Page 196 - Retaining Top Employees

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184 Retaining Top Employees

The Multiplier Effect
In my experience,a well-managed exit of one high performing
individual will bring two or three referrals of other talented
employees into the organization over a period of around three years.
Conversely,from my experience (and probably yours,too),a badly
handled separation is likely to ensure that the employee will tell about
50 to 60 people never to darken your door.
Treat departing top employees well—even the math tells you it’s
the right thing to do!

• It will help retain current employees. Generosity about sep-
aration terms, helping the employee leave in an orderly
manner, and praising the employee for his or her contribu-
tion will make current employees feel good about the
organization and will positively impact employee retention.
• It will make your managers better people. Managers who
handle separations well are for obvious reasons more at
peace with themselves, more confident, and better at their
jobs than those who react negatively. As we’ve already
seen, good managers positively impact employee retention.
Keep in Touch
Top performers rarely stop being top performers—and the
employee who leaves the organization today could be returning

Don’t Play the Blame Game
I’ve worked with organizations that had such a warped
notion of employee loyalty that I’ve actually witnessed
them publicly flail departing employees for alleged disloyalty.Then the
employees,once they’re out the door,are bad-mouthed among the
other employees and are blamed for just about anything wrong that
happens.
I’ve never understood this attitude that if leaving the organization is
made as unpleasant as possible,employees will be too terrified to
leave.What sort of morale and productivity does that breed? Well,I’ve
worked with organizations with this attitude often enough to know
the answer: terrible!
Don’t do it.