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30 Retaining Top Employees

Great Place to Work Institute
If you have trouble making a start,try logging on to
www.greatplacetowork.com.These are the folks who do
the detailed analysis for the Fortune magazine “Top 100 Places to Work in
America” list (and similar lists featured in other magazines).The whole
site is worth visiting,but particularly www.greatplacetowork.com/
gptw/model.html.The model is based on credibility,respect,fairness,
pride,and camaraderie.That should help you with the sorts of words
used to describe places where employees love to work.

where employees choose to stay rather than leave.
Write down the words that best describe your organization.
What makes it feel like “home”? What are the characteristics of
your company that you’re most proud of, the characteristics
that first attracted you, that inspire, encourage, and move you?
You should be able to list five to 10 words that describe your
company. Then, keep your list handy while you work through
the rest of the book.
Are you having problems putting together a list of “home
words”? If so, you’ve hit the first important issue in your battle
against retention. If you cannot—with ease—state what it is
about your organization that makes it feel like home, you’ll have
a problem getting people to stay.
You may want to consider calling together fellow managers
for an hour or so to discuss this issue. Don’t make it a big deal;
just say you want their advice in developing a profile of the type
of person who’s most likely to stay with the company over time.
Tease out your colleagues’ views over a cup of coffee. Ask them
to go through the exercise above. You will probably find that
your colleagues will have a different take on the issue and they
may be able to easily provide you with a list of “home words.”

The Five Phases of Retaining Top Employees:
How Good Is Your Swing?

OK, we’ve tweaked our retention mindset, seen the importance of
not depending too much on strategies, and established that peo-