you were an in-person attendee and noticed your colleagues in the conference room dominating the conversation without leaving space for the virtual team members. Alternatively, perhaps you were connected virtually, only able to hear every third word, and left trying to understand what was happening in a high-stakes meeting. Perhaps you had a more extreme scenario and a technical glitch left you embarrassed, by forgetting to mute or turn off your video or worse – accidentally connecting a potato filter.

As a leader, how do you prevent these mishaps as hybrid meetings become the norm and multiple modes of attendance in meetings are necessary to manage on a day-to-day basis?

First, establishing a healthy organizational culture for your team will help. Having a team that understands its mission, connects with each other, and works well together will be more adept at doing so in any modality.

Once this foundation is established, consider some best practices for hybrid meetings. The six steps below will help you develop a framework for successful hybrid meetings, to ensure that your team is able to continue moving forward no matter its geographic location.

 

Step One: Invest in the Right Hardware

The range of hardware available for conference rooms is wide-ranging: you can procure a fully equipped Zoom room with touch screens, virtual assistants and cameras that respond to attendees, or much simpler technology that still allows for crisp audio and video transmission to remote attendees.

Video endpoints today are much more accessible than they were in the recent past, and often can accommodate a wide range of collaboration tools, so you do not have to commit to one vendor. It is critical to select hardware that will be reliable for all of your needs (consider what kind of media you typically need to share or collaborate on during your meetings, and how the meeting “driver” needs to be able to facilitate the collaboration), and of high enough quality for your virtual guests to seamlessly participate in the meeting.

Bells and whistles beyond those essentials are just that – bells and whistles.

 

Step Two: Establish Personal Relationships in Advance

In an ideal world, your meeting attendees will all have some familiarity with each other in advance. Again, tying back to a strong organizational culture – having a cohesive team as a starting point will help the flow of the meeting in any modality: in person, virtual or hybrid.

For various reasons, this isn’t always possible. It could be that the meeting spans beyond your team, or that there are newer members of your team who are not yet personally familiar with the remainder of the group. In these scenarios, some up-front work is necessary to help create more amenable meeting conditions. There are a few things that can help the meeting atmosphere be a bit more comfortable:

      • Send an agenda in advance that includes all of the meeting attendees, including their relation to the project or meeting topic.
      • Create a group chat in your messenger system of choice and encourage pre-meeting conversation.
      • Encourage pre-meeting collaboration on a specific agenda topic – think of something that could use some pre-work, and put the group to work on it. Not only will this help forge relationships, it will allow for a more productive meeting.
      • If there are a few people in particular whom you know have not met, or that you think may have reason to be at odds with each other, introduce them in advance and establish some commonality between them.

 

Step Three: Set the Right Tone for All Attendees

Now that the group has some familiarity with each other, it is time to establish some familiarity with the expectations for the meeting.

      • How will the meeting be structured?
      • What are the ground rules? (See Steps Four and Five!)
      • What are the key expectations?

Consider these carefully, and communicate them in advance alongside an agenda. Ensuring that your team has an idea of what the meeting will look like in advance will help them to mentally prepare for the meeting regardless of the modality in which they will attend.

 

Step Four: Discourage Side Conversations in the Conference Room

One important ground rule to consider for the meeting: no side conversations in the conference room. Not only is this unproductive for the meeting, it alienates the virtual attendees, who are unable to hear the side conversations, and may also then be prevented from hearing the core meeting discussion.

Ensure that this is communicated in advance and managed throughout the meeting.

 

Step Five: Encourage Remote Attendees to Have Cameras On

Another ground rule that should be considered wherever possible: encourage remote attendees to have their cameras on. Again, this helps to keep the remote attendees connected with the in-person group. While there are some scenarios where it may make sense to have videos off (such as if the group is actively working on something in a somewhat independent fashion), it is best to encourage video-use for as much of the meeting as possible.

What if your attendees counter with the argument of Zoom fatigue? There are many opinions on the idea of Zoom fatigue. One argument relates to the sheer quantity of meetings: a Microsoft study found that by February 2021, workers spent 2.5x as much time in meetings as they had a year prior. Your team’s “Zoom fatigue” may actually just be “meeting fatigue” – which can be prevented by scheduling higher-quality meetings, and eliminating unnecessary ones.

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Additionally, you might suggest to your team that they turn off their self-view. After all, in an in-person meeting, we traditionally spent the full time-period looking at our colleagues; it is the inclusion of our own face in the mix that is different in a video conference.

 

Step Six: Identify an In-Person Ally to Manage the Meeting

As the meeting’s leader and facilitator, you have a lot on your plate: you will be managing the agenda, encouraging collaboration and ensuring that your objectives are accomplished. It is helpful to have a second set of hands to help manage the meeting’s participation as well as the technical components of the meeting.

Select someone you know and trust to be a second facilitator of the meeting. This person will be the manager of the “meeting tone and ground rules” as discussed in Steps 3-5. They can keep an eye on the remote attendees and the chat, and alert you if anyone appears interested in joining the conversation. They can also share documents virtually, and help manage any technical difficulties that may arise.

If a conversation gets off-topic, or the remote attendees appear to not be following the conversation of the in-person group, they can also help to bring the group back together.

If all else fails, simply remember to continue connecting with all attendees as though they were with you in person. As your hybrid meetings continue, and you become more familiar with these best practices, they will begin to feel like second nature. Technical mishaps will occur, miscommunications may happen and at times meetings may not go as planned – however, continuing to connect with your team and remaining engaged with the meeting’s purpose will ensure that you stay on track and moving forward.

 

CLICK HERE TO GET OUR FREE EBOOK: How To Effectively Manage Time & Attendance In A Hybrid Working Environment

Three Signs You’re an Awful Boss

Three Signs You’re an Awful Boss

by | Oct 18, 2021 | Blog, Organizational Culture

As we’ve discussed in previous posts, the competition for talent is higher than ever, and it is critical that you keep a keen eye on the health of your organizational culture if you want to keep your best employees on your team.

While you can employ many proactive approaches to increase retention, including building culture, enhancing benefits, increasing flexibility, and actively showing appreciation to your team, these strategies will be quickly diminished by a poor leader.  While we’ve previously helped you to assess your leadership style, this article will help determine if your leadership skills are simply lacking. While you might think you’ve got the basics covered – you have regular team meetings, you keep your team informed, and you can speak to your area’s results – we will focus on the skills that are critical to maintaining a strong morale on your team.

So, how do you know if your leadership skills are not where they should be?

  1. You Don’t Practice Work-Life Balance

It is clear that today’s business world is demanding. There are few industries or organizations left where payroll is abundant and employees can fulfill their responsibilities with time left to spare. Most people, especially leaders, feel stressed for time, which leads them to work long hours to satisfy the demands of their positions.

While naturally this is necessary in many cases, it is critical to find ways to balance work and life – even if it requires some creativity. Constantly prioritizing the office will teach your team that you expect them to do the same – even if you are telling them differently. A high-performing team member will burn out quickly if they try to follow your example by constantly working long hours to fulfill unreasonable expectations.

Set an example for your team by working the hours necessary to complete priorities, but by allowing flexibility to make time for personal needs when possible.

 

2. You Don’t Communicate Openly

While this one seems obvious, it is more nuanced than simply hosting team meetings. Communicating openly means providing the right information to your team at the right time. A skilled leader knows how to not overburden their team with unnecessary information, but also knows when to provide them the information that they need either to do their job well, or to help them feel comfortable moving forward. Especially in times of change, the right balance is critical.

Sharing the right level of information with your team, and not withholding information that is important for them to understand (even when it may be difficult to share), will also help to build a layer of trust that is critical to have as a strong leader. This will ensure that when your team has important information, they’ll also feel comfortable sharing it in return.

Also critical to open communication and trust-building is providing regular feedback. Not only will this boost accountability in your workplace, it will help your team grow and excel as they start to feel comfortable with the consistent approach to receiving both feedback and recognition.

 

3. You Have a Negative Attitude

Oftentimes, leaders like to vent with their teams. Again, there is a balancing act necessary. In some cases, solidarity can be very helpful. However, the leader must keep in mind that they are not simply part of the team – they are the leader. As the leader, and a representative of the organization, they should be finding a way to help their team through challenges and pain points to the other side.

If you’re constantly finding yourself engaged in venting sessions with your team, it may be a good idea to take a pause and consider what kind of effect that is having on your team’s morale. It is critical for the team to have someone to help them navigate challenges and emerge with a solution.

 

What happens if you’ve read these signs, and feel several of them describe you or members of your team? The good news is leaders are not born, they are made. Leadership is a skill that requires practicing. Recognizing that your skill requires development is the first step. Now is the time to explore training opportunities, seek a mentor or ask for feedback within your organization. The more support you seek, the more you will improve, and the greater chance your team will have to succeed.

Ten Fresh Ideas for Appreciating Your Team

Ten Fresh Ideas for Appreciating Your Team

by | Oct 11, 2021 | Blog, Team

It has always been clear to great leaders that an organization’s people are its most important asset. However, as of late, this realization is expanding even to less enlightened leadership teams, as key talent is leaving in droves for greener pastures.

Dubbed “the great resignation”, resignations peaked in April of 2021, and have remained abnormally high, with 10.9 million open jobs in July 2021, per the Harvard Business Review. Resignations for employees between 30 and 45 years old increased more than 20% between 2020 and 2021, and the increase is highest in tech and health care. Unfortunately, it does not appear the end is near: according to Microsoft, over 40% of the global workforce is considering leaving their employer this year.

 

Why is Talent Leaving?

According to Manila Recruitment, 50% of over 7,000 surveyed employees left their job because of their manager. 82% of workers said that lack of recognition leads them to consider switching employees.

More generally speaking, an employee may look elsewhere for opportunities due to lack of strong relationships in the office, lack of flexibility in the workplace or too heavy of a workload.

In today’s market, if you aren’t focused on retaining your top performers, you will lose them to competition. Remote job postings have made the talent pool global, and the best performers in every industry are now available to organizations worldwide. Thus, if your top employee has an interest in working elsewhere, they’ll likely be able to find a taker.

There are many ways to increase engagement and retention, most of which start with listening to your team. However, in this article, we’ll focus on showing appreciation. As discussed, the majority of employees leave their job because of their manager, rather than because of their job. To be the manager that an employee stays for, you must make it clear to your team that they are appreciated.

 

Tactic One: Ask How

Ask your employees how they want to be recognized. Remember that each member of your team is an individual with different preferences. Make an effort to show appreciation to each person how they want to receive it.

 

Tactic Two: Build the Culture

Create a culture of recognition. Provide ample opportunities for your team to provide recognition to each other in team meetings, team chats and over email.

 

Tactic Three: Put it in Writing

Write a thank you note. Even those individuals who shy away from the spotlight will appreciate receiving a personal thank you note that shows you appreciated their efforts on a particular initiative.

 

Tactic Four: Throw a Party

Have a team celebration or outing. If your team reaches an important milestone, be sure it doesn’t go unnoticed. Take them out to lunch or bring in pizza – and connect it to the hard work that they did for the organization.

 

Tactic Five: Make it Public

Celebrate on social media. Your team’s big wins should be made public whenever appropriate – and the team members that made them possibly deserve to be part of the post.

 

Tactic Six: Engage Leadership

Implement regular Skip Level Meetings – either broadly, or specifically for your highest
performers. Studies show that individuals who have more time with their skip level managers are generally more engaged and likely to feel valued in an organization.

 

Tactic Seven: Give a Recommendation

If you have an employee who consistently goes above and beyond, let them (and their network) know via their LinkedIn profile. This will not only help them now, but also in their future.

 

Tactic Eight: Give Regular Feedback

Give feedback regularly during 1:1s. Creating a culture of feedback, both positive and negative, shows your employees that you are engaged in their performance and development. Positive feedback will help them to feel recognized and appreciated, while constructive feedback will help them to develop and learn. Providing a combination of both will help them to recognize that you have their best interests in mind.

 

Tactic Nine: Incentivize Peer Feedback

In concert with the culture of feedback described in tactic eight, ensure that employees feel comfortable giving recognition and feedback to their peers. Consider a program that encourages employees to publicly recognize one peer who has gone above and beyond in your next company-wide meeting. At the following meeting, that employee is tasked with recognizing someone else. (Bonus tip: Adding an incentive for those recognized can help!)

 

Tactic Ten: Compensate Appropriately

Ensure financial benefits are provided when possible and appropriate. Obviously, you can’t give every employee a raise each time they perform well. However, it is important that you notice your top performers, and find room in the budget for monetary recognition when it truly is warranted.

Of course, the possibilities for recognizing a team are as unique and limitless as the number of individuals that make up each team. Consider your team specifically: what motivates them? What do they do best? How can you really make it clear to them that you care?

At the end of the day, forming a genuine connection with each member of your team is the primary goal. If you can do this successfully, you’re one step ahead of the competition.

How HR Can Build the Organization of the Future

How HR Can Build the Organization of the Future

by | Oct 4, 2021 | Blog, Organization

Today’s organizations are faced with higher-pressured and faster-paced problems than most have ever encountered.

● COVID: Organizations worldwide are making challenging decisions regarding their workforces every day: should it consider a vaccine mandate? Should it consider a mask mandate? Are its employees safer working from home? What regulations apply?
● The Great Resignation: In healthcare and tech, employees are resigning at record-high rates. The increase in remote work modality is removing geographical boundaries from the talent pool, increasing competition, and making organizations across the world rethink their recruitment and retention strategy.
● Supply Chain: In manufacturing, global supply chain issues are expected to continue through 2023, causing ripple effects throughout the global economy.
● Technology Advancements: Across industries, technology advancements provide great opportunities but also create a need for advanced and complex training and a highly skilled workforce.

How do organizations remain competitive as the demands continue to grow? While every team has its role to play in helping the organization achieve success, executives should consider HR as the pillar for advancing their team through the challenges of today’s world and into the future.

The eight core HR functions that follow will provide examples of how HR can help your organization remain competitive in the marketplace of the future.

 

1. Purpose: Establish and radiate the organizational WHY

A company with strong organizational health will be more resilient in times of turbulence. Rely on your HR team to assess your organizational culture and health, and work with the team to build the connection to the organizational why. This sense of connection will keep them engaged and help the organization fare better through challenges.

2. Culture: Make culture a top down, bottom-up priority that is measured with data

Once your HR team has made strides in step 1, step 2 will naturally follow: a team of employees that is connected and aligned with the organization’s mission will seamlessly grow and enhance a strong culture.

Setting culture as a priority, and regularly checking in on it with data, will send the message to the team that they are just as important as any other business output, further connecting them to the organizational mission.

3. Value: Map talent to value

Ask HR to be your guardrail in talent and team planning – with a strategic focus. Be laser-focused on value. Assess every role in your organization: which roles truly create the most value?

With those roles in mind, where does your talent fall? Starting with the value-creating roles in mind first, rather than starting with people first, will ensure that you’re prioritizing your most critical roles with your best talent.

4. Decision Making: Drive speed in decision-making during crises

As an operational expert with background in each area of your organization, but no bias in any area, HR is a fantastic source for decision-making during a crisis. HR can help you to not only understand the thought process of each of your team members, but also the key factors to consider related to the potential outcomes.

5. Structure: Adapt to new organizational design to support hybrid and flex work environments

As previously noted, employees are resigning in high numbers for more flexible opportunities, and organizations that don’t provide comparable options will risk losing their best talent.

HR can not only assist in designing processes that make sense for your organization but will be the best gauge of what your team truly wants and needs. They understand what will drive retention for your best talent and can help implement the appropriate strategy.

6. Talent: Lead strategic workforce planning, improve retention, and drive performance enablement

On the same theme of driving retention, lean on HR to lead strategic workforce planning, ensuring your organization is prepared for the needs of the modern workplace. Your team should be set up in a manner that enables them to achieve the highest success possible.

7. Career Trajectory: Reskill and upskill talent; drive a continuous learning culture

With technology advancing at the rapid pace that it is today, leading a skilled workforce is not a nice to have but a need to have. Investing in microlearning opportunities that align with the needs of your team will not only support retention and engagement but will ensure your team is equipped to continue performing at a high level to achieve goals and meet outputs.

8. HR Technology: Adopt the right HR technology platform that works for employees and the employer alike

According to Gartner, by 2025, 60% of global midmarket and large enterprises will have invested in a cloud-deployed HCM suite for administrative HR and talent management. While options are abundant, it is critical to thoroughly explore the marketplace to find the right fit solution for your organization before investing in a system. The right choice will support your HR team, your administrative staff, and your employees’ self-service needs now and well into the future.

Empowering your HR team to be key strategists in the organization, leading the conversation around these key topics will not only support your team, but help to grow your organization, ensuring you are well-positioned to be resilient through whatever turbulence may lie ahead.