Key Employee Retention in the 21st Century

70 million baby-boomers will retire in 10 years and the next generation workforce will only supply 45 million new workers. The competitive battle among companies for skilled employees will only become fiercer. Employment managers will be in for the fight of their careers in attempting to find and attract needed talent. Of course, this problem is even further exacerbated by today's strong economic climate. With unemployment hovering around 4.8%, competent employees know that they can fairly easily find comparable, if not better, employment with reasonable effort.
Every time a key employee quits, it costs that company 18 months of salary. And when the hidden costs such as lost sales, customer defections, lower productivity and morale are factored into the equation, the loss of a key employee is extremely expensive.
Effectively retaining needed employees will become the most competitive long-term advantage that a company has over its competitors. If a company cannot accomplish this, it will eventually cease to exist. Lowering the turnover rate among key employees will (if it is not already) become the most important priority of the Human Resources function for this century. Pressure will invariably increase from the Board of Directors, the CEO, and the business unit heads to retain valuable personnel. This burden rightly will fall squarely upon the shoulders of Human Resources!
Although salary usually ranks lower than other important reasons as to why key employees leave in any exit survey, a company can always throw more money in the form of increased salaries, bonuses or benefits at this problem. A company can try to make it too expensive for its key employees to leave. Of course, this strategy is untenable because these key individuals only remain because they cannot afford to go to a more satisfying work environment; their productivity and enthusiasm levels will certainly not be commensurate with their costs. Moreover, here is a more practical reason as to why this practice is doomed to failure. The company simply cannot afford to pay these higher wages and still make a profit.
Human Resources is often great at coming up with the latest tactics to combat this problem. A company picnic, employee appreciation day, flexible benefits, a well-defined mission statement, day care centers, etc. are all positive steps that have been implemented to try and stem the tide of key employee turnover. Yet, in current surveys, 6 out of 10 employees state that they are or will be looking for a better position within the next 24 months.
Clearly these well-intentioned programs are not achieving the desired results. These efforts are often fragmented, no more than shots in the dark. They lack a fundamental strategy.
This is not surprising since the long-established implied contract with employees that produced strong company loyalty is no longer in force. Lasting job security and a good pension afterwards are not benefits that corporations can promise its employees anymore to maintain their commitment to stay. And throwing nice-sounding perks at them are not as effective as hoped because they lack cohesiveness.
A fundamental change in how executive management and Human Resources views its employees is needed to generate cost-effective measures to lower its key employee turnover in this current area where employee loyalty cannot be based upon the old retention/ loyalty model.
Employers must now see their employees in the same way as they do their customers. Customers have choice and so do employees, especially those with valuable skills. Customers are not bound to buy and employees are not bound anymore through job security and pensions to stay.
Any good marketing department knows that many factors come into play regarding customer retention. Price, product features, quality, service and promotion are key ingredients. The more that marketing understands the needs and wants of a client, the better the firm can develop and promote products that addresses them. And, therefore, the company has a greater chance of keeping the client. But a good marketing department does not attempt to do this in a piece meal fashion, but rather as part of a systematic process that entails research, product development and promotion.
Key employee retention in this modern era requires no less of a systematic marketing effort! Human Resources must attack this problem as a complex product marketing endeavor. The company is the product and its employees are its customers.
Historically, Human Resources has confined its marketing efforts generally to the employee newspaper and attitude surveys. Those feel-good employee articles and pictures and meaningless messages from the President are about as sophisticated a marketing promotions effort as Human Resources have ever done. Employee surveys generally lacked the comprehensiveness to ascertain really useful information. And when pertinent data was collected, there existed little structure to ensure appropriate follow-up and corrective action.
This must change now. Human Resources must transform and greatly expand its basic employee communications effort into a full-blown "Employee Marketing Department." The primary functions of this unit would be no different than those of any good marketing department: systematic employee (customer) research, long-term strategy development, tactical employee program initiatives and comprehensive company promotion.
No additional funds would be needed to make this re-orientation successful. Companies are spending the money anyway. The only major difference is that company funds for employee programs and benefits would be spent as part of a well thought out, systematic process. And the promotion of these products would be with all the sophistication and intent of ensuring that employees, especially those groups designated as key, know the true value of what the company provides.
If you would like further information about key employee retention, please contact Walter Sonyi at 1-800-376-8176 or walter.sonyi@gigincmail.com.


Staff Review by: Joseph (Joe) Kran, Lawrence (Larry) Maglin, Walter Sonyi, Jr. and Rick Spann

For More Information:
http://www.gatewayinternationalgroup.com/
http://www.larrymaglin.com/
http://www.lawrencemaglin.com/
http://www.joekran.com/
http://www.josephkran.com/

An Alarming Trend in the Outplacement Industry!

An Alarming Trend in the Outplacement Industry!

Bulletin to Our Friends and Clients:
Pricing that seems too good to be true, might be… understand the services you are getting.
In recent years the outplacement industry has matured and, as often happens, conglomerates from outside this industry have bought established firms to broaden their product portfolios. Because of shareholder demands, these mega-companies enter the outplacement industry with significant pressure to increase both market share and profit margins. It is obvious that they are lowering their prices in an attempt to increase market share. But what they are trying hard to disguise is that they have also decreased the services that they provide in order to maintain or increase profits. Although reducing prices may meet the need of the corporate clients who have tighter budgets, it comes at the expense of the individual who most needs the service!
Gateway International Group has always tried to meet the needs of both the corporations who pay our fees and individuals that we help. We understand the reality of tighter corporate budgets and are successful at being price sensitive and competitive. But we have accomplished this without compromising the services which we provide to the individuals going through our programs: a true win/win scenario.
What are most firms selling as STANDARD in the industry?
As we talk to our clients and individuals who are using the services of some of the these conglomerates, the following has become apparent as to what they are calling "Individual or One on One" outplacement:
Career counseling with a counselor…….. means group sessions instead of personalized counseling with a counselor who works with you exclusively.
One on one counseling…….. means "The Counselor of the Day", someone who provides general advice but may not know the individual and likely changes frequently.
Access to a counselor…….. means when a counselor has an opening on his or her schedule and individuals may get 30 minutes once every several weeks.
Professional advice……. means someone to listen to you and offer their solutions whether or not they have experience in finding a job, changing careers, or starting a business.
Access to our technology…….. means the individual gets a password to a web-site so they can teach themselves the job hunting process.
An outplacement program…… means a standard process which everyone goes through regardless of an individual's level or unique circumstances.
Gateway International Group has always believed that "One on One or Individual Outplacement" means exactly what it says: personalized coaching that is customized to each individual, their level and needs.
What should corporate Human Resources look for and demand in outplacement services?
Make sure when comparing firms, programs and pricing that you are comparing apples to apples and are getting your monies worth.
Specifically:
Ask if your people will receive only individual coaching or will it be done in groups.
Ask what is the counselor/candidate ratio.
Secure bio's on the counselors to understand their background and experience.
When a candidate is having a hard time getting on track, ask the firm exactly how they respond.
Tell the firm that you will do periodic checks with the individuals going through outplacement to ensure that the services sold are being delivered.
Ask for a guarantee on the service. If the individual is not happy, a refund should be issued so that the person can go to another firm.
Gateway International Group believes that you should get what you have contracted for and to accept any less hurts the individual, your reputation and the outplacement industry as a whole!

Staff Review by:
Joseph (Joe) Kran,
Lawrence (Larry) Maglin,
Walter Sonyi, Jr. and Rick Spann

For More Information:
www.gatewayinternationalgroup.com
www.larrymaglin.com
www.lawrencemaglin.com
www.joekran.com
www.josephkran.com