Employee Retention Secrets

You're reading an excerpt from:


Les McKeown's Employee Retention Secrets™ Toolkit

Is this the right resource for you? Click here to find out

At the heart of Employee Retention Secrets™ is the core manual - ‘The Complete Guide to Retaining Key Employees’.

This world-class resource actually comes in two parts:

• The Core Manual - 267 pages of resources, teaching, checklists, templates and forms designed to provide you with everything you need to design and implement a successful, sustainable employee retention strategy, and
• The Quick Start Guide - a 40-page ‘fill in the blanks’ guide that takes you step by step through the main manual, providing you with a structured process to transform the materials in the main guide into your very own customized, implementable employee retention strategy.

Here’s the Table of Contents for the main manual:

1 How to use ‘The Complete Guide to Retaining Key Employees’ (TCGTRKE)

1.1 Links To Spots Within TCGTRKE ..........................................................18
1.2 Navigation Features ..........................................................................18
1.3 Viewing Features ..............................................................................20
1.4 Search Features ...............................................................................22
1.5 Print Features ..................................................................................22
1.6 Links to The Web ..............................................................................23
1.7 Receiving and Using Future Updates ...................................................23
1.8 Using TCGTRKE ................................................................................24

2 “Employee What?!“

2.1 Just What Is “Employee Retention” Anyway? ........................................25
2.2 What “Employee Retention” Used to Mean ...........................................28
2.2.1 The Rise of Employee Retention as a Management Tool .........................29
2.2.2 Tweaking Around the Edges ...............................................................30
2.3 What “Employee Retention” Means Now ..............................................31
2.3.3 Meeting “Higher” Needs ....................................................................32
2.3.4 Don’t Grow Employee Retention Weeds! ..............................................33
2.4 What “Employee Retention” Might Mean Soon ......................................35
2.4.5 Core Competencies and Outsourcing ...................................................36
2.4.6 The Rise of the “Free Agent” ..............................................................38
2.4.7 Free Agents and Employee Retention ..................................................41
2.4.8 The War for Talent ............................................................................42
2.4.9 Where Does Retention Start? .............................................................42
2.4.10 Becoming an Employer of Choice .....................................................43
2.5 Manager’s Checklist For Section 2 .......................................................45

3 The Secret’s in the Swing

3.1 Develop a Retention Mindset ..............................................................46
3.1.1 Go with the Flow ..............................................................................47
3.1.2 Think like a Diner Owner ...................................................................48
3.1.3 Go Roadside ....................................................................................49
3.1.4 Think Velcro, Not Erector ...................................................................49
3.2 Don’t Get Hung up on Strategies ........................................................50
3.3 People Stay Where They Feel at Home ................................................51
3.3.1 Retention Isn’t Compulsion ................................................................52
3.4 The Five Phases of Retaining top performers: How Good Is Your Swing? ..53
3.4.1 Picturing the Shot: Envisioning Your Retention Strategy .........................54
3.4.2 Club Selection: Deciding Which Retention Tools to Use ..........................56
3.4.3 Backswing: Recruiting for Retention ....................................................56
3.4.4 Point of Impact: Making the Difference with Orientation .........................58
3.4.5 Follow-Through: Maintaining Retention Through the Employment Life Cycle 59
3.4.6 Raising Your Game to Another Level: Employer Branding .......................60
3.5 Manager’s Checklist for Section 3 .......................................................61

4 Envisioning Your Employee Retention Strategy

4.1 Which Employees Do You Want to Retain? ............................................63
4.1.1 Identifying Key Retention Groups .......................................................64
4.2 Why Do You Want to Retain the Targeted Employees? ............................67
4.2.1 Determining the Reasons for Retaining Top Performers ..........................68
4.2.2 Map the Targeted Employee Groups and Their Operational Impact ..........69
4.3 What Do You Need to Do to Retain the Targeted Employees? ..................71
4.3.1 The Exit Interview: Most Used, Least Effective…...................................71
4.3.2 The Most Important Interview: Why Are You Staying? ...........................74
4.3.3 Starting Right: The “Why Didn’t You Join Us?“ Interview ........................75
4.3.4 What to Ask in the Interviews ............................................................76
4.4 Turning Data into Achievable Retention Goals .......................................78
4.5 Manager’s Checklist For Section 4 .......................................................81

5 Know Your Demographics

5.1 Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same ......82
5.1.1 The Boomers Join ... ..........................................................................83
5.1.2 The Gen-Xers Leave ... .....................................................................84
5.1.3 But in the End, People Are People .......................................................84
5.2 The Seven Areas of Distinction in Employee Retention ...........................85
5.2.4 Work Environment ............................................................................85
5.2.5 Work Content ..................................................................................86
5.2.6 Growth Opportunities ........................................................................86
5.2.7 Compensation and Rewards ...............................................................87
5.2.8 The Organizational Culture ................................................................87
5.2.9 Work Relationship with Manager .........................................................88
5.2.10 Work Relationship with Peers ..........................................................89
5.3 Effective Tools for Retaining Boomers ..................................................89
5.3.1 Work Environment ............................................................................90
5.3.2 Work Content ..................................................................................90
5.3.3 Growth Opportunities ........................................................................91
5.3.4 Compensation and Rewards ...............................................................91
5.3.5 The Organizational Culture ................................................................92
5.3.6 Work Relationship with Manager .........................................................92
5.3.7 Work Relationship with Peers .............................................................93
5.4 Effective Tools for Retaining Gen-Xers .................................................94
5.4.1 Work Environment ............................................................................94
5.4.2 Work Content ..................................................................................95
5.4.3 Growth Opportunities ........................................................................95
5.4.4 Compensation and Rewards ...............................................................96
5.4.5 The Organizational Culture ................................................................97
5.4.6 Work Relationship with Manager .........................................................98
5.4.7 Work Relationship with Peers ............................................................99
5.5 Wassup? Planning for Retaining Gen-Yers ...........................................100
5.6 Manager’s Checklist For Section 5 .....................................................101

6 Employee Recognition - What Works, What Doesn’t

6.1 Targeting Your Recognition Program to Top Performers ........................102
6.1.1 Know Who They Are .......................................................................103
6.1.2 Separate Program ..........................................................................103
6.1.3 Tiered Program ..............................................................................104
6.1.4 Modular Program ............................................................................104
6.2 Orienting Your Recognition Program Around Retention .........................104
6.2.1 The Importance of a Retention-Oriented Recognition Program ..............104
6.2.2 Addressing Multiple Goals, but with a Retention Focus .........................105
6.2.3 Outputs vs. Behaviors .....................................................................105
6.2.4 Awards vs. Rewards ........................................................................105
6.3 Designing Recognition Programs to Enhance Behaviors ........................106
6.3.1 Negotiable and Nonnegotiable Behaviors ...........................................106
6.3.2 Examples of Retention-Related Behaviors ..........................................107
6.4 Designing Specific Recognition Goals .................................................107
6.4.1 The Importance of Specificity ...........................................................108
6.5 Ensuring That Your Targets Are Attainable ..........................................109
6.6 Setting Fair Outcomes .....................................................................111
6.7 Making Recognition Programs Appropriate .........................................113
6.7.1 Monetary Rewards .........................................................................113
6.7.2 Non-Monetary Rewards ...................................................................113
6.8 Communicating Your Recognition Program .........................................114
6.9 Manager’s Checklist for Section 5 .....................................................116

7 Compensation: Why It (Almost) Doesn’t Matter

7.1 Why Compensation (Almost) Doesn’t Matter ......................................117
7.1.1 Satisfiers Versus Motivators .............................................................118
7.1.2 Compensation Creates a One-Time Adjustment ..................................119
7.1.3 Compensation Must Be Part of the Retention Mix ................................119
7.2 What a Compensation Plan Must Achieve ...........................................120
7.2.1 The Key Objective of Compensation Is Not Just Performance ................120
7.2.2 Setting Your Retention-Related Compensation Goals ...........................121
7.2.3 Compensation as Recognition ...........................................................121
7.2.4 Compensation as Motivation ............................................................122
7.2.5 Compensation as a Team-Builder ......................................................122
7.2.6 Compensation as a Form of Accountability .........................................123
7.2.7 Compensation as a Trust-Builder ......................................................124
7.3 What to Include in Your Compensation Plan .......................................125
7.3.1 Base Pay .......................................................................................125
7.3.2 Incentives .....................................................................................126
7.3.3 Bonuses ........................................................................................127
7.3.4 Deferred Compensation ...................................................................128
7.3.5 Benefits ........................................................................................130
7.3.6 Perks ............................................................................................130
7.4 How to Design Your Compensation Plan .............................................131
7.4.1 Perform an Internal Audit ................................................................131
7.4.2 Surveys ........................................................................................132
7.4.3 Benchmarking ................................................................................133
7.4.4 Testing and Feedback ......................................................................134
7.5 Maximizing the Results from Your Compensation Plan ..........................134
7.5.1 Communicate! ...............................................................................134
7.5.2 Show That Compensation Is Fair and Appropriate ...............................135
7.5.3 Show Demonstrable Results .............................................................135
7.5.4 Deal with Both Risk and Reward .......................................................135
7.5.5 Don’t Make It an Annual Ritual .........................................................136
7.5.6 Remember the Personal Touch .........................................................136
7.6 Manager’s Checklist for Section 7 .....................................................137

8 Recruiting for Retention

8.1 What Is Recruiting for Retention? .....................................................139
8.2 The Employment Contract ...............................................................140
8.2.1 The Old Employment Contract ..........................................................140
8.2.2 The New Employment Contract ........................................................141
8.2.3 The Implications for Recruiting for Retention ......................................142
8.3 The New Hiring Model(s) .................................................................143
8.3.1 Model 1: The Classic Model�Core Employees .....................................144
8.3.2 Model 2: Flexible Work ....................................................................145
8.3.3 Model 3: Free Agents ......................................................................150
8.3.4 Model 4: Outsourcing ......................................................................151
8.3.5 Model 5: Pushing the Work Down to Your Customers ...........................153
8.4 Manager’s Checklist for Section 8 .....................................................155

9 Making the Difference With Orientation

9.1 The Link Between Employee Retention and Orientation ........................156
9.1.1 Sorry, I Didn’t Notice You Standing There ..........................................157
9.2 There’s No Such Thing as “No Orientation” .........................................159
9.2.1 Don’t Snub Your Employees .............................................................159
9.3 Immediate Impact of a Retention-Focused Orientation Program ............160
9.3.1 Escape from Induction ....................................................................161
9.3.2 Give Your Employees Permission to Feel at Home ................................162
9.4 Medium-Term Goals of a Retention-Focused Orientation Program ..........165
9.4.1 Retention Starts Here .....................................................................166
9.4.2 Expectation Management ................................................................168
9.4.3 Cultural Integration ........................................................................171
9.5 Prioritizing and Designing Cohesive Retention-Focused
            Orientation Program Content ........................................................173
9.5.1 Decide Which Imperatives Are Most Important ...................................174
9.5.2 Write an Orientation Program Objective for Each Retention Imperative ..175
9.5.3 Design Specific Orientation Program Content for Each Objective ...........177
9.6 Manager’s Checklist for Section 9 .....................................................179

10 The Role of the Manager, Part 1

10.1 Onboarding ...................................................................................180
10.1.1 Acclimation ................................................................................181
10.1.2 Integration .................................................................................182
10.1.3 Dialogue ....................................................................................182
10.1.4 Expectation Management .............................................................183
10.2 Setting Goals .................................................................................184
10.2.1 Set Goals for the Job ...................................................................185
10.2.2 Set Goals to Challenge .................................................................185
10.2.3 Set Goals for Relevance and Meaning .............................................186
10.3 Performance Management ...............................................................187
10.3.1 Data Collection ...........................................................................188
10.3.2 Appraisal ...................................................................................189
10.3.3 Feedback ...................................................................................190
10.4 Growth and Development ................................................................192
10.4.1 Individual Growth Plans ...............................................................192
10.4.2 Training and Experience ...............................................................193
10.4.3 Convenience ...............................................................................194
10.5 Providing a Buffer ...........................................................................195
10.5.1 Politics .......................................................................................196
10.5.2 Resources ..................................................................................196
10.5.3 Accountability .............................................................................197
10.6 Manager’s Checklist for Section 10 ....................................................198

11 The Role of the Manager, Part 2

11.1 The Manager as Company Representative ..........................................199
11.1.1 Mission ......................................................................................200
11.1.2 Values .......................................................................................200
11.1.3 Culture ......................................................................................201
11.1.4 How to Do It ..............................................................................202
11.2 The Manager as Leader ...................................................................203
11.2.1 Stretch Goals .............................................................................204
11.2.2 Decision Making ..........................................................................205
11.2.3 Outside the Box ..........................................................................207
11.3 The Manager as Work-Life Balance Indicator ......................................208
11.3.1 Set the Right Conditions .............................................................209
11.3.2 Monitoring Relationships ..............................................................209
11.3.3 Setting Milestones .......................................................................210
11.4 Managing Departing Employees and Alumni .......................................211
11.4.1 Manage the Exit ..........................................................................211
11.4.2 Keep in Touch .............................................................................212
11.4.3 Involve Alumni ...........................................................................213
11.4.4 Leverage Alumni Contacts ............................................................214
11.5 Manager’s Checklist for Section 10 ....................................................216

12 Mentoring and Coaching Programs

12.1 The Benefits of Mentoring and Coaching Programs ..............................217
12.2 A Word About Definitions and Vocabulary ..........................................219
12.3 What Is Mentoring? ........................................................................221
12.3.1 Historical Background ..................................................................221
12.3.2 Defining Terms for Your Mentoring Program ....................................222
12.4 What Is a Mentor? ..........................................................................222
12.5 The Distinction Between a Coach and a Mentor ...................................224
12.5.1 How Does a Mentor Differ from a Supervisor? .................................228
12.6 What Is the Difference Between Mentoring and Managing? ...................229
12.6.1 Separating Mentoring and Managing ..............................................230
12.7 How Does a Coach Differ from a Mentor? ...........................................231
12.8 Two More Possibilities .....................................................................232
12.8.1 “Buddy” Program ........................................................................232
12.8.2 Executive Coaching .....................................................................234
12.9 Manager’s Checklist for Section 12 ....................................................236

13 Raising Your Game to Another Level: Becoming an Employer of Choice

13.1 What Does It Mean To Be An ‘Employer Of Choice’? .............................237
13.1.1 Start With Recruitment… ..............................................................238
13.1.2 Add A Little Retention… ................................................................238
13.1.3 Stir In Some Benchmarking To Produce Best In Class… ....................239
13.1.4 Brand What Comes Out… .............................................................239
13.1.5 And Finish With Effective Communication .......................................240
13.2 The Benefits Of Being An Employer Of Choice .....................................241
13.2.1 Reduction In Employee Turnover ...................................................241
13.2.2 Increased Pipeline .......................................................................241
13.2.3 Higher-Quality Employee Sourcing .................................................242
13.2.4 Higher Acceptance Rate ...............................................................243
13.2.5 Improved Employee Morale ..........................................................243
13.2.6 Greater Managerial Confidence .....................................................244
13.2.7 Increase In Efficiency And Profitability ...........................................244
13.2.8 Higher Reputation In The Marketplace ............................................245
13.3 The Elements Of An Employer Of Choice Strategy ...............................246
13.3.1 Designing And Implementing The Core Retention Strategy ................246
13.3.2 Extending The Retention Strategy Over The Whole Employee Lifecycle ....247
13.3.3 Elevating The Retention Strategy To Best In Class Status ..................248
13.3.4 Stamping The Retention Strategy With An Employer Brand ...............249
13.3.5 Communicating The Employer Brand .............................................250
13.4 Employer Of Choice Status For Smaller Companies .............................252
13.4.1 Be Consistent .............................................................................252
13.4.2 Start Local .................................................................................253
13.4.3 Conquer A Communication Medium ...............................................253
13.4.4 Spread Ripples ...........................................................................253
13.4.5 Use Joint Ventures ......................................................................254
13.4.6 Keep It Simple ............................................................................254
13.5 Manager’s Checklist For Section 12 ...................................................254

14 Our Very Best Advice to You

Comprehensive, easy to follow, logical, affordable.
Get it today.

As you can see, Les McKeown's Employee Retention Secrets™ Toolkit is truly the most comprehensive employee retention resource you will ever find.

Regularly updated (you receive lifetime updates for free), and written in an easily-understandable, jargon-free, conversational style, Employee Retention Secrets™ will repay your investment many, many times over.

Next: Start Here!