Page 226 - Retaining Top Employees

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214 Retaining Top Employees

ence of a representative from senior management can be
exceptionally motivating. Your champion should be your
first choice for such activities.

The Senior Management Team
Your next most important point of leverage is the senior man-
agement team. The more visibly and actively the team supports
your retention activities, the more credible the process
becomes. For your retention activities to gain acceptance in the
organizational culture, you
Think Long need more than passive
Brief your senior manage- support from the manage-
ment champion once a month ment team; you need
or so and provide everything he or proactive engagement in
she needs to give the senior manage-
the process.
ment team concise,accurate,and
motivational summaries of what’s hap- The Top Employee Peer
pened in the previous month,with Group
supporting data. Make yourself easily After ensuring the involve-
accessible if your champion has any
ment of your senior man-
queries. Most important of all,ask for
the sale. In your case,this means agement team, the next
identifying just one or two straight- most important point of
forward ways in which the senior leverage in the organiza-
management team can support your tion is the top employees.
activities in the next month—calling Let’s face it: if the best
an award winner,sending a memo of
performers reject your
congratulations,attending a social retention activities, then
event—and asking your champion to
everything you do will
ask the other members of senior
management to get involved. come to naught.
It’s essential to involve
your top employee team from the outset. There are three cardi-
nal rules to remember: communicate, communicate, and (you
guessed it!) communicate.
Make your retention strategy transparent. No one on your
top team should need to guess what you’re doing. Let them
know about your intentions, your goals, and your fears and ask
for their support.