Retaining employees is an ongoing concern with many people feeling burnout and looking for changes. From inadequate compensation to inflexible work schedules to lack of growth and development opportunities, there are many reasons high-performing employees leave.
Now more than ever, top-performing employees are empowered to find new opportunities if their current job isn’t meeting their needs — personally or professionally.
Ultimately, employees expect more from their employers.
Retaining talent requires organizations to address four overarching categories that pertain to job satisfaction:
- Value
- Purpose
- Certainty
- Belonging
The following 3 solutions are ways to foster each of these categories.
1. Give Employees More Growth Opportunities
According to a recent BCG survey, 68% of workers are willing to learn new skills.
As the future of work evolves rapidly and the adoption of automation technologies accelerates, more and more workers are conscious of the need to keep their skills up-to-date. Expanding their skills to stay ahead of new technologies gives employees a sense of certainty critical to job satisfaction.
No one is more aware of this than your highest-performing employees. When great employees feel they are no longer learning and growing, many will turn to outside opportunities to fill this gap. Instead, provide your employees with ample opportunities to continue expanding and developing their skills. Learn why you should invest in employee development now.
2. Invest in Your Company’s Future Leaders
Your high performers are — or rather, could be — your company’s future leaders. That is, if they stay.
However, many high-performers find themselves stuck in an endless cycle of taking on more and more tasks, simply because they do them so well. This not only leads to burnout, but it can also effectively pigeonhole your star employee into their current role, making it difficult for them to see a future at the company.
Providing high-performing employees with leadership and development training is a powerful way to not only help them envision a future at your organization but also give them tangible steps to achieve their potential beyond their current roles.
However, leadership development is only the beginning.
Employees also need to be given opportunities to bring their new skills into practice on the job. This can only effectively happen when they aren’t overworked with too many competing responsibilities.
For high-performers, this could mean reassigning or outsourcing some of the daily tasks work they do so well, so they have the time and energy to grow into new and more challenging responsibilities. Investment in your employees provides them with purpose.
3. Train Your People-Managers
A manager’s performance is often one of the reasons an employee might leave a company.
While there are many reasons employees may choose to leave a role, few things will cause them to leave faster than a manager that’s just not working out. The relationship with their manager is one of the primary ways employees feel valued and feel like they belong — or not.
Some of the reasons a team member may start looking for new opportunities include not enough managerial support, overbearing micromanagement, lack of inclusiveness, and unconscious bias.
For example, as the workforce becomes more diverse, many managers are not adequately equipped to lead increasingly diverse teams. This may lead to high-potential employees being overlooked or feeling like they don’t belong — and ultimately cause them to leave the team altogether.
Fortunately, inclusive leadership skills can (and should) be taught! Learn more about the value of diversity and inclusive leadership training.
Start Retaining Employees in an Ever-Changing Workplace
Retaining your high-performers requires a holistic, human approach — and training for both your managers and employees is fundamental.
How can help you retain and develop your employees? Get the guide.
