Talent retention starts with recruiting

In today's regulated job market, employees have the freedom to choose. Few people feel that there is anything that "locks in" good employees, other than their own inertia. They also know that they can no longer trust the company to be loyal to them, so their loyalty to the company must never prevent them from changing jobs.

Brain drain all boils down to one key question, which is more expensive to hire and retain your most valuable talent versus brain drain and replacement? In recent years, more and more companies around the world have seen the loss and replacement of their most valuable talent as more costly, knowing that employees churn and customers churn with them. Therefore, choosing good people and using good people is still the company's only rule. Behavioral interviews, job rehearsals, third-party exit interviews, and job design are just a few of the strategies worth trying.

United Parcel Service (UPS) knew it had to do something to reduce the attrition rate of its drivers. The company is well aware of the cost of finding and training new drivers, who often take months to familiarize themselves with new routes. UPS first investigated the real reason for the loss of many drivers, and found that many people leave because they do not like the onerous task of loading packages before each trip.

The company's decision to distribute loading and unloading to new teams has significantly reduced driver attrition. Although the turnover rate of stevedores is also very high, UPS is willing to take it because it is much easier to replace stevedores than drivers. This is a prime example of how a company can purposefully and selectively retain its least likely to lose employees.

Like UPS drivers, the turnover rate of Jiffy Lube's junior maintenance mechanics was once unbearably high, as high as 180 percent in many of its stores. Many people accepted the position without considering the unavoidable heat and cold of working in a maintenance yard, so they quit to work indoors at other companies.

As a result, Jiffy Lube decided to recruit high school juniors as interns. These positions can be part-time, and the company promises to cover part of college tuition for interns who have worked for two years. This system gives interns a direct "pre-experience" of the work environment. The company stipulates that if these interns can't stand the harsh working conditions, they can quit before the company spends huge sums of money to send them abroad as regular employees for training. This greatly reduces the attrition rate of new recruits.

Many companies, like UPS and Jiffy Lube, recognize why good employees leave: They are capable. In today's regulated job market, employees are free to choose. Few people feel that there is anything "locking" them in, other than their own inertia. They also know that they can no longer trust the company to be loyal to them, so their loyalty to the company must never prevent them from changing jobs.

Most interesting is the different attitudes companies have towards employees quitting and changing jobs. Their attitudes basically fall into two categories: those who see turnover as acceptable and a cost of doing business, and those who see every avoidable churn as a loss and a frustrating failure, like Lost a major customer and should be analyzed.

Surprisingly, mishiring is the real cause of churn. Mishiring typically leaves at least 20% of employees as low or insignificant performers. Fortunately, many companies have begun to take effective measures to prevent brain drain.

Third-party exit interviews for objective reasons for leaving

Many managers don't take into account the weeks or months of consideration that employees typically go through before deciding to leave. First, the employee evaluates whether the company and the job meet his expectations. In the event of a big disappointment, leaving may be the first thought. At this point, the employee may take the time to think about finding a new job, then take action, find a suitable position, conduct an evaluation, compare it with the current job, and complete the above steps before deciding to stay or stay.

In the exit interview, when the reasons for leaving are discussed, the employee will appropriately answer "for better development opportunities". His understandable reluctance to speak out about the reasons for his departure also made the information from the exit interview more superficial. Therefore, managers are only exposed to the appearance of the employee's decision to leave in the exit interview, but fail to understand the real reason, and ultimately lose the opportunity to remedy the situation.

One solution to this problem is to send exit questionnaires to the employee's home, usually a telephone exit interview with a third-party consultant a few days after the employee leaves. Allow time for employees to organize their thoughts and be more objective.

Design fascinating jobs with five characteristics

Great people need good jobs. This principle is actually very simple. When people feel that their work is not ideal, they either slack off or leave their jobs. In a healthy job market, they are more likely to choose the latter.

Employees typically have high levels of motivation, job satisfaction, performance, and customer service if their jobs have the five essential characteristics of skill diversity, task consistency, task importance, autonomy, and feedback. Excellent levels, with low absenteeism and attrition rates.

Skill diversity refers to taking on jobs that require many different skills and talents. The more skills and talents a job involves, the happier or more rewarding an employee will be with the job. Consistency of work refers to the completeness of work, which requires employees to complete all or a defined work from beginning to end and be able to see the results. The importance of work refers to the significant impact that work has on the lives and work of others inside and outside the organization.

Autonomy means that employees have full freedom to decide how and how they work. The more personal decisions employees have over how to achieve expected job goals, the more willing they are to take personal responsibility. The work itself must provide continuous feedback, so that employees can always know the effect of the work and gain satisfaction in the process of work.

Clever use of the three competencies to reap the results of work

Many companies now define the scope of work based on competencies, not just responsibilities or tasks. There are three types of competencies: intelligence, knowledge, and self-management characteristics.

Intelligence is behavior, and it is easier for people with some kind of intelligence to get the job done than others. Intelligence cannot be taught, so you have to choose. Someone once said, "You can teach a turkey to climb a tree, but it's easier to hire a squirrel." The trick to choosing is to match the right talent with the right job, the challenge, and the desired outcome, keeping in mind that talent matches the rest of the team The members' way of doing things is coordinated, enriching the team's talents and achieving the overall goals of the department.

The second competency is the knowledge needed to achieve work results. In other words, figure out what knowledge and experience employees must have to achieve the desired results. Knowledge can be taught or acquired through study or practice, unlike intelligence.

Self-management characteristics are key "fit factors", in many cases determining whether two colleagues get along well or whether a new hire is acceptable to the rest of the team. Some companies claim to "hire with values" or "hire with attitude, build skills" when in fact they hire based on character traits such as honesty, reliability, perseverance.

Behavioural interviews highlight the true talent of the candidate

Hiring the right person starts with asking behavioural questions. The premise of this "behavioral interview" is that past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior. Behavioral interviews are the most practical technique for revealing knowledge and experience. Behavioral questions ask job applicants to provide examples of past behaviors to demonstrate competency.

Take the position of Customer Service Representative as an example. Typical behavioral questions asked of job candidates include: describe a time when you had to constantly answer customer questions; describe a time when you had to work closely with colleagues; give an example of a time when you were unable to ask your manager for instructions and had to decide for yourself A tricky problem to deal with: Explain how you deal with non-sickness absences.

These questions force candidates to provide truly convincing answers—real behaviors experienced. Behavioural interviews are nearly impossible to concoct, and it is difficult for job candidates to convince false stories without preparation.

Job Rehearsal Eliminates Unrealistic Candidate Expectations

Discuss your expected work outcomes and standards before a candidate accepts the position. One of the reasons expected work outcomes are not discussed during the hiring process is that the manager did not adequately consider his expectations previously. If you've identified expected job outcomes and required competencies, the only thing you need to do is discuss these expectations with each job applicant.

Employers and potential employees often ignore the "psychological contract" between them, which is unwritten but no less binding than a legal contract. It is an implied contract between an individual and an organization that specifies what one party expects to give and receive from the other. When both parties' expectations match, both parties are likely to be satisfied.

There are many ways to provide a preview of your actual work. For example, play a video, observe the work process, or provide an internship. Some managers even allow candidates to work as an employee's "shadow" for a day, to experience the real work first-hand and eliminate unrealistic expectations.

No job is perfect. But you want to hire people who love the job even though it's not perfect. Remember that you also need to show the attractive side of the job.

Brain drain all boils down to one key question, which is more expensive to hire and retain your most valuable talent versus brain drain and replacement? In recent years, more and more companies around the world have seen the loss and replacement of their most valuable talent as more costly, knowing that employees churn and customers churn with them. Therefore, choosing good people and using good people is still the company's only rule.

Originally adapted from Keeping the People who Keep You in Business by Leigh Branham with permission. The book is published by AMACOM, a branch of the American Management Association, International. The author registered copyright in 2001. Translated by Huang Xi.

The English version of this article is available for purchase from McGraw-Hill Book Co. Singapore.

By Leigh Branham, Vice President of Consulting Services at Right Management Consultants, one of the world's most recognized HR consulting firms, is the firm's Regional Leader for Talent Management in the Kansas City area.