Attract and Retain the Best

Competition for excellent talent is always intense, no matter the state of the economy. Every company would like to attract and retain good talent.  Begin by appraising the current organizational climate, targeting specific structural and cultural changes to be made and then engaging in a well-formulated, planned and managed change process. Though the effort necessary to implement changes may span several years the beneficial results will become evident in as little as a few months.

The following are ways to attract high-achieving workers and be able to retain and develop them so that they make innovative contributions and enhance productivity.

• Actively support diversity and consistently invest in the development of your personnel to foster creativity, innovation and high achievement.
• Invest in education, training and ongoing mentoring.
• Develop and actively support fundamental cultural values of the organization so employees can develop loyalty to those values.
• Communicate to employees that their personal development is a fundamental organizational goal.

High-achieving people seek the following in order to gain a maximum sense of involvement and accomplishment. Create assignments at every level of your organization that maximize:

1.  Intrinsic interest: offer work that involves activities that are personally interesting.

2.  Challenge and stimulation: offer work that provides problems of sufficient difficulty that solving them requires a satisfying use of mental agility.

3.  Personal involvement: offer work that employees care about.

4.  Significance: create tasks that make a real contribution and foster the feeling that what the employee does matters.

5.  Recognition: recognize and appreciate employee efforts and value them as contributors. 

6.  Influence: give employees the ability to have some degree of say regarding their job and the overall enterprise. Let them feel that the organization takes into account and values the individual’s input.

7.  Creativity: the opportunity to contribute ideas and solutions and to receive support and recognition for such contributions.

8.  Independence: the ability to work independently and make decisions autonomously without constant scrutiny.

9.  Control: the ability to exercise a degree of choice over work schedule and work activities.

10. Income: a sufficient or comfortable income and benefits.

11. Security: the reasonable prospect of dependable, ongoing employment.

12. Positive environment: a positive work environment with congenial co-workers.