The 3 things leaders need to give their people to drive retention

As competition for people rises, business leaders need strategies they can implement to attract and retain key talent.  When we don’t, the stress and the costs in our business increase. And growth becomes challenging. If you’re looking to keep the best staff, there’s three key things people look for to stay engaged:

1. Something to believe in 
   Every business needs to create a compelling vision. One that is easy to remember.  One that is inspirational. A parable was shared with me a long time ago on this topic, which I have never forgotten.  A line of stone workers were each carving small stones.  When a bystander asked one worker what he was doing, he replied “As you can see the conditions are hot and dusty.  I am carving a stone so that I can feed my family.’’

   When the bystander asked the same question to another worker along the line who had a smile on his face, he replied “ I am building a cathedral!’’.  Both workers were working on a similar rock but the second worker could see that what he was working on fitted into a bigger vision.  He could see what he was contributing to.  Business Leaders and Owners need to communicate this vision at every opportunity they get so their people can link their work into the bigger picture, the Vision.

2. Someone to believe in
   A human need we have is for people to believe in us. When Business leaders and owners make an attempt to understand their people and their passions, people want to work in that business. Despite what people tell you in their job interview, they will always be motivated and work towards what they are passionate about, not the passions of the business.

   At an interview, most of them being with ‘Tell us about yourself’ which is a generic question asked.  Imagine going to an interview and being asked ‘Tell us about your passions using our passion model.  Could you take a minute to rate your passions based on how you spend your time and energy?.  We are not expecting work to be number one.  In fact, many of our people that work here, do not have work as their number one priority. We are interested in your and our people are the number one asset we have.’’

   Business leaders and owners that have conversations such as this, are open and vulnerable and don’t pretend to know everything.  They are genuinely interested in what makes them tick.  Business’ that are also incentivising according to people’s passions may get better retention.  In my business’, I have implemented this strategy, The same spend on each person was tailored based on their passions.  A gym membership rather than a ham got people excited who are passionate about their health!

3. Someone to believe in them
   Many people still don’t believe that they are ‘enough’.  The list may include not smart enough, not assertive enough, not qualified enough, not career minded enough and the list goes on.  As business leaders and owners, if we can improve the self-worth of our people, the benefits are many. We are able to help them and our business and it feels good!

   A strategy to implement would be to create a culture of feedback.  When people are in a culture where they receive positive feedback consistently, they feel that someone believes in them.  It empowers them to make better decisions.  This also builds trust.  When they need the feedback that is constructive, they are more likely to have an open mind to receive that feedback.

   When compared to not receiving regular positive feedback and when someone asks “I needed to give you some feedback’’ can decrease their self-worth. Feedback is like a bank balance.  You need to deposit money in the bank before you make a withdrawal.  Ideally in a 4:1 ratio.  4 parts positive feedback to one part constructive feedback.

If people have something to believe in, someone to believe in and someone to believe in them, attracting and retaining key talent becomes easier.  Having the wrong people or the right people leaving, is a stressful and expensive exercise for business. If you can implement an of these simple strategies in your business, it may reduce your stress and business expenses.

Written by Shivani Gupta.

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