Page 227 - Retaining Top Employees

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Summary: Making It All Work 215

Yourself
Watch the Dark Side
Finally, don’t forget the Many managers are great
most important point of at communicating positive
leverage of all—you. It’s and motivational activities—announc-
your idea. You have the ing awards,redesigning compensation,
structuring a mentoring program,and
most to gain. Your com-
so forth. Make sure you also commu-
mitment and enthusiasm
nicate with your high performers
will make the difference about the possible risks involved in
between success and fail- your retention activities—that they
ure of the entire project. may demotivate other employees,
Before you start imple- make reporting systems overly com-
menting your retention plicated,take up too much senior
strategy, take a long, hard management time,or whatever.You
will find their help and advice on
look at its components.
these points invaluable.
Which excite you most?
Which interest you only
somewhat? And—most important—which are you less than
enthusiastic about?
Perhaps you’ve concluded that you need a better orientation
program for your new hires, but the prospect of designing and
implementing such a program doesn’t really grab you. Or per-
haps you’ve realized that your compensation and bonus struc-
ture needs to be revised, but the idea of arguing about it with
the HR department drains any enthusiasm you might have.
For one reason or another, some aspects of your retention
program won’t thrill you. Beware! Therein lies the greatest dan-
ger to the entire strategy. In the worst scenario, you’ll procrasti-
nate about these aspects of your program. That procrastination
will turn to neglect and the whole strategy will fail.
It’s vital to your success that you tackle the hardest parts of
your strategy first—now, while you’re most committed. Don’t wait!

Building a Retention Culture
The final point to remember in implementing your top employ-
ee retention strategy is longevity. You definitely don’t want to
have to repeat all of this activity in a year or two. There’s little