A team’s performance is impaired when top performers abruptly leave. Employee spirits get low, workload increases, productivity decreases and managers have to allocate work accordingly for some time. In today’s world, it is uncommon for an employee to stay at the same company over the course of a lifetime.
It’s not possible to stop every individual from leaving your company. In some cases such as retirement, job migration or internal transfers within the firm, this becomes unavoidable. On the other hand, over fifty percent of resignations are actually preventable. Which means that over half of the individuals who resign voluntarily can be convinced not to. Sadly, their superiors were either unaware of their discontent or treated them as if they didn’t matter.
Replacing experienced employees comes at the expense of onboarding and recruitment costs, and not to forget the time and effort it takes to train and develop those replacements. A common mistake is when managers fail to provide adequate training to new joiners and the employees feel that they aren’t progressing in their role which decreases productivity.
Top performers are extremely valuable to every company, which is why it is always better to retain existing talent than to look for new ones. Here’s some advice on how to do so:
- Hard-working individuals deserve recognition. Make your employees feel valued and proud of the job they’re doing by rewarding their achievements. For instance, instead of presenting a counter offer to an employee on the verge of leaving, why not reward them at the right time.
- Every once in a while, individuals leave because they’re working under bad managers. Take complaints seriously, and pay attention to your company’s leaders. Train and develop their leadership skills when necessary and hold them responsible for their actions at every step.
- It is not easy for individuals to speak openly about work-related problems. Companies should encourage communication using an anonymous survey.
- To carry exit interviews, you might want to employ an independent individual who is not directly associated with your organization so that employees can communicate more candidly.
- Keep frequent feedback sessions with your employees in order to understand what is on their mind. Don’t let their role become monotonous. When necessary, give them more responsibilities.
- Ensure top performers flourish in an environment that understands and caters to their needs. Engage in a dialogue from the beginning till the end of your professional relationship with them.
