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“Employee What?!” 21

organizations and irrelevant to many situations. In particular, the
purist version of “war for talent” calls for grading employees
into streams (“A,” “B,” and “C” performers) and taking differing
approaches for each: promote “A,” develop “B,” and “lose”—
fire—“C.” This theory was an extension of the now-renowned
grading system introduced to GE by Jack Welch. Although it’s
useful in some circumstances, this approach has proved difficult
to implement and sometimes inappropriate. It’s also directly
opposed to the collaborative, supportive working environment
that many organizations want to promote.
As a result, a hybrid version of the “war for talent” approach
developed, emphasizing the benchmarking activities necessary
to develop the “employee value proposition” and involving the
organization in adopting the employee retention best practices
of similar organizations. In this approach, known (briefly) as
“best in class” and now more often referred to as “employer of
choice,” the organization:
• Investigates and adopts best practices in retention
• Extends retention backward to pre-hire activities (as in
the earlier sidebar)
• Pushes the impact of retention forward beyond the hire to
incorporate the employee’s management, development,
and managed separation from the organization.
You may be thinking that this whole discussion of “employer
of choice” and “war for talent” is irrelevant here. After all, you’re
just a manager, not the CEO. What can you do?
You can still think in terms of the “employee value proposi-
tion” that you present to job prospects. You can still think in
terms of retention beginning with your first contact with a job
prospect. Finally, you can do your best to be a “manager of
choice.”

Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 1
❏ There is no single definition of employee retention that fits
all circumstances. You’ll use this book to develop the cor-
rect definition for your organization and your particular unit.