5 Ways to retain key talent in business

As competition for people rises, business owners need strategies for retention as continuing to re-hire and training to be a high performer can be up to five times their salary. This impacts the culture, morale and the dollars on the bottom line. To retain key talent, there’s 5 key things to consider:

1. Vision 
   A vision that is simple and inspirational is one that makes people want to work there. We need to be able to communicate the vision easily and clearly to our people. When our people can ‘connect the dots’ of their work to the vision, they feel like they are doing something meaningful. The role of a business leader or owner is to keep re-iterating the vision to their people. A practical example to implement this would be to start each meeting with the vision of the business.
2. Belief
   Every person in a business wants someone to believe in them. However, despite what people say in an interview, they are motivated towards their own passions.  Having a Listening to our people without judgement and being genuinely interested in them, lets them know that they are doing a great job helps increase their belief in you and themselves.  When people feel that the business leader or owner is trying to help them succeed, they naturally want to do more for that person.  A practical example would be to send an email of thanks when they do something well or go above and beyond.
3. Shoshin
   A shoshin mindset means being open-minded like a beginner even if you know that part of your job very well.  This allows people to find different ways of solving the problem. Creating and fostering a culture where being curios and making mistakes and learning from them is important and allows the high performers in your business to innovate and address problems that need to be solved.  An example of this could be a register of ideas that are brainstormed trying to solve a problem that has existed for a while.
4. Diversity
   Having a diverse team helps business leaders and owners to attract top talent from different backgrounds creating a great place for people to work in which becomes a retention strategy. A practical example is to celebrate different cultural festivities in a business to improve the understanding and culture within your business.
5. Managers as coaches
   Managers trained as coaches in a business are able to guide rather than direct their people. By asking the right questions, the manager acting as a coach can help build the capability of their people and improve their problem-solving skills. The number one reason that people leave their job is due to the direct relationship with their manager.  If the manager is trained to provide feedback to their people which is conducive to them changing their actions, that is the type of manager people want to work for. A practical example is for the manager to use the GROW model which is your goal, checking for current reality, generate options and willing or commitment to the action. By using this in most conversations, you can create better retention.

Attracting great talent is important but as the cost of key talent increases it’s vital to retain your best people to enhance business success.

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