How to retain team members
I recently heard a manager say, “we are not going to train you enough to leave.” While that may have been a faux pas or verbalized in a manner unintended, it is a real fear of managers to train their employees, giving them tools to get better paying jobs elsewhere. Not being the first time, I have heard these same grumblings multiple times in the past as well. This type of mindset is produced out of fear and anticipation of future situations that cannot be controlled.
I suggest an alternative to manage this fear mindset. To implement a policy of training dollars paid, but if an employee leaves the company before a year (insert your fair recoup time here) passes after finishing training, this expense is owed back. I have worked for a company that has successfully implemented this type of policy. This method clearly communicates that the company encourages training to keep up in this ever-changing industry and in-demand competitive technical skills, and the company is more than happy to facilitate continual learning, but if employee leaves before time allotted for working with the new skillset, then reimburse the company for the cost of the training, and best of luck on your future endeavors. It lays out clear up-front expectations and fair agreements.
In general, an attitude of keeping a leash or limits on skills training for your current workforce only hurts the employer in the long-term. The best and brightest will be more resourceful and independent of relying on their employer to hand them a skillset. They will go out and find a way to obtain the skills they desire themselves.
This keeps the door open for an employee to also return to your company on good terms in the future.
In my twenty years of professional working experience, I have rarely had a colleague leave a company on a money basis alone. Oftentimes, it is a toxic work environment or a lack of accomplishment, or inability to affect any real work because there are too many process obstacles in place. In this field, it is rarely ever just about the money. Unless you are way off the bottom averages for salary, a regular person likes their work routines, their co-workers, and the work they were hired to do. Think about the effort it takes to keep up a resume and go out to do a job search. This is not something the average employee does, unless spending time updating their resume has multiple contributing factors. I have yet to meet a colleague who specifically dedicates their leisure time to a job search unless they are unemployed.
If you have an employee turnover problem, might I suggest looking deeper into the company culture, or investigate your responses to employee surveys about challenges they face in accomplishing their work at your company. Solicit feedback. There are many ways to facilitate feedback at no cost.
Another retention idea is to give technical employees an avenue to promotion that is outside of becoming a manager to other people. My colleagues and I have said it too many times, that just because a person is good at technical product or program management, this does not mean they have the wherewithal to manage people, nor the desire. Their technical success and the management people are mutually exclusive, but often, this is the only path for promotion. Might I suggest two separate tracks for advancement in technology management and people management. People are not machines or composed of code, so why would it be considered reasonable to combine the two and expect this new manager to be successful at it.
- Avoid mis-hires
- May be unable to fire people who are unable to perform
- Loss of hiring manager’s political capital
- Exposure to lawsuits
- Avoiding burn out
- Set reasonable expectations with people about stress management
- Give people tools to manage stress
- Monitor how well people are managing stress
- Preserve team morale