Ask Andi: How do we retain employees who have reached their growth potential in our company. We’re afraid of creating disgruntled employees that are not considered for growth opportunities, or they are considered and not promoted.
Thoughts of the Day: Retain employees by giving them room to grow is smart business. Building future human capital can be as simple as paying attention to the talent you already have. And filling in the gaps over time. Build individualized growth plans for employees. Show how efforts are rewarded over time. Create opportunities to uncover hidden talent. Have a Plan B.
Retain employees by giving room to grow
Look around your company. Who else understands what the company is all about, who else is as committed to making things happen for the company, as the people who already show up for work every day? Before you start looking outside for management and technical skills, consider the pool of talent you already have to work with.
Consider the challenges your company is facing. Has the company grown faster than the people? Have people given up and stopped making progress? Or is it simply that the new set of challenges are just obstacles that are going to take some time to overcome? Does the company need a new set of skills? Can those skills be taught, and if so by whom and how long will it take to do the teaching?
Meet with each employee to discuss what they’re good at, and to find out what they want to learn about next. Keep in mind, it’s human nature for people to want to grow and learn. Give every employee a vision of the opportunities they can take on within your company as they build skills and learn new things.
Show that you care
What does that look like? Be honest when someone raises a hand to try something new, and you find they’re not ready. Make available a list of classes, job rotations, and cross-training to help those interested make progress. Retain employees Ask for their suggestions on where and how they could best learn more.
Honesty is crucial with employees. If you see that they have untapped talent, tell them. Encourage them to take on additional responsibility and engage in opportunities to learn new skills.
If you find a person backs away, find out why. Sometimes people get overloaded, whether at home or at work. See if you can give them the room to stay where they are for a short while until things in their life settle down.
Agree on a timeframe to take a pause. Also, make it clear that it’s important to get moving forward again on the other side of that timeout. Discuss the financial consequences: people need to understand that sitting still will stall their income growth.
There may be situations in which an employee wants to head in a different direction. Discuss how building skills working for your company can help them in the future. But when you see them backing away from growth, increasing the number of mistakes they’re making, not paying attention, know that it’s time for a change. Help them out the door by encouraging them to pursue their dreams elsewhere.
Opportunities for growth
Focus on the keepers, the employees who know they want to be doing what your company does. Look for people who recognize that they can build a career by helping with the growth and development of your company. Show them how that can turn into additional opportunity and compensation.
Encourage people to try new things. Help them get college educations and technical training. Show people how to increase their value to themselves as well as to your company. Keep in mind that you may be inspiring people who have few other sources of encouragement.
Always have at least two or three people who are backups. Life takes twists and turns. The best succession plan can be disrupted by something unexpected. Make sure your company can weather disruptions by building teams of people who can take over in case of emergency.
Think about what you want for your company and personal legacy.
- Did a great job producing a product or service
- Build a pool of talented people who can sing the company’s praises
- Built the next generation that can ensure the company continues on
What would you write on your tombstone? And what would be written about you?
Looking for a good book? The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the Leadership Powered Company, by Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, James Noel.
