Page 36 - Retaining Top Employees

McKeown02.qxd 4/13/02 8:07 AM Page 24

24 Retaining Top Employees

ing a truly effective employee retention strategy, using a golfing
metaphor. (Don’t worry: you don’t need to understand anything
about golf!)

Develop a Retention Mindset

The changes in the old “status quo” employer-employee rela-
tionship discussed in Chapter 1 require a shift in our under-
standing of what constitutes effective retention. In this section
we’re going to examine four ways in which we must adjust our
thinking to reflect those changes.
Some of the discussion in this first half is necessarily concep-
tual, as we build a mental picture of how to address retention.
Don’t worry if you cannot immediately see a concrete applica-
tion of all that follows. Starting in the second half of this chapter
and continuing in the chapters that follow, we’ll move into the
steps involved in retaining employees (specifically, your top per-
formers) and the practical application will become clearer.
Go with the Flow
The first implication of the changes in the employer-employee
relationship is that we must change our mindset and learn to
accept that job mobility is here to stay. Let me give you an
example of what I mean.
My little town (Tiburon, just across the bridge from San
Francisco) is at the end of a peninsula. If I want to go anywhere,
I’ve got to brave the traffic on Highway 101—there’s just no way
around it.
When I moved here, at first I thought the traffic was an aber-
ration. I would spend three times longer getting anywhere than
I’d estimated, complain loudly the whole time, and arrive late
and annoyed. My stock of in-car swear words grew alarmingly.
Now, I take the traffic as a given, allow an appropriate
amount of time, bring supplies (food, blankets, and reading
materials—well, a cup of coffee at least), and avoid certain
times of the day at all cost.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, there’s an important
analogy here with what’s happening with employee retention.