Mobile Edition
Print
Get the Mag
Weekly UpdatesStrategic planning is an accepted best practice in most organizations. Executives have well-defined plans for growing their market share, developing their products and building competitive advantage. But what about the people? It's just as important to have a strategy to replace key talent should they suddenly leave.
We are operating in a tough labour market. Jobs are plentiful. It might have been an employers' market in 2002 and 2003, but not anymore. The power has clearly swung to the job seekers. With strong growth figures, active job seekers are finding work faster with attractive job offers--often multiple offers. Now those people who bided their time through the tough years, or those who are feeling neglected by their bosses, are eagerly embracing new opportunities. A small increase in salary or the prospect of more responsibility, recognition and autonomy may be enough for employees to jump ship.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Have you taken the time to identify your top performers? If not, do so, because these are the people you need to look after and keep on your payroll. More importantly, what will you do if you were to suddenly lose one or two of your top performers suddenly? Do you have a contingency plan to replace them?
Who are the stars?
Every company has key performers. Who are yours? Depending on your industry and the nature of your business it could be:
* The rainmaker -- the one who signs more business on a day-to-day basis than anyone else.
* The innovator -- the R & D specialist or product engineer who delivers innovations and insights that continually set your company apart.
* The leader -- the person who rallies the troops and brings together the collective vision of the company for everyone involved.
Identify the people who have the most impact on your bottom line. To properly establish a short list of top performers, consider who would cause the most damage if they left. For example, it could be serious if you were to lose your vice-president of marketing, but what would happen if you lost your top sales person to the competition? The loss of revenue would be one thing, and the gain in earnings and competitive intelligence to your competitor would be another. Your loss would be doubled.
How well are you looking after your stars? You may think you are paying them enough, but are you sure? Many compensation strategies haven't been revisited in two or more years, and wages are rising rapidly. Intermediate software sales reps were earning base salaries of $40,000 in 2002. Today they can earn upwards of $70,000 in base salary alone. What is your competitor's wage structure for equivalent positions? You can guarantee the recruiters targeting your employees are focusing on wages first.
Money is only one consideration when it comes to retention. How well do you know your stars and their level of satisfaction with the company, their direct manager and their career progression? Do your top performers know what their internal career options are? Are they aware of available career challenges and opportunities they could experience with your firm? Are they happy and motivated today?
Develop an understanding and a profile of your top performers. The profile should consider each person at an individual level, and what they think of their job, the role and the rewards. This isn't an employee appraisal, but an informal examination to discover what your employees really think about their jobs and their future prospects.
Once you have identified the high flyers, their feelings, their needs and their thoughts, you may need to resolve job dissatisfaction issues. It can be pretty shocking to pull back the covers and see what pops out. But an honest look at yourself, your company and your people will help to improve the employee experience and improve retention. Retaining your top performers should be seen as a business strategy, and that means a top-down commitment to keep your most valuable employees.
Fix the leaks
Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, and Beth Axelrod explain in The War For Talent (Harvard Business School Press, 2001) that companies must commit to making talent management a strategic priority. Effective talent programs include:
* Mentoring: A formal mentoring program can increase employee self-confidence, teach skills, impart knowledge and create conduits to share knowledge throughout the organization.
* Career planning: Map out a development program with career paths that support the business and stretch employees' experiences. Show your employees how to grow with you, rather than having them look for career advancement outside of your company.
* Employment branding: A strong employment brand improves the employee experience and provides meaning to work. Its benefits are pervasive, and are especially seen in recruiting and retention.
* Feedback: You can never give enough praise, feedback and constructive criticism. People thrive on being recognized and valued for their contributions.
Contingency for the unplanned turnover
Contingency planning to replace top performers who suddenly leave isn't succession planning. It is planning to avoid the utter meltdown and panic that ensues with such events. Who in the wider employment pool might you consider as an immediate replacement for each of your key players? In the past, the solution was to turn to HR to find a new recruit. In today's tough job market, a much more forward thinking and proactive strategy is required to identify a group of appropriate candidates you can recruit. In other words, you need a go-to list of candidates you could target if any one of your top performers left today.
Have you been tracking contenders and building a pipeline of people whose careers are on the rise? Who are your competitors' stars? Have you built relationships with these potential candidates to entice them to some day join your firm?
Talent acquisition is a continuous process of identifying candidates for the future, versus responding to requisitions of the day. Warm body hiring is a concept of the past. To become proactive, apply marketing tactics to talent acquisition:
* Be an employer of choice. Awareness programs are key to educate the market about who you are, the type of people you hire, and why your company is a great place to be.
* Track every candidate. Leverage applicant tracking systems to build profiles and engagement programs to develop relationships with candidates you may want to recruit in the future.
* Build a culture of recruitment. Educate every manager and employee on the importance of building the team. Every person at your firm is a potential advocate and recruiter to entice top talent.
It's worthwhile
The dividends of contingency planning are great. Not only will you manage your risks and exposures, you will strengthen your core business. The process allows you to identify who drives your company's success, and refines your knowledge and efforts to retain key people. At the same time, the process improves future hiring results by creating a process and pipeline to attract even more top performers.
If you don't know who your most valuable people are and don't have a strategy for replacing them, 2007 could be more of a challenge than you imagined. But there is still time. Start tracking the talent you have and the talented prospects that are blossoming on your team. Then start building your pipeline of contenders for the future.
Jeremy Miller (Jeremy.Miller@LEAPJob.com) is a partner with LEAPJob, a sales force consulting and sales recruiting firm.
FEED