Acquisition, Retention

& Engagement
Retention Management
Retention Management
Topics to be Covered are:

Basics of Absenteeism,
Employee Turnover/Attrition
Importance of Retention
Retention Determinants
Retention Management Process
Retention Interventions.
STRATEGIC EMPLOYEE RETENTION
AND SEPARATION

 Employee retention, a set of actions

designed to keep good employees once
they have been hired.
 Employee separation is the process of
efficiently and fairly terminating workers.
Strategic Retention and Separation
of Employees.
Turnover
 There is three types of turnover.
◦ voluntary turnover, in which the employee makes
the decision to leave.
◦ involuntary turnover, in which the organization
terminates the employment relationship.
◦ dysfunctional turnover occurs when an employee
whose performance is at least adequate voluntarily
quits.
Types of Employee Turnover and
Retention.

Source: Adapted from D. Dalton, W. Todor, and D. Krackhardt, ‘‘Turnover Overstated: The functional
Taxonomy,’’ Academy of Management Review 7 (1982): 118. Reprinted with permission of Academy of
Figure 7.3 Paths to Decisions to
Quit.

Source: Information taken from Thomas W. Lee and Terence R. Mitchell, ‘‘An Alternative Approach: The
Unfolding Model of Voluntary Employee Turnover,’’ Academy of Management Review 19 (1994); 51–90.
Costs of Lost Productivity
Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index 

 Surveyed 94,000 workers across 14 major occupations in the

U.S. Of the 77% of workers who fit the survey's definition of
having a chronic health condition (asthma, cancer,
depression, diabetes, heart attack, high blood pressure, high
cholesterol or obesity),

 The total annual costs related to lost productivity totalled $84

billion.

 According to the survey, the annual costs associated with

absenteeism vary by industry, with the greatest loss occurring
in professional occupations (excluding nurses, physicians and
teachers).
Costs of Absenteeism
 According to Absenteeism: The Bottom-Line
Killer, a publication of workforce solution
company Circadian, unscheduled absenteeism
costs roughly $3,600 per year for each hourly
worker and $2,650 each year for salaried
employees. The costs can be attributed to many
factors including:
 Wages paid to absent employees
 High-cost replacement workers (overtime pay
for other employees and/or temporary workers)
 Administrative costs of managing absenteeism
Other indirect costs and effects of
absenteeism include:
 Poor quality of goods/services resulting from
overtime fatigue or understaffing
 Reduced productivity

 Excess manager time (dealing with discipline

and finding suitable employee replacements)

 Safety issues (inadequately trained employees

filling in for others, rushing to catch up after

arriving as a replacement, etc)
 Poor morale among employees who have to "fill

in" or do extra work to cover absent co workers.

Employee Retention
 Employees are the heart and soul of an
organization (Ortega, 2006).
 Employee turnover is costly for an

organization (Mitchell, Holtom, Lee, Sablynski & Erez,

2001)
 Finding suitable replacements for key
employees is difficult (Waschek, Esfeld & Werner,
2011)
 Low employee turnover leads to outstanding
performance of an organization (Buildings, 2005).
Top Reasons Employees Stay
 Have a good connection with their boss (Welch, 2008)
 Workplace is a team oriented environment (Bhasin,
2000)
 Want to contribute, feel wanted (Bhasin, 2000)
 Workplace is a “climate for learning characterized
by trust and openness” (Bhasin, 2000)
 Feel supported (Bhasin, 2000)
 Can balance work and life (Ortega, 2006)
 Offered programs like childcare (Ortega, 2006)
Here are five things any
organization can do to
proactively combat
turnover.
1. Hire retainable employees

 The pressure’s on from Day One in a high performance environment.

While some thrive under pressure, others will falter.

 Elissa Tucker, Human Capital Management Knowledge Specialist at

APQC, says:

“ the first thing leading organizations are doing to curtail this type of turnover is a
focus on “hiring retainable employees.”

 While there are some obvious indicators of a candidates’ ability to

deliver consistently (e.g. three to five years’ tenure in a similar role),
there are other signals that can provide insight in your sourcing and
screening.”

 Tucker suggests working with your managers and top performers to

identify what backgrounds, skills or personality characteristics your
retainable employees have in common.
2. Plan careers, don’t fill roles

“Best-practice organizations work to help individuals plan to stay

with the organization — to plan their careers with the
organization,”

says Tucker. The key is to guide your employees in mapping out

how they can attain their career goals within your company.

 For example:

If a top salesperson sees her current role as a rung in the ladder up to senior
management, outline some long-term goals that will get her there.

If another is just in it for the money keep him in challenging roles that will reward
him for working hard and allow him to play hard.
3. Make retention personal
 Every employee is motivated by different things, and retention
strategies thus need to be tailored down to the individual level.

 Steve Miranda, Managing Director of the Center

for Advanced Human Resource Studies, Cornell University ILR Sch
ool,
 says,

“The key phrase is specialized efforts.” Successful organizations,

he says, don’t view retention initiatives as ‘one size fits all.’
Instead, they’re making retention strategies personal. How? By
simply asking, “What motivates you?”

 You may be surprised to find that monetary incentives are low on

the list of responses you get. These days, “A” players are more
concerned with challenging work, personal and professional
growth opportunities, work/life balance, and workplace flexibility.
4. Get to the heart of underperformance

 Let’s face it.

 Underperformance happens, but you don’t

want to lose employees who were previously

strong performers.
 If you notice a drop in performance, Miranda

advises against writing them off without first

getting to the heart of the issue.
Underperformance can be broken down
into a few root causes :
 Skill and competency issues often come up when someone’s been
promoted into a role they weren’t quite ready for. Fortunately these can
be addressed with coaching and training–and usually for a fraction of the
cost of replacing an employee.

 Behavioral issues are usually more difficult. “If it’s a behavior issue,”
Miranda says “identify the source of the issue to get an idea of whether it’s
something worth investing the time and effort in.”

 Personal issues are a leading cause of burnout among top performers.

 Things come up (divorce, health issues, mortgage issues, etc.), and can

distract employees from their work and affect their ability to deliver. In

these cases, a little support and flexibility will go a long way toward
cultivating loyalty.
 You may uncover trends in underperformance
that you can use to your benefit.

 Are employees bored with the work? Are

people burning out after six months?

 This kind of feedback is vital to the refined

people process that supports success and
curtails turnover.
5. Invest in your line managers

 “Employees don’t quit jobs,” says Miranda. “They

quit managers.”

 An estimate states that 80 percent of turnover is

driven by the environment a manager creates for
an employee (compared to 20 percent resulting
from issues with company culture).

 Because of this, any investment in training and

development for your line managers are well-
spent.
 The success of your retention strategies are
ultimately subject to your line managers’ ability to
deliver on initiatives you put in place.

 According to Tucker, “Whatever your company

values, you have to be sure your managers are
executing on it. Help them help you reduce
turnover. Teach them how to empower employees
to succeed and grow, rather than just drive
performance.”
 It’s also critical to keep the line of communication about
careers wide open between employees and managers,
especially because career goals change over time.

 Build more opportunities for employee check-ins

(formal and informal) with managers.

 As Tucker points out, “Individualized conversation needs

to happen on a regular basis.”

*This originally appeared on Kyle Lagunas’  Software Advice  blog.  As a tech

enthusiast and senior analyst at Independent Insights, Kyle Lagunas is dedicated to
keeping today's business leaders in touch with important trends and hot topics in
the world of work. Connecting with thought leaders and in-the-trenches
professionals, he offers a fresh take on best practices in recruiting, human
resources, and Talent Management. Contact him at kdlagunas@gmail.com