QUESTION: The How To of Employee Retention

I am constantly asked about employee retention and recruiting the “best” people, thus, the subject for this week’s newsletter.I certainly hope you enjoy this, find it interesting & educational and share this newsletter with your management staff by clicking on the “SHARE WITH FRIENDS” button above.

RESPONSE:

THERE IS AN IMPENDING CRISIS IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE.TOO MANY JOBS, TOO FEW PEOPLE!

Projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasted a huge shortage of over 10,300,000 workers now and in the years to come! And this shortage is simply raw numbers; it doesn’t fully address the growing skills gap. The numbers also don’t take into account the changing attitudes in the workforce.

Because so few corporate leaders are fully cognizant of their predicament, executives who DO prepare for the new operating environment will lead their organizations to a bright future in 2012; those who ignore the threat, risk dangerous vulnerability. With these thoughts in mind, I have six suggestions for owners and managers with regards to employee retention and staffing.

Suggestion # One: IF YOU PAY PEANUTS, YOU GET SQUIRRELS!

The old expression that “you get what you pay for” is never truer when it comes to employees. To get above average talent, service and productivity, you must consider pay grades that are above the average for competitors in your marketplace. It is ludicrous to think you can get a world-class staff by paying below average wages.

Suggestion # Two: PEOPLE JOIN A COMPANY BUT THEY QUIT A BOSS!

When I ask members of a management team why they have heavy turnover, the answers are usually the same: no recognition, no promotional opportunities, no training, work not appreciated, lousy benefits, too much stress, overwork and of course the most popular, a better opportunity for more money. What amazes me is all of these excuses are fixable by management, but they go into a non-response mode with a complacent, “oh well.”

But in reality the number one reason IS LOUSY MANAGEMENT OR SUPERVISION! If the basic supervisor-employee relationship is not good, employees leave with dispatch.And what is really sad is that this problem IS fixable.

Suggestion # Three: LOUSY COMPANIES CONDONE LOUSY MANGERS AND GREAT COMPANIES FIX LOUSY MANAGERS!

Executives and owners often confide in me, “George, it isn’t easy”.Just because so and so is a lousy manager, he/she means no harm. OR He/she has been with me for so many years and is a good person.OR my all time favorite, he/she is my wife’s brother/sister.

Loyalty is one thing but if you have a supervisor or manager that continually drives away good talented people, you have ONLY two choices: Fix him/her by getting them into a training and/or self development program or GET THAT PERSON OUT OF MANAGEMENT!

Suggestion # Four: SOME PEOPLE JUST SHOULD NOT BE WORKING FOR THIS COMPANY! Have you ever thought of someone in your organization that you would gladly fill out an employment application for them for ANOTHER company and then offer to drive them to the interview? Whenever I am asked, “what is the fastest way to turn around low morale” my first and immediate response is to get rid of the “turkeys” in the organization.Your company should be staffed with EAGLES not turkeys.

Suggestion # Five: RETENTION IS A LEADERSHIP PROBLEM, NOT A HUMAN RESOURCE PROBLEM!

Leadership, whether strong or weak, ultimately determines the overall retention rate of your company. Retaining GREAT employees is far too important to completely delegate to mid-level managers or human resource managers. Retention must be front and center within every strategic initiative, expansion plan or turnaround situation that you face. Remember, leaders are not necessarily good managers and managers are not necessarily good leaders.It doesn’t have to be that way, but most times it is.

Suggestion # Six: HIRE A GREAT OUTSIDE GROWTH CONSULTANT TO HELP YOU!

If you do not have internal staff with a learning and training curriculum, spend the money and hire an outside, highly qualified (one who has been there and done that) consultant to help you design a plan, train all trainable employees and get over your high employee turnover. It will be the best money you ever spent. Third party influence many times works much better than hearing from a peer or upper management person.

Employees WANT to learn, they WANT to grow and will reward you when given the opportunity to do. Lack of retention cost corporations millions of dollars on a DAILY BASIS!You don’t have to fall into that category.

Remember, IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO SOAR WITH THE EAGLES WHEN YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY SO MANY TURKEYS!

As always, please accept my wishes for a tremendous week. If I can be of assistance to you or your organization when it comes to revenue growth, retention or recruiting, please call or write and I will respond immediately!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC

President

Client Growth Consultants

Intentions can dramatically impact the overall client, vendor or employee experience.

A taste-test was set up using some volunteers. In the first trial, the blindfolded “testers” were given four kinds of food and told nothing in advance about what they were about to taste.

In the second trial, those same folks, still blindfolded, were given the same four items. In this case, though, the person administering the food gave a verbal prompt regarding what they were about to taste (e.g., sweet, sour, salty, etc.). The tester’s reactions in the second trial were strikingly different from the first.

A third trial was performed without the blindfold. Again, the tester’s reactions were different. What does this have to do with selling and/or managing people?

Think about how your employees, vendors or clients might react to your discussion, proposal or the findings contained in the delivery of your message. Try to determine how you can positively influence their reaction by properly setting their expectations.

Sales and management personnel need to be keenly aware of other people’s sensitivities and work vigilantly to ensure that all of the expectations are realistic. With that in mind, all goals can be realized and a successful attainment is at your direction.

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC

President

Client Growth Consultants

P.S.  Employee Retention or Recruiting Issues?  We Can Help.

I’m often asked, “How can I develop a stronger and more cohesive team?”  The answer is not as simple as waving a magic wand but here is one imperative suggestion to building your team that I’d like to offer here.

“Everyone on the team should be continually training their replacement!”  Yes that’s right, train the people around you just like they were going to replace you.  And I direct this to ALL levels within your organization, from the mail room to the board room.

A few thoughts to ponder;

1.        You know your “job” and you are very good in the performance of your responsibilities!

2.       In the event of your absence, whether planned or unplanned, who will or is totally qualified to act on your behalf without any disruption in the process of your everyday tasks?

3.       How would you feel if your boss said, “I’d like to promote you to the next level in our company, but we don’t have anybody to take your place, so no promotion at this time?”

4.       Are you carrying a heavy load while people around you seem to have more leisure time at work?

 Here is my logic with this concept;

To begin with, there is absolutely no room for paranoia in the work place.  I’ve heard people say half heartedly, “soon he will know as much or more than me then he’ll want my job.”  This is stinking thinking folks and needs to be out of the workplace.  All employees want the opportunity to grow. 

 The best way to grow an employee and improve his/her confidence level,  is to continually offer them education and a feeling of being wanted, needed and respected.  Making a person stronger by giving them additional knowledge or tools will help your team.  Employees will become contributors and not just a warm body going through the motions.

TIP:  My message today is a challenge to give this concept a try.  Pick one employee and start giving him/her slightly more responsibility.  Do this immediately after you take the time to explain to them your goal and plan and that you’d like them to learn more and add more value to the team.  And don’t forget to tell them that you expect them to “train the people around themselves just like they are going to replace you.” 

 A few years ago, I had the President of a company have his Marketing Department make several banners for the office and plant area that said, “EVERYONE ON OUR TEAM SHOULD BE CONTINUALLY TRAINING THEIR REPLACEMENT!”  And in small print it said, “See your supervisor for details”.  The results were multiple company meetings explaining this concept and low and behold, production went up, employee retention improved, and people even looked happy to be there.  What have you got to lose? Give it a try and I’d certainly be interested in your results.

 Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC

President

Employee Retention Specialists

“RETAIN YOUR EMPLOYEES BEFORE YOU HIRE THEM”

I’ll bet most of you are thinking to yourselves, “…What did he just say?”  It is important to recognize that the most critical step in retaining employees comes before the hire itself!

Good leaders commonly state that they surround themselves with the best people.  In turn, high-performing business cultures are fueled by employees who deliver productivity, innovation and profitability.  But first, an organization needs to view and understand its job candidates as individuals, rather than as simple resumes.

A recent survey claims that ONLY 20% of companies are taking proactive measures to ensure that their best people stay put.  The alternative is high turnover which costs an estimated 1.5 times the salary of each employee who has to be replaced.  As an example, if a manager was making $70,000 plus an additional $25,000 in benefits (which is industry standard) it would cost approximately $142,500 to replace!  This is staggering!

Resumes represent a static list of skills and job duties, but cannot speak to how well the person performs unsupervised or on a tight deadline.  Reference checks can also be tricky for various reasons.

To begin with I highly recommend that you stay away from questions that encourage “smooth-talking” (i.e. “where do you see yourself in 5 years) instead of a candid self-critical evaluation questioning.  Ask questions regarding the prospect’s essential nature, and the preferences and attitudes that make him/her an individual.  These types of questions predict job performance and satisfaction.  The more job performance-relevant information employers have, the greater the likelihood of building, and retaining, and engaged, productive worker.

Employers need to be clear about their needs and expectations for any given position up front – before the hiring process begins.  Put a variety of measurements together to create a good hire.  We offer to our clients a professional online assessment to maximize person-job fit so that the individual hired is CAPABLE of doing AND is WILLING to do the best job possible.  And I do recommend utilizing a professional assessment ONLY as an additional tool in the hiring process.

I could easily spend hours writing pages on the subject of retention.  It continues to be the number one topic of questions from you the readers of our weekly newsletter.  Hopefully this small tidbit of information will be of assistance to you.  If not, call or write and I will respond immediately!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC
President
Client Growth Consultants

Q:  What is your fundamental mindset?  Are you a beginner, a novice, an expert?

A:  The frustration in finding any answer is that it often demonstrates the death of the question.  If you believe that you are the utmost master within the sales or management arenas, please forget it as this mindset can lead to your ultimate demise.

Don’t allow your routine to become a routine.  Don’t accept that its business as usual.  Don’t become predictable to a fault.  If you do fall into this trap, your competitors, your peers, your customers and your employees will know what you will do or say to any given situation.  And in most cases, that is not a good scenario.

Now with that said, please don’t misinterpret my meaning.  It is imperative that you remain defined and disciplined and that you must keep your “tools” sharp and polished but not to the point of becoming a slave to these things.

Whether you are in a sales, administrative or management career, it’s continues to be all about people and people issues.  And with all people comes one constant and that is change.  You cannot react to change if you don’t keep an open mind.  You must think like a beginner and act or react like an expert.  To stay on top of your game, you must maintain a high level of alertness that will allow your mind to receive new and more effective techniques to incorporate into your bag of tools.  And this, is what I define as a beginners mind.

Picture this…. We are sitting at the kitchen table and I put a cup of coffee in front of you that is almost full. I start pouring coffee slowly into your cup and soon it reaches the brim and starts to overflow with hot coffee splashing on you, the kitchen table and onto the floor.  When will you jump up and tell me to stop?

In this analogy, the cup of coffee represents your mindset. You came to the table with an almost full cup and little room for anything new.  You may think you know it all but the mind of a consummate professional is never full.  In fact it’s really always empty and ready to receive something new without warning.  My example uses the coffee in the coffee pot to represent knowledge, ideas, techniques and a new prospective.  A proven prospective that you can put into motion within your life with little effort.

As a final thought, remember this, “If you open your hand, you can take hold of anything.  If you close your hand, nothing can grasp it.”

2011 is in my rear view mirror and 2012 is happily glaring into my windshield. I am determined that this year is MINE for the taking.  Is your mind open enough for 2012 to be YOURS’ as well?  If not, I promise to offer my hand to you as I go by and hopefully we can proceed down Highway 2012 together.  You do make a difference and I do care.  Call or write if you have a need and I will respond immediately!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC
President
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.