Organizations with Low Employee Retention Need to ìUnpackî Underlying Issues

Workforce consulting firm urges interconnected approach to ensuring employee development, onboarding programs, culture integration and work-life balance

Organizations that cite workforce retention struggles typically have a host of interconnected problems beneath the surface, says workforce consulting firm Corporate Counseling Associates (CCA). As a result, CCA is helping companies ìunpackî their issues to discover underlying problems.

Creative approaches are needed before top-performing employees are lost in the dwindling talent pool, says the firm, which has developed new principles and roadmaps to help companies achieve talent management success.

ìBusinesses are turning to us for help with retention issues, but weíre increasingly finding those issues are symptoms of a much larger problem,î explains Steve Salee, vice president of consultative services for CCA. ìThe core problem usually stems from a lack of talent management and onboarding programs, which triggers a ëripple effectí across recruiting, hiring and retaining, as well as professional development and succession planning.î

With the workforce talent pool shrinking and employees seeking greater flexibility, organizations need to redouble their talent management efforts or risk losing top performers to competitors with progressive approaches. Illustrating the need for flexible thinking is a July 2007 survey from the Pew Research Center, which found that 60 percent of working mothers prefer part-time work rather than full-time ñ compared to 48 percent a decade earlier.

Corporate consolidations are also straining employee cultures. Companies once merged businesses, but now mega-organizations merge internal business units without always considering the need to integrate cultures.

ìCompanies can no longer afford to be fuzzy, inefficient and disconnected when it comes to managing their employees,î adds Salee. ìThe changes in the marketplace demand that a corporate culture be connected and precise.î

Different challenges require different approaches. CCAís multilayered approach ìunpacksî a companyís overall retention struggle into various component pieces, addressing each aspect with steps that work within an existing corporationís culture ñ rather than stamp a pre-existing philosophy into place.

CCA experts stress that businesses need to ìconnect the dotsî when modifying their traditional strategies. A talent management initiative should satisfy four guiding principles:

ï Persistence ñ A leadership team must be named and held responsible for overseeing and communicating ongoing success.

ï Flexibility ñ Onboarding, coaching, team-building and other elements must be flexible in design and execution to fit with different cultures, operations and priorities within the organization.

ï Accountability ñ Leaders and managers at all levels must be held accountable ñ financially and non-financially ñ for the initiativeís success. Without accountability, this work is likely to be postponed or unfinished due to competing priorities.

ï Measurability ñ Success metrics must be established up front, implemented and reviewed to ensure effectiveness.

ìThe key is not to be overly cerebral, but rather to understand people and the workplace on a personal level,î Salee adds. ìOnce in place, this approach can be scaled to any level, focusing on individuals, departments and the organization.î