How Do We Measure The ROI By Retaining Our Top Performers

 HOW DO WE MEASURE THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT BY RETAINING OUR TOP PERFORMERS?

 Most companies today recognize the value of attracting and retaining a strong, competent workforce.  But most also don’t fully appreciate how they can improve retention rates.

When surveyed, employees indicate their top reasons for leaving a position are:

·         Not getting along with their direct supervisor

·         Desire for an improved compensation package

·         Strong desire for a better work/life balance

·         Lack of career growth

·         Not being challenged

It’s noteworthy that four of the five top reasons are non-financial. Employers can do much to address these issues, but frequently only pay lip service to significantly enhancing the employee experience. If employers paid this little attention to their customers’ experience, they would likely be out of business.  Your employees are your number one asset!

So, what can an employer do?

• Actively demonstrate that you value the unique needs of each employee
• Tailor your HR and benefit programs to your workforce (flexible work schedules, choices in health plan options, PTO banks, etc.)
• Publicly recognize outstanding performance and employee achievements.
• Teach supervisors how to be good coaches and managers.
• Provide ongoing training on issues such as handling conflict, delivering difficult messages and conducting effective performance discussions.
• Ensure alignment between business goals and employee rewards.
• Appropriately mix base and variable pay.
• Unambiguously link performance to rewards.
• Clearly delineate between rewards for top and bottom performers.
• Nurture the employee ecosystem.
• Make sure employees understand what it is the organization values.
• Practice what you preach—hold managers accountable for their actions and for tolerating or ignoring unacceptable behavior.
• Focus attention on high performers; deal effectively with marginal performers (Is an “up or out” philosophy right for you? Or, is a culture of mediocrity acceptable?).
• Ask top performers what makes them successful at your organization and why they stay.
• Ask employees what is and what is not working and act on their input.

Commonly used solutions today include pre-hire assessments, variable compensation programs, and links between the performance management and compensation systems (both strategic linkages and automated, processing-type linkages). Planned enhancements over the next year typically include the implementation of learning management systems and online skills/competency tracking systems.

Forward-thinking companies do a reasonable job of tracking the key performance indicators of retention, which have historically covered employee satisfaction levels, turnover rates and benchmarks for similar organizations, and worker productivity metrics. However, these measures do little to illuminate why retention issues occur. These basic measures should be expanded to track items such as employee satisfaction with specific areas of their job (their work, their supervisor, their pay, their commute, their co-workers); turnover rates should be evaluated by employee level, tenure, speed of advancement, performance rating, sex, age and other factors.

Xxx, the key is to progress from simply tracking data to understanding information to determining cause and effect. Then you can affect your bottom line.  If we can help, call or write and we will respond immediately!

Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC, CEO
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

Developing a Stronger and More Cohesive Team

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 critically important 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 to this proven approach;

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 and it is imperative that an employee take ownership of sharing their knowledge with others. 

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 n employee stronger by giving them additional knowledge or tools will have a defined strengthening of your team.  Employees will become contributors and not just a warm body going through the motions. 

SUGGESTION:  My message today is a challenge to you 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 real by-product of this concept just might be an improved employee retention ratio which equates to a strong bottom line on the P&L.

 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.

Next Week’s Subject:  NO ROOM FOR MICRO-MANAGERS IN THE WORKPLACE

Regards,

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

Have You Met Your Annual Goals?

Summer is fast approaching and as the second quarter of 2012 is slightly over a month away.  It is amazing how time flies as we are almost at the half way point of this new year!

 Kindly ask yourself:

1.    Did I do all that I need to do to hit my goals in the first five months of this year?

2.    If you did….Congratulations!

3.    If you didn’t….you must ask yourself why?

4.    Did you erase those goals each month and put up your goals for next month, or did you add the difference you didn’t produce to your goals for the following month?

5.    Did you already give up on the income you planned to earn in 2012?

 No matter what you did in the first five months of this year, you can still hit your annual production and salary goal if you make a commitment right now!

           A.   What worked this first Quarter?  Continue with this activity

B.   What didn’t work?  STOP doing those activities

C.   What NEW things will you do?

 Never forget the price you will pay for not attaining the highest level of success possible.  The market is mostly stable and reasonably strong.  The time to grow yourself, your company and your clients is now!  It makes no difference what industry you are in or what level you are in the organization, you have power to make a difference every single day of your life.

If I can help you or your team in anyway, call or write and I will respond immediately!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC, CEO

Client Growth Consultants, INc. 

What is the Role of The Manager?

What is the role of the manager?

The primary relationship of employee vs. retention and/or turnover is the employee’s manager.  If the manager get’s it right the odds are in their favor that an excellent retention level is going to be the norm.  Get it wrong and it becomes the cavernous abyss for which all employees eventually fall into.

There are four areas I believe that are critical for a manager to ensure a great working relationship with his/her team, encourage camaraderie, promote team spirit and achieve the vision:

1.       Management Acclimatization

a.    There is more to bringing on a new employee or a new manager than just doing the paperwork.  This is the point where all parties can memorialize their intentions, expectations and business format.

b.      Exploring the concerns of the new employee or manager

c.       Defining the most effective communication process

d.      Making the inbound transition as smooth as humanly possible

2.       Setting of Mutual and Meaningful Goals

a.       Goals cannot be unrealistic

b.      Goals must have a value and/or a reward at the end

c.       Goals must be agreed to by all parties to ensure that there will be no communication nightmares

d.      Goals must be a challenge and designed to stimulate the mind to reach higher and higher

e.      Goals must be specific not rolled into one huge ball so that picking and choosing is an option

3.       Utilizing a Standard of Measurement

a.       Performance Measurement is not an option, even for the top performers

b.      A measurement tool can set the bar based on individual performance as one size does not fit all

c.       Performance Measurement tools will provide you with meaningful data to enable mentoring, training, achievement above and beyond and personal and corporate growth

4.       Willingness to Reevaluate and Regroup

a.       Not all plans or goals turn out at 100%

b.      All parties concerned must recognize that what hasn’t worked, must be fixed and what has worked may or may not need to be tweaked to make it even better

c.       Many studies have shown that once a growth plan is in place, it will be modified as many as five times before it is deemed worthy and correct.  So do not become case hardened just because it was your idea.

SPECIAL NOTE:

                                                              i.      Remember that employees typically quit their bosses not the company

                                                            ii.      Good companies fix bad managers

                                                          iii.      Bad companies condone bad manager

 Regards,

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

 

How Much Is Employee Apprehension Costing You?

How Much Is Employee Apprehension Costing You?

Does your company confuse allegiance or loyalty with tenure?  If so, there may be a rutted rocky road ahead for your organizations future.  It is well documented in todays’ marketplace that tenured employees, who are replete with obsolescence, can bring productivity to a slow death.

If your employees are filled with apprehension and fear of upsetting the entrenched guys and gals in your organization, you DO have a serious problem within the organizational ranks.

If you management style or management team ranks tenure higher than performance, then sadly, I suggest you reevaluate not only your current management but your talent acquisition and management practices

I’ve said this before but it is well worth saying again, “The only thing worse than an employee who quits and leaves is an employee who quits and stays.”  Length of service and loyalty are not necessarily one in the same.

Take a moment right now and mentally review and picture the following and ask yourself, which team member would I prefer on my team?

A long term employee who resides in his/her self serving corner of the office….but when the real assessment is made, it is obvious he/she is an under performer? These people are exceptionally good at the smoke and mirror game and you should beware because they position themselves with a different mask every day. 

OR an employee who has been there not so long but consistently is willing to go the extra mile, contributes without being prodded, typically meets or exceeds goals and expectations and you always know where you stand with them? 

This subject is truly a value and performance issue and if you allow long term employees to reside in a clouded corporate bubble, then you are retaining them for all the wrong reasons.

TENURE AS WE HAVE KNOWN IT IS NOW ARCHIAC AT BEST:  This isn’t the 40’s or 50’s it is the 21^st Century.  Catch up with the real world.

TENURE THAT DOESN’T REPRESENT THE FUNDAMENTAL TALENT BASE DESTROYS THE BOTTOM LINE: Identifying, developing and rewarding employees is one of the best and safest ways to drive sales and profits.

TENURE THAT PROPAGATES USELESSNESS, OBSOLESCENCE AND MEDIOCRITCY ALSO INHIBITS CHANGE AND GROWTH:  It is critical to get out of your comfort zones and stop saying, “….but it is the way we have always done it.”

With all this said, allow me to reach for the real issue within this subject.  As an owner, executive, manager or team leader, it is critically important that your mindset is predisposed towards performance. 

The final choices become yours, so take ownership and grow or not:

A.    You can reward talent, dependability, initiative, innovation, loyalty, attitude, creativity, work ethic, contribution and leadership (because you take ownership of the concept and instill this in your employees) OR

B.    Maintain a workplace that believes in archaic concepts, mediocrity in performance and believes that because an employee has worked here a long time, we need to continue to “do it that way to keep peace in our business family.”

Now you need to ask yourself one final question…..Just How Much is Employee Apprehension Costing Me?

We Can Help!

Regards,

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