Page 178 - Retaining Top Employees

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166 Retaining Top Employees

Plan Ahead
For larger organizations with major investments in on-
site learning,corporate universities,and a tradition and
budget for employee development,the concept of an IGP is usually a
straightforward overlay on an existing developmental structure.
For the opposite reasons,this is an area where many small and mid-
sized organizations fall down. An IGP program is set up (with the best
intentions in the world),employees are engaged and become excited
at the prospect that their employers will help them with career and
personal development,and then,when the crunch comes,it’s just not
effective or efficient or possible to send the employee to that confer-
ence or let her take that class or let him study for that qualification.
This is a short trip to disillusionment and retention difficulties. If
you’re going to start an IGP program,make sure you have both the
budget and the senior management support to follow through.

many reasons, including apathy and “playing the organizational
game.” But with top employees, the issue is usually a simple one
of logistics: “I just never got around to it” is the most common
excuse given by top performers for not taking advantage of their
IGP opportunities.
You can help avoid such failures by taking three steps when
designing the IGP:
• Establish the implementation dates at the start. The rule
should be “This doesn’t go into the IGP unless the employ-
ee schedules the implementation time there and then.”
• Support the decision. Your overt support is crucial to suc-
cess with the IGP. If the employee thinks you’re in any
way unsupportive or unimpressed by the IGP (either in
concept or with regard to specific contents), he or she
may just let it slide.
• Follow up with reminders. Reinforce both of the steps
above with a simple reminder system. A scheduled e-mail
reminder or telephone call at an appropriate time will
encourage the employee to take action.