How are you retaining your seasoned talent? If you have employees that have been around for more than a few years and they have deep institutional knowledge, you should have a plan in place to help keep that talent in place. As always, please feel free to leave your opinions in the comments section at the end of this post. RETAINING YOUR SEASONED TALENT Many employees may remain in at one company for an extended period of time, sometimes within the same position. With this experience comes the synergistic benefit of institutional knowledge. These seasoned employees not only know about the current state of the company, job, and accounts; but they also retain an understanding for how things used to be done. This can be valuable in decision making, knowing what has or has not worked well in the past. This can be valuable in administration, remembering past sorting or filing procedures. This can be valuable in sales, remembering people in your network that can be useful in the future. They can be valuable mentors, saving you time and money in training newer employees. There are so many ways that long-term, experienced workers can benefit a company, that it makes sense to structure incentives into your policies to retain these employees. IDEAS ON RETAINING MORE EXPERIENCED TALENT For employers, there certainly can be an attractive draw to bring in newer, younger talent versus retaining existing seasoned employees. Among other things, the newer employees may be more open to new ideas and bring fresh systemic knowledge. However, it would be a mistake to neglect those employees that are already working for you. These are just a few incentives that you may want to put in place, if you have not already done so: • Updates to Vacation Days - A common way to incent long-term employees to stick around is to allow those that have been with your company longer to have more PTO based on seniority/tenure at the firm. You may also want to increase the number of days that can be rolled over each year. • Years-of-Service Bonuses - You could consider a non-discriminatory bonus based on the numbers of years worked at the company. The bonuses could be in cash, stock, options, etc. • More Flexible Schedules - Offering more flexible schedules to more highly tenured workers can offer two benefits. First, it can encourage your workers to stay with you as they adjust through their life changes, should they need time off for medical or family reasons. Second, it can help them feel more valued as you are accommodating them. • Promote From Within - Many of your employees are probably more skilled and have more potential than you give them credit for. Be sure to promote and hire from within; employees will stay longer if they think they will have a future at your company. • Responsibility - Hopefully an employee that has been with your company for a long time has proven themselves as responsible individuals. Consider giving them greater responsibility and not just more work. These are just a few of the incentives. What are you doing to retain your seasoned talent? COMMUNICATION A final thought: Employees that feel valued are less likely to leave. Remember to keep the lines of communication open. When an employee is new, they are probably going to receive more attention and hand-holding until they have mastered their position. However, seasoned employees still need interaction as well. Perhaps it would let them know that they are still valued if their managers spoke with them in person occasionally. Try doing that instead of firing off another email. While speaking to you employee, remember to tell them “Thanks for all you do.” And remember all of you Human Resources professionals: Be Human... Be a Resource... Be a Resource for Humans. Interesting Links: guides.wsj/small-business/hiring-and-managing-employees/how-to-retain-employees/ goprintandpromo/article/human-resources-long-term-employee-retention-key-business-success-br-by-barry-franklin-general-manager-vulcan-information-packaging-40275/1 forbes/sites/elenabajic/2013/07/15/the-6-steps-for-retaining-good-employees/ bloomberg/news/2011-06-14/employers-spruce-up-benefits-to-keep-older-workers-bofa-says.html trevorstasik.blogspot/2013/11/retaining-seasoned-talent.html
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 02:09:49 +0000
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