Chapter 10: Employee retention, engagement, and careers

1. Employee retention
Why we need the employee retention?
Turnover – the rate at which employees leave the firm
1.1 Managing Voluntary Turnover
managing voluntary turnover requires identifying its causes and then
addressing them. employers ranked the top five reasons employees left
as promotion, career development, pay, relationship with supervisor, and
work life balance. Other reasons employees voluntarily leave include
unfairness, not having their voices heard, and a lack ofrecognition.
In any case, the manager should understand that retaining employees
is a talent management issue, and that the best retention strategies are
therefore multifunctional. the employer can take steps like the following to
boost employee retention.
Selection. Retention starts up front, in the selection and hiring of the
right employees. Selection refers not just to the worker but to choosing the
right supervisors as well. For example, FedEx conducts periodic employee
attitude surveys. The supervisor then meets to review the results with his or
her employees to address any problems the surveys raise.
Professional growth. Inadequate career and professional development
prospects prompt many employees to leave. Conversely, a well-thought-out
training and career development program can provide a strong incentive for
staying with the company
Provide career direction. Periodically discuss with employees their
career preferences and prospects at your firm and help them layout
potential career plans.
Meaningful work and ownership of goals. People can t do their jobs if
they don't know what to do or what their goals are. Therefore, an important
part of retaining employees is making it clear what your expectations are
regarding their performance and what their responsibilities are.
Recognition and rewards. We've seen that in addition to pay and
benefits, employees need and appreciate recognition for a job well done.
 Culture and environment. For example, companies that are very tense
and political may prompt employees to leave, while companies that make
them feel comfortable encourage them to stay.
Promote work-life balance. In one survey conducted by Robert Half
and
careerbuilder.com, workers identified flexible work arrangements and
telecommuting as the two top benefits that would encourage them to
choose one job or another.
Acknowledge achievements. When employees feel underappreciated,
they're more likely to leave. Surveys suggest that frequent recognition
of accomplishments is an effective nonmonetary reward
1.2 Managing involuntary turnover
Involuntary turnovers are inevitable. Even under the best conditions,
the employer will have to let some employers go when jobs are
restructured, or when competitive pressures necessitate reductions in
force. However, dismissals due to poor performance are sometimes
avoidable. As with voluntary turnover, performance-based dismissals may
stem from breakdowns in the employer’s talent management system.
Therefore, reviewing and improving one’s recruitment, selection, training,
appraisal, and compensation/incentive plans can reduce dismissals by
addressing the reasons for poor performance
2. Employee engagement
Engagement refers to being psychologically involved in, connected to,
and committed to getting one’s jobs done.
2.1 Why Engagement Is Important
Employee engagement is an important topic, because many employee
behaviors, including turnover, reflect the degree to which employees are
“engaged”.
2.2 Actions That Foster Engagement
Engagement supporting actions include making sure employees (1)
understand how their departments contribute to the company’s success, (2)
see how their own efforts contribute to achieving the company’s goals, and
(3) get asense of accomplishment from working at the firm.
 2.3 Monitoring Employee Engagement
Monitoring employee engagement needn’t be complicated. With about
180,000 employees worldwide, the consulting firm Accenture uses a three
part “shorthand” method they call say, stay, and strive” to identify. First,
Accenture assesses and recommends it to others. Second, it looks at who
stays with a company, and why. Finally, it looks at “strive”.
3. Career management
Career development plays an important role in engaging and retaining
employees."rather than focusing on incentives and perks to entice and
retain employees, organizations... will hold onto the most talented
workers... by offering them a range of professional experiences, broad
functional and geographic exposure within the organization, and more
targeted leadership opportunities."
3.1 Careers Terminology
Career management is a process for enabling employees to better
understand and develop their career skills and interests and to use these
skills and interests most effectively both within the company and after they
leave the firm.
3.2 The role of employer and employee in career management
The employer and manager have roles in guiding employees' careers, but
particularly in today's environment the person wants to pursue occupations,
jobs, and a career that capitalize on his or her interests, aptitudes, values,
and skills.
3.3 Career Management Systems
Most employers aren't inclined to provide a wide range of expensive career
development options. However, career development systems needn't be
complicated.
a career center: Other systems are more comprehensive. Some
people create Web-based or offline libraries os career development
materials, plus career workshops, workshops on related topics, and
individual career coaches for career guidance.
 Career planning workshops is “a planed learning event in which
participants I expected to be actively involved, completing career planning
excercises and inventuries and participating in career skills practise
sessions.
Lifelong learning budgets: both emplyers and employees countribute,
and the employees can tap into this to get the career – related education
and development they desire.
Provide career coaches: career coaches generally have employees
create 1 to 5 years plans showing their careers with the firm may lead.
Offer online programme: the firm can then organise developmental
activities around the person’s needs.
Career – oriented appraisals: Many employers have formal programs
to do this.
4. Improving coaching skills
Coaching and mentoring are key managerial skills. Coaching means
educating, instructing, and training subordinates. Mentoring means
advising, counseling, and guiding. Coaching focuses on teaching shorter-
term job-related skills. Mentoring focuses on helping employees navigate
longer-term career hazards.
4.1 Building Your Coaching Skills
Coaching and mentoring require both analytical and interpersonal skills.
Coaching does not mean just telling someone what to do. We can best
think of coaching in terms of a four-step process: preparation, planning,
active coaching, and follow-up. Preparation means understanding the
problem, the employee, and the employee's skills. Your aim is to formulate
a hypothesis about what the problem is. You'll watch the employee to see
what he or she is doing and observe the workflow and how coworkers
interact with the employee. Perhaps the most powerful way to get someone
to change is to obtain his or her enthusiastic agreement on what change is
required. This requires reaching an agreement on the problem and on what
to change.
4.2 Building Your Mentoring Skills
Mentoring traditionally means having experienced senior people advising,
counseling, and guiding employees' longer-term career development.
Studies show that having a mentor give career-related guidance and act as
a sounding board can significantly enhance one's career satisfaction and
success.

5. Making promotion decision

Career planning and mentoring often precede promotion decisions. Most
people crave promotions, which usually mean more pay, responsibility, and
(often) job satisfaction. For employers, promotions can provide
opportunities to reward exceptional performance, and to fill open positions
with tested and loyal employees. Yet the promotion process isn't always a
positive experience. Several decisions, therefore, loom large in any firm's
promotion process.
Decision 1: Is Seniority Or Competence The Rule?
Probably the most important decision is whether to base promotion
on seniority or competence, or some combination of the two. Today's focus
on competitiveness favors competence. However, a company's ability to
use competence as the criterion depends on several things. Union agree
ments sometimes contain clauses that emphasize seniority. Civil service
regulations that stress seniority rather than competence often govern
promotions in many public-sector organizations.
Decision 2: How Should We Measure Competence?
If the firm opts for competence, how should it define and measure
competence? According to Peter Principle: Companies often promote
competent employees up to their “level of incompetence”, where they then
sit, sometimes underperforming for years. For better or worse, most
employers use prior performance as a guide, and assume that the person
will do well on the new job.
Decision 3: Is the Process Formal or Informal?
Many firms have informal promotion processes. They may or may not
post open positions, and key managers may use their own unpublished
criteria to make decisions. Here employees may conclude that factors like
who you know are more important than performance, and that working hard
to get ahead at least in this firm is futile.
Other employers set formal, published promotion policies and
procedures. Employees receive a formal promotion policy describing the
criteria by which the firm awards promotions. A job posting policy states the
firm will post open positions and their requirements and circulate these to
all employees.
Decision 4: Vertical, Horizontal, or Other?
Several options are available. Some firms, such as the exploration
division of British Petroleum (BP), create two parallel career paths, one for
managers and another for individual contributors such as high-performing
engineers. At BP, individual contributors can move up to nonsupervisory
but senior positions, such as senior engineer.
Another option is to move the person horizontally. For instance, move
a production employee to human resources, to develop his or her skills and
to test and challenge his or her aptitudes. And, in a sense, promotions are
possible even when leaving the person in the same job.
To make the promotion decisions, we need to focus on: Practical
Considerations
In any case, there are practical steps to take in formulating promotion
policies. Establish eligibility requirements, for instance, in terms of minimum
tenure and performance ratings. Require managers to review the job
description, and revise if necessary. Vigorously review all candidate’s
performance and history, including those now in the firm. Preferably hire
only those who meet the requirements
In general, the employer’s promotion processes must comply with all
the same antidiscrimination laws as do procedures for recruiting and
selecting employees or any other HR actions. But beyond that general
caveat, there are several specific things to keep in mind regarding
promotion decisions.