Page 78 - Retaining Top Employees

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66 Retaining Top Employees

The impact of this relationship on employee retention is
even more important for top performers than for other employ-
ees, because of the changing nature of the relationship itself.
For a top performer, the manager is much more than just a
supervisor doling out tasks and appraising performance. The
top performer will see the manager as much more of a mentor
and a coach than a supervisor, helping him or her with personal
and career growth (see “Growth Opportunities,” above) as well
as managing his or her job responsibilities.
Work Relationship with Peers
The last of the seven factors that impact employee retention of
both Boomers and Gen-Xers is their relationship with their peers.
Top employees are often competitive, which makes peer interac-
tion crucial to their job satisfaction. Even though many (though
not all) top employees are relatively self-contained socially, they
still need to interact with similarly effective individuals for the
challenges and to better develop their skills and knowledge.
Effective Tools for Retaining Boomers

In most industries, the top performers are mostly from the
Boomer generation, born between 1945 and 1962. Now in their
40s and 50s, they have reached the apex of their careers and
have the experience and abilities to hold the highest positions.
Consequently, and because many modern industries were
shaped by the same generation, retention strategies tend to
have an inherent bias toward Boomer values.
Let’s examine the
Age Isn’t Always implications of dealing
Chronological
with Boomers.
Although we’re defining
demographic groups based on dates Work Environment
of birth,“Boomerism” is as much a
Boomers tend to respond
state of mind as a matter of years.An more to structured and
individual born into a Boomer family
hierarchical work environ-
well after 1962 might well have
adopted the Boomer mindset. ments than to loose,
unregulated environments.