10 Managing Employee Retention, Engagement, and Careers IBM recently celebrated 100 years since its creation. Few companies stay in business that long. Most credit IBM’s longevity to its ability to adapt to changing customer needs. Today, for instance, technology is changing so fast that IBM will soon need a workforce with dramatically different skills than its current employees have. In many companies, that would signal impending turnover and huge turnover costs, as new employees replace old. What should IBM do to build that new workforce, and to retain the employees it needs to move ahead? We’ll see what they did.

Learning Objectives Describe a comprehensive approach to retaining employees. Explain why employee engagement is important, and how to foster such engagement. After studying this chapter, you will be able to: 1. Describe a comprehensive approach to retaining employees. 2. Explain why employee engagement is important, and how to foster such engagement.

Managing Employee Turnover and Retention Turnover: the rate at which employees leave the firm, varies markedly among industries. (rates includes only voluntary leaving) Turnover is an expensive cost for organizations. Understanding more about the costs and causes of turnover is important. There are tangible and intangible costs associated with turnover. Reducing turnover requires identifying and managing the reasons for both voluntary and involuntary turnover. Voluntary turnover occurs for many reasons. Top reasons include job dissatisfaction, The dissatisfaction sources are many: poor pay or health-care benefits, few promotional opportunities, and inadequate work-life balance., org culture …stress …work nature …

Turnover High unemployment reduces voluntary turnover …How? When the employee knows its not easy to find a job and unemployment rate is high he will not quit the job easily. Retention strategies for reducing Voluntary Turnover Any retention strategy begins with identifying the specific causes of turnover within a particular company.

Describe a comprehensive approach to retaining employees. Experts from a top consulting company suggest building comprehensive retention programs around the steps below. Using effective selection techniques Offering professional growth opportunities Providing career direction Offering meaningful work and Encouraging ownership of goals Experts from a top consulting company suggest building comprehensive retention programs around the steps below. Using effective selection techniques Offering professional growth opportunities Providing career direction Offering meaningful work and Encouraging ownership of goals Let’s discuss these in a bit more detail.

A Comprehensive Approach to Retaining Employees Using effective selection techniques Offering professional growth opportunities Remember, “retention starts up front, in the selection and hiring of the right employees.” The process begins with a thorough understanding of the jobs to be filled. It includes a solid job analysis and an effective and efficient hiring process. Professional growth is a well-thought-out training and career development program that can provide a strong incentive for staying with the company.

A Comprehensive Approach to Retaining Employees Providing career direction Providing career direction means discussing employee’s career preferences and prospects at the firm, and helping them lay out potential career plans. Employees are responsible for making career plans, setting goals, and utilizing development opportunities in respect to their own career development. Managers are responsible for providing feedback and developmental assignments, and the employer should provide training opportunities. No employee should abandon this task to others. Offering meaningful work and Encouraging ownership of goals An important part of retaining employees is making it clear what your expectations are regarding their performance and responsibilities. This helps employees “own” their behaviors and results. A job is meaningful if the incumbent understands its relationship to the company goals and sees his or results as part of the bigger picture.

A Comprehensive Approach to Retaining Employees Other key retention elements are recognizing and rewarding performance, learning the culture and environment, promoting work- life balance, and acknowledging achievements.   In addition to pay and benefits, employees need and appreciate recognition for a job well done. With respect to culture and environment, companies that are very tense and“ political” may prompt employees to leave. Companies that help employees feel comfortable increase the likelihood that top performers will stay. Balancing work and life remains an important part of retaining valued employees. In one survey, workers identified “flexible work arrangements” and “telecommuting” as the two top benefits that would encourage them to choose one job over another. Finally, when employees feel under appreciated,they’re more likely to leave. Surveys suggest that frequent recognition of accomplishments is an effective nonmonetary reward.

Explain why employee engagement is important, and how to foster such engagement. Engagement refers to being psychologically involved in, connected to, and committed to getting one’s job done. Poor attendance, voluntary turnover, and psychological withdrawal often reflect diminished employee engagement. Let’s discuss.

Why Employee Engagement is Important and Fostering such Engagement Engagement refers to being psychologically involved in, connected to, and committed to getting one’s job done. Poor attendance, voluntary turnover, and psychological withdrawal often reflect diminished employee engagement. Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education

Employee Engagement Importance Fostering Monitoring Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education

Employee Engagement Employee engagement is an important topic. Many employee behaviors, including turnover, reflect the degree to which employees are “engaged.” One survey concluded that companies with highly engaged employees have26% higher revenue per employee. Actions that help ensure engagement include making sure employees understand how their departments contribute to the company’s success. In addition, employees should see how their own efforts contribute to achieving the company’s goals. Finally, employees should get a sense of accomplishment from working at the firm. Monitoring employee engagement needn’t be complicated. A simple survey may do the job. Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education

Employee Actions That Foster Engagement Managing Employee Engagement Employee Actions That Foster Engagement Understanding how their department contributes to company success Seeing how their efforts contribute to achieving company goals Get a sense of accomplishment from work at the company Employee participation also improves engagement. For example, Milliken & Co. uses employee participation safety teams at one plant. The safety process consists of 16 employees on the plant’s safety steering committee, which in turn governs 8 employee safety subcommittees. The program appears to produce high levels of safety engagement among employees, and significant improvements in the plant accident rates. Perhaps the best way to improve engagement is to remember that engagement is a two-way street. Employees tend to be committed to and engaged in companies that are committed to them. Such companies demonstrate what psychologists call “perceived organizational support,” wherein the employee perceives that the employer values his or her contribution and cares about his or her well being. Researchers measure such organizational support with survey items such as, “The organization values my contribution to its well-being”; “The organization would understand a long absence due to my illness”; and “The organization really cares about my well being.”

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