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26 Retaining Top Employees

you doing to attract the
Don’t Focus on
right people?
the Wrong Thing
Too many managers focus on
Go Roadside
how to stop people from leaving their
company.That’s wrong.As job mobili- My Dad is a great fisher-
ty increases,your retention efforts man. The secret of his suc-
are more likely to fail if you focus cess? “I go where the fish
only on impeding exits. are.” It’s as simple as that.
Instead,focus on attracting the right You want good people.
people.Then,if the environment and Good people are on the
the job are right for them,they’ll stay
move. So, where should
for a “natural” length of time. Don’t
expect even the best fit to work forev- you be? Where the good
er. Just make the most of the skills and people are—right on the
interests of each employee for as long roadside, right by that flow
as he or she stays with you. of traffic. That means not
only accepting employee
mobility, but actively working with it.
Identify your top employees and get to know and under-
stand them. What skills and personality traits make them the
best? What are their interests? From what you know about
those employees, you may be able to determine where to find
similar prospects. Then, that’s where you recruit or at least
establish your organization’s presence and image.

Use Your Computer to Go Roadside
If you haven’t already done so,get on the Internet. It’s prob-
ably the busiest “employee highway.”
Familiarize yourself with recruiting Web sites like www.monster.com,
free agent Web sites like www.guru.com,and HR sites like www.hr.com.
Sign up for online “ezines” (e-mail newsletters).The sites above
offer them,as do industry-specific sites such as Electronic Recruiting
Exchange at www.erexchange.com/forum/,which covers all things
recruiting and the Internet.Test-drive five or six until you find a couple
you like; then unsubscribe from those that don’t meet your needs.
Your aim is to become familiar with how potential employees use the
Internet. In later chapters we’ll examine other ways to use the
Internet to improve retention.