1. Manager Retention Practices
Our research consistently validated the reality that the manager plays a significant role in influencing the employee's commitment level and retention. There are a number of manager retention practices which will increase the probability that an employee will remain committed to an organization over time.
These retention practices represent the manager's actual behaviors on the job. This often has little to do with the amount of classroom training they have received. Furthermore, the best retention practices are not the same as the standard menu for good organizational management. Most organizations ask their managers to place productivity as the highest priority, underscored by the pressures to fulfill "our obligations to our investors."
Good retention practices focus not only on what the employee is contributing to the company, but also focus on how the manager can create a climate so that the employee is retained and committed on a long term basis. While enlightened leaders balance the needs of the organization with the needs of the employee, the truth is that these
leaders are rare. Though managers play a very crucial role in retention, they do not control all of the factors that can affect attrition. Therefore, the second component represents the organization's responsibility in the retention
equation.
2. Organizational Retention Systems
There are a number of organizational systems and processes that influence retention. Some of them are evident,such as the equity of pay scales. Other systems are less obvious, and their impact on retention is often unrecognized. For example, there is evidence that an organization's recruiting systems and processes can significantly impact retention ratios. These systems support the Manager Retention Practices, but they also increase the likelihood that employees are committed on a long term basis and are performing at their best.
3. Measurement and Accountability
Closely linked to the other components, this component ensures that retention becomes an on-going priority. Many organizations do not even know what their attrition rates are. And those that do often lack enough data to pinpoint where the problem is most severe, or to uncover the specific causes of attrition.
For example, those organizations that measure attrition sometimes do not track it by length of service. The tenure patterns of the departing employees can reveal valuable information concerning the potential causes for attrition. Additionally, many organizations do not track attrition by occupational group other than by "manager" or "non-manager." This simple segmentation is often a crude one that does not provide the organization the refined information it needs.
Measurement goes hand in hand with accountability. Organizations must hold their managers personally accountable for retention. Likewise, they must hold their corporate staff accountable for developing, maintaining, and upgrading their retention systems. When retention is relegated the status of being a "HR issue," it often falls to the bottom of the priority list for managers.
When it becomes one of their business goals, it takes on a new perspective. One example comes from one of the world's top hardware manufacturers. In a recent meeting, the new director of the telephone technical support group presented the following four new business goals to his management team. The first three were:
- Fulfill Technical Support Contract Obligations
- Maintain the Highest Level of Customer Satisfaction
- Manage Costs Aggressively
