Retaining High-Performing Employees May Take Some Creative Management

Employees don’t want to be job-hoppers. Generally, they want to find a great employer and stay there. A key factor to recruitment and retention is growth. When I’m interviewing candidates and ask them what they are looking for in their next position, I repeatedly hear “advancement, room to grow, promotional opportunities.”

When hiring, we want to choose individuals who are motivated “go-getters” no matter what the position. We must remember that people who are “go-getters” want to learn more, be stretched, challenged (in a good, healthy way) and recognized for their efforts.

Promotions can satisfy many of those wants. Companies may often think that promotions mean a lot more money and elevated titles. In reality, advancement can be afforded in ways that don’t have to be budget-breakers for any size business.

Pay increases are only one manner of rewarding great employees. I know someone who recently asked for a pay raise. He was given a 10% increase but is still not being paid competitively. Despite his manager’s efforts, she was not able to get the person to market level. So, she was creative and thought about what types of “drivers” her employee has outside of money. He loves to interact with people and travel. She put his name in the hat for a temporary assignment at another business location. He was one of only a few chosen to go on this two-week trip.
This has been a strong motivator for him and has helped the company at the same time. He has since been chosen to travel again just two months later as he did very well during his first visit.

The company has also been generous in giving an assignment bonus to him, thus being able to increase his income in a creative way.
And while he loves interaction, his current job is fairly isolated from others and more computer driven. So, she has given him additional duties that include auditing many departments face-to-face. He has been more mentally stimulated by this new work, which has lifted his spirits about his daily work and future with the company.

The key message is to learn what drives a person and feed those intrinsic wants, especially when increasing pay may not be an option. There are numerous online assessments to help you discover those individual interests. My go-to is the DiSC assessment.

There are positions within companies that are very routine and possibly have multiple people performing the same role. You may wonder how to motivate someone in that type of position. Try giving a few extra assignments, offering better scheduling (including some remote work when possible), or creating new levels within a position (for example, Tech I, II, III)—anything that shows you notice their hard work and are willing to do more for those individuals.

It’s important to remember that growth does not always have to be vertical. Horizontal growth keeps people in the game, keeps their minds going and wanting to do more for their company.

Click here for more Kentucky business news.