According to Harris Allied, a New York City-based recruiting firm, the first quarter is often when employees look for new job opportunities, but employers can proactively take steps to retain their top talent.
"Employees have just received their year-end bonus, and companies have fresh budgets for hiring new talent this time of year, so we typically see a lot of job changes right about now," says Kathy Harris, managing director at Harris Allied. "But there are steps a hiring manager or a team leader can take to close the back door to retain their best employees and prevent them from taking a job elsewhere. People join companies but leave managers, so the difference can really be made at a departmental or even team level.
"Many managers would be surprised to know that it's not money but culture and work-life issues that typically make or break the decision to seek out new opportunities."
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To retain talent, Harris Allied recommends that employers ensure corporate culture is defined at the department level, not just among executives. Although human resources can set the tone, team leaders and department heads should also help employees attain a healthy work-life balance.
Harris Allied also suggests that employers treat employees as valuable resources as opposed to commodities. Employees in technical jobs especially worry that their jobs will be outsourced when managers start referring to them as "resources," and that uncertainty can lead to attrition problems.
Top performers should have the opportunities to work on important projects and learn new technologies, which gives them the chance to feel as though they made impactful contributions. For that type of employee, an outlined career track is important, they should be recognized for contributions, and they should be asked for constant feedback.
If an employee seems like he or she is interested in leaving, the employer should find out what is not working and try to alleviate those problems. In some cases, the employee may just want the employer to show that it's taking the concerns seriously. A good manager should also periodically connect with team members to see how they are feeling.
"This kind of proactive approach to retaining employees is a 180-degree shift from the way things have been in the last three or four years when it was decidedly more of an employer's market," Harris says. "This requires a real cultural shift at both the corporate level as well as at the group level. But we have seen companies take this approach to an extreme. When key employees start leaving, it sends a message to the organization that business conditions are uncertain.
"In one case the CEO and COO felt so strongly about retaining a key employee that they met with him and worked to create an expanded role that fit both his current skills and broader career goals. The fact that key execs were willing to step in and make his retention a priority made the difference and the employee stayed."
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