Retaining Talent in Tough Times

17 February 2009

Retaining Talent in Tough Times

Although the market is challenging for many industries and organisations right now, it is important not to lose sight of retaining talent in this tough time and to gain a competitive edge for the inevitable market upswing. This is the advice of Jason Walker, managing director of specialist recruiter Hays, who also had some tips for employers who wish to retain their best staff:

“With performance management and redundancies occurring in a number of organisations, employers need to recognise the impact this can have on the staff that remain. The most immediately noticeable impact is on morale, as employees become disengaged with their work and inevitably risk losing motivation. They may become careless, lose some of their previous passion and even high performing individuals will look as though they are scraping by with the bare minimum of effort. More importantly, the staff that remain will begin to experience a sense of fear; fear that regardless of how they perform they may be next in the firing line because the organisation is in trouble.

“Of course all of this then feeds into the company’s bottom line. It therefore becomes vital to the company’s short and long-term success to proactively engage these employees. The challenge is to go out of your way to afford time and effort to not only manage and improve the performance of those who are not meeting expectations, but also provide time to acknowledge those who are doing well.

“Retention is a reactive term, and focusing on this alone is not enough. Organisations should instead switch focus to the attraction of talent. That is, they should aim to keep their staff attracted to the business by engaging their spirit and not just their body. This does not have to be all about the tangibles, like salaries and bonuses, which may not be available right now. Employees need to know you are committed to them for the long-term, and this could be as simple as reassurance that their contribution is noticed and valued, and acknowledgement that they will still be there to enjoy the company’s success when the market changes.

“Some other ’intangible’ ways of engaging your employees’ spirit and constantly engaging the top performers could include the maintenance of company culture through pride of affiliation. Remind your employees why they should be proud to work for your company. Open channels of communication are also vital – particularly during tough times – as this provides reassurance of strong leadership and the avoidance of doubt and gossip when it comes to the company’s performance. On an individual level, you can also look at providing other incentives that make your best employees feel valued and respected. Focused training and extra responsibility with isolated projects can be very effective in demonstrating you are committed to your employees for the long term.

“Employee disengagement is not difficult to spot and warning signs will usually be present long before you receive that resignation notice. Behavioural changes and a lack of interest and passion can be early signs that your employees have begun to disengage. Our research suggests that the main reasons for leaving employment are not only money, but a lack of interesting work, a lack of appreciation, and poor management. Addressing these issues early could be a huge advantage when it comes to securing market share when the economy picks up.

“Organisations need to exhibit foresight and remember that retaining top talent requires more than just retaining jobs. Employees who feel nervous and undervalued will soon show themselves the door if you do not develop proactive strategies to keep them on your team”.

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