1. Employee Retention, Engagement, and Careers10
Employee Retention, Engagement, and Careers
Chapter 10 offers some good advice and tools for managing careers. We will discussbuilding effective communications through fair treatment programs and employee discipline. In addition we will discuss proper handling of dismissals and separations, including retirement.
In recent years, many employees from the “baby boom” generation have taken early retirement. However, experts believe the next generation will have to work longer than they would wishin order to fund those who are retiring now. 
The Social Security Administrationhas increased the age at which future generations will be eligible for benefits.
Management will need to find ways to stimulate career interests of older employees to keep them motivated and productive.
Firms also will need to find ways to ease labor shortages by attracting those to return who already have retired. Let’s discuss these and other issues.
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2. Learning Objectives
Describe a comprehensive approach to retaining employees.
Explain why employee engagement is important, and how to foster such engagement.
Discuss what employers and supervisors can do to support employees’ career development needs.
By the time we have finished this chapter you will be able to:
Describe a comprehensive approach to retaining employees.
Explain why employee engagement is important, and how to foster such engagement.
Discuss what employers and supervisors can do to support employees’ career development needs.
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3. Learning Objectives Differentiate between mentoring and coaching
List and briefly explain the main decisions employers should address in reaching promotion and other employee life-cycle career decisions.
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4. comprehensive approach to retaining employees.
Describe a
comprehensive approach
to retaining employees.
Experts from a top consulting company suggest building comprehensiveretention 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.
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5. A Comprehensive Approach to Retaining Employees
Selection - solid job analysis and an effective and efficient hiring process
Professional growth: well-thought-out training and career development program
Provide career direction
Meaningful work and ownership of goals
Remember, “retention starts up front, in the selection and hiring of the rightemployees.” 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 andcareer development program that can provide a strong incentive for staying with thecompany.
Providing career direction means discussing employee’s career preferences and prospects at your firm, and helping them lay out potential careerplans. Furthermore, “don’t wait until performance reviews to remind topemployees how valuable they are to your company.”
An important partof retaining employees is making it clear what your expectations are regardingtheir 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.
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6. A Comprehensive Approach to Retaining Employees
Recognition and rewards
Culture and environment
Promote work–life balance
Acknowledge achievements
Other key retention elements are recognizing and rewarding performance, learning the culture and environment, promoting work-life balance, and acknowledging achievements.  
We’ve seen that 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 employeesfeel 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 underappreciated,they’re more likely to leave. Surveys suggest that frequent recognition of accomplishments is an effective nonmonetary reward. Such recognition is likely to be helpful even though some recipients may state they don’t need a sincere “thank you.”
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7. A Comprehensive Approach to Retaining Employees
Managing involuntary turnover
Talent management and employee retention
Job withdrawal
Involuntary turnover is inevitable. When jobs are restructured or when competitive or economic pressures necessitate reductions in the workforce an employer will let some employees go. However, dismissals due to poor performance sometimes are avoidable.
Poor performance and involuntary turnover can be managed by reviewing and improving:
Recruitment
Selection
Training
Appraisal
Compensation/incentive plans
Firms that take a talent management approach to retaining employees focus their efforts on the company’s mission-critical employees.
Job withdrawal is any action which places physical or psychological distance between the employee and the organization. It’s ameans of escape for someone who is dissatisfied or fearful. Managing the almost limitless reasons an employee can become dissatisfied requires a complete and effective human resource system.
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8. Why Employee Engagement is Important and Fostering such Engagement
Engagement refers to being psychologically involvedin, connected to, and committed to getting one’s job done.
Poor attendance, voluntary turnover, and psychological withdrawal often reflectdiminished employee engagement.
Let’s discuss.
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9. Employee Engagement
Engagement refers to being psychologically involvedin, connected to, and committed to getting one’s job done.
Poor attendance, voluntary turnover, and psychological withdrawal often reflectdiminished employee engagement.
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10. Employee Engagement Importance Fostering Monitoring
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 contributeto achieving the company’s goals. Finally, employees should get a sense of accomplishment from workingat the firm.
Monitoring employee engagement needn’t be complicated. A simple survey may do the job. One survey indicated 83% of employees reported they are determined to accomplish their workgoals. Further, they were confident they could meet their goals.
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11. Employee Engagement Career terminology Careers today
Psychological contract
The employee’s role
We may define a career as the “occupational positions a person has had over many years.”
Recessions, mergers, outsourcing, consolidations, and seemingly continuous downsizing have changed the ground rules. More often employees find themselves having to reinvent themselves to remain productive in the workforce.
What the employer and employee expect of each other is part of what psychologists call a psychological contract. The psychological contract identifies each party's mutual expectations.
As in other parts of life, an individual must accept responsibility for his/her own career. He or she should assess his/her own interests, skill, and values. Finally, the employee must take the steps required to ensure a happy and fulfilling career. One of these steps is finding a mentor who can be a sounding board. Mentoring programs can be informal or formal.
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12. Review Employee engagement Career terminology Careers today
Psychological contract
The employee’s role
As far as employee engagement is concerned, many employee behaviors,including turnover, reflect the degree to which employees are “engaged.”
Monitoring employee engagement needn’t be complicated. A simple survey may do the job.
We can define a career as the “occupational positions a person has had over many years.” Today,employees often find themselves having to reinvent themselves.
A psychological contract is what the employer and employee expect of each other.
Finally, as in other parts of life, an individual must accept responsibility for his/her own career.
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13. Discuss what employers and supervisors can do to
support employees’ career development needs.
While each individual employee may have different interests and career aspirations, employers and managers should provide career development support and training. Let’s discuss these important concepts in more detail.
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14. The Employer’s Role in Career Management
Career Management Systems
Career centers and workshops
Lifelong learning
Career coaches
Online programs
Career-oriented appraisals
Gender Issues
The Manager’s Role
Employers can support career development efforts in many ways. The means for helping to further an employee’s career depend on the length of time the employee has been with the firm.
Career development systems needn’t be complicated. Receiving performance feedback and individual development plans can make an enormous difference in employee performance. In addition, having access to nontechnical skills training will contribute to satisfaction and engagement. However, a large portion of companies do not provide suchservices.
Women report greater barriers (such as being excluded from informal networks) than do men. They also have more difficulty getting developmental assignments and geographic mobility opportunities. Many call this combination of subtle and not-so-subtle barriers to women’s progress the glass ceiling. Organizations need to be aware of it and try to eliminate it.
The manager can do several things to support his or her subordinates’ career development needs including scheduling a regular performance appraisal. Managers must also make expectations clear. Finally, managers must focus on the extent to which the employee’s current skills and performance match career aspirations.
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15. Mentoring
Having experienced senior people advising, counselling and guiding employees’ longer term career development.
Can be formal (Mentor & Protégé Program) or informal (Voluntary)
May have drawbacks – Supervisor must be extra cautious in giving advice.
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16. Coaching Educating, Instructing and training subordinates.
Focus on daily task that can be easily relearned.
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17. Review Promotion decisions Measurement Formal vs. informal
Vertical orhorizontal
Practical issues
Bias
The law
Transfers
Retirement
The rules for promotion decisions include issues of seniority or competence, how to measure, and whether the process is formal or informal. In addition, consideration is given to whether the promotion is vertical or horizontal and who is eligible. Practical issues include bias such as the glass ceiling, legal compliance, and managing transfers and formal pre-retirement counseling.
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