Want to Retain Your Best Employees? Keep Them Happy and Engaged at Work

According to economist David Birch, “the average college graduate will have 12 jobs by the time they are 50.” That equates to employees changing jobs every 2.5 years.

That’s a sobering statistic for IT managers. Turnover costs you time and money, not to mention the hassle of recruiting, interviewing and hiring. If job-hopping has become the new norm for employees, what can you do to keep your best team members happy and engaged? While some job moves may be out of your control, below are techniques and tactics you can use to increase employee retention and reduce the chance of your star employee flying the coup.

Understand Why Great Employees Leave
There are many reasons why employees leave. But two reasons you may not have given enough weight to include:

1. They feel unappreciated

According to a Yahoo! Small Business Advisor article, employees feel unappreciated when management:

• Never acknowledges the work done or says thank you
• Consistently criticizes work without any compliments to add motivation
• Praises other employees on a regular basis
• Yells at or otherwise mistreats the employee

2. The employee holds unrealistic expectations

Did you paint too rosy of a picture during the interviewing process? While you don’t want to scare away potential employees, it’s important to be up front about the job and the company to give a realistic 360-degree view of the position.

Improve Employee-Manager Relations
There’s a saying that goes, “employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers.” Ouch. Whether you know it or not, you play an integral role in creating and establishing healthy work relationships. A simple compliment—“thank you,” “nice work,” or “well done”—can go a long way.

According to the Globoforce Workforce Mood Tracker™, 78% of U.S. workers said being recognized for their good work motivates them in their job. In fact, Google (notorious for the perks they provide), came out with a surprising list of what employees valued most at work: “even-keeled bosses who made time for one-on-one meetings, who helped people puzzle through problems by asking questions, not dictating answers, and who took an interest in employees’ lives and careers.” 

Learn to Read the Signs
Most employees don’t leave on a whim. They usually make the decision to start searching for other opportunities, interviewing with other companies, and accepting another job after a great amount of internal debate.

Ways to tell if employees may have “checked out” or are thinking about leaving include:

• They are frequently late, absent or sick
• Production drops
• They seem more quiet than usual
• Less participation
• Their behavior changes significantly

Take Exit Interviews Seriously
Exit interviews can give incredible insight into uncovering recurring internal issues and problems. While you may be ready to dismiss the employee and move on with filling the position, you should take the exit interview process seriously.

An exit interview can be structured with a set of pre-determined interview questions, or it can be an informal conversation. Always work to preserve the relationship when an employee resigns. You never know if the employee may return or end up being a valuable recruiting and referral source in the future.

Additional Ideas for Improving Employee Retention

Further ideas for improving employee retention:

• Conduct regular anonymous employee or team surveys
• Ask for feedback on a consistent basis
• Have regular touch points with your best people
• Take action when other employees aren’t pulling their weight or aren’t cutting it; one bad apple in the barrel can ruin the whole team
• Foster employee and career development
• Give employees a reason to be loyal

Proactively planning different strategies for holding on to your best employees is an important responsibility. Taking the time to implement these tips, tactics and techniques will be a worthy investment for you, your company and your team.

Agile has compiled data on IT and staffing trends in the Atlanta technology community, and will publish our Q32011 Market Pulse report in the next week. This quarterly report provides information that we have gathered and analyzed regarding IT employment in Metro Atlanta.  It also includes findings from a survey sent to over 300 IT executives in the Atlanta area.

Based on our data and survey results, three things are clear:

1. IT employment in Metro Atlanta is definitely on the rise as overall jobs decline.
2. Atlanta companies want to hire highly skilled IT professionals on a permanent basis.
3. Almost half of the executives who responded to our survey expect increases in IT projects and hiring next year.

Agile’s Market Pulse will be available on our website (www.gotoagile.com), but we’d like to offer you a sneak preview of what’s inside the latest issue:

• The number of IT jobs in Metro Atlanta grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q32011 to 92,433. For the same period, the number of ALL jobs in Metro Atlanta declined 1.4 percent to about 2.23 million.
• Employers are ready and willing to hire top IT talent on a permanent basis; data shows a nearly 70 percent increase in the number of openings for perm IT jobs in Q3 as the number of openings to fill contract positions declined by 30 percent.
• There has been a steady rise in “days to fill” IT positions which may be contributed to employers requiring IT professionals with unique/hard-to-find skills.
• Our survey reveals more than two-thirds of respondents report there were more activities and projects in 2011 than in 2010; more than half of those responded that the increase was between 10-24 percent.
• Half of the respondents expect their activity and project levels in 2012 to be about the same as 2011; 45 percent believe they will be busier in 2012.
• When asked about their biggest challenges in 2012, 40 percent said that “growing my IT organization” was at the top of the list.
• When asked what they believe is required to generate job growth, more than two-thirds stated that cutting or reducing government programs and lessening the tax burden on business is necessary.

Some of the above findings may not surprise you, but some may – especially survey responses from local technology leaders.  We hope you’ll find the information both interesting and useful.

Please check Agile’s web site (www.gotoagile.com) next week for the complete Market Pulse report.

This week’s guest blogger is Beth Armkrecht Miller, CMC – Leadership Advisor, Coach and Vistage Chair.

An Employee Engagement Survey conducted by HR Solutions of Chicago revealed that employees were more engaged with their work when they felt:

• Supported by their manager when making suggestions to correct work place problems.
• Valued and recognized as an important part of the team.
• Their manager was helpful and friendly.

 So what can happen if your employees are disengaged? 

According to the study, business leaders will experience a lower level of productivity from team members.  And based on the research done by Marcus Buckingham in First Break all the Rules, employees who don’t feel valued are more likely to leave in search of an employer who does value and recognize them for their accomplishments.  Low employee engagement can also lead to lower profits and levels of customer satisfaction.

Ultimately, it is the employee’s manager who is the key driver in employee engagement. The CEO’s responsibility is to ensure that managers are provided the development opportunities to increase their leadership capacity. Because managers are the ones who directly influence employee opinions and attitudes, their development is critical.

What is your company’s level of employee engagement and how do you measure it?

For most companies, an employee satisfaction survey provides anonymity to employees, and provides them with a platform to be open and honest with their feedback. However, for smaller, emerging growth companies a survey may be overkill. Personal interviews using an outside consultant can also provide honest feedback. The key to a good survey are obviously the questions.  You need to understand how to create good survey questions or outsource this process to someone who has the expertise.

Once you’ve received feedback, then it is time to develop an action plan to increase employee engagement. Results of your survey or personal interviews may show a systemic problem across your organization or may show intermittent problems. The problems could be with a specific department which may mean managerial development is needed.

What should be the key steps in your action plan?

First, identify those areas that could have the biggest impact on improving future survey results. Concentrate on only one or two areas to improve and identify those leaders that need to be involved with implementing the improvements. For instance, your survey may show that recognition for a job well done is not given in a timely fashion.  If this is the case, identify what processes can be implemented to improve the recognition process and then provide the necessary training for the managers who will be involved with implementing the changes. Next, determine ways of measuring the effectiveness of the changes you’ve made to the process. In this case, you don’t want to find out in your next survey that the changes made had no effect in solving the problem of untimely recognition.

Remember that results of the survey and your committed action steps for improvement also need to be communicated to employees in a timely fashion. This is critical to the ongoing process of honest employee feedback and for increasing employee engagement levels.

By implementing an employee engagement action plan, your employees will be more engaged with their work, will truly feel valued, and will know they will be recognized for their accomplishments. Company loyalty and employee retention will rise. Furthermore, engaged employees contribute to higher levels of customer satisfaction and increased profits.

Beth Armknecht Miller, of Atlanta, Georgia, is Founder and President of Executive Velocity, a leadership development coaching firm accelerating the leadership success of CEOs and business leaders. She is also Chair to two Vistage groups. She is certified in Myers Briggs and Hogan leadership assessment tools and is a Certified Managerial Coach by Kennesaw State University. Visit http://www.executive-velocity.com  or  http://executivevelocityblog.com or follow her on twitter @SrExecAdvisor..

Dice.com - a career job board that HR professionals and IT recruiters use to post jobs and find qualified it professionals – recently posted its findings on employers most searched IT skills.

For IT job seekers, knowing the most popular terms that employers use in their searches for prospective candidates will give you a better understanding about what types of skills are most sought after.  Most of the results are not a surprise, but there are a few that did make us go hmmmm. Not because we found them to be unusual, but because we havn’t necessarily seen a huge demand from IT employers in Atlanta and the Southeast.

What are the hottest positions within IT organizations today? Developers, analysts and managers who can help drive business. If you’re skilled in any of the areas listed below, chances are companies  have a need for your skill set and will be very interested in finding out more about you.  In most cases, the demand is high, and there may even be more jobs than there are top caliber candidates.

The following list features (in descending order) the most popular job- or task-related phrases submitted by employers to Dice.com.

Java or Java Developer or J2EE – Java remains one of the most influential programming languages.  We agree that there is a very high-demand for Java Developers in Atlanta and other areas within the Southeast.

.NET or .NET Developer - This is a software framework developed by Microsoft for Windows. Like Java, there is a strong need in our community.

Business Analyst - As defined by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, a BA is an internal consultancy role that has responsibility for investigating business systems, identifying options for improving business systems and bridging the needs of the business with the use of IT. Given the current economy and the need for IT to deliver value to the business, demand for talented BA’s is on the rise.

Sharepoint or Sharepoint Developer – A Microsoft-developed Web application platform for document management, portals and collaboration.  We haven’t found a huge demand for Sharepoint from our clients, but demand within Enterprise systems is strong.

Project Manager – Project management is an approach of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the achievement of specific project goals and objectives. And that’s why successful PMs are in such high demand today.

Oracle DBA – Given Oracle’s presence within business, it’s not a surprise to us that there’s a need for database administrators who conduct activities like installing and upgrading the Oracle server, and optimizing database performance.

C# – This is a programming language developed by Microsoft to build enterprise applications within the .NET Framework. Just like .Net and Java, there is a big demand and limited supply of top C# developers.

QA/Quality Assurance – Since quality should be one of the most important (if not the most important) component for any business, it’s not surprising that QA skills are consistently in demand.  There are many opportunities presently available for sucessful QAs.

iRise – This platform offers developers a working preview of an application before they devote the resources to actual coding. Much like Sharepoint, demand is high in the Enterprise.

PHP – A general-purpose scripting language for Web development. If you have this skill-set, you’ll find no problem finding a job in Atlanta, the Southeast or other areas of the country.

Here’s a news flash – finding top IT talent is becoming increasingly difficult as budgets loosen up and employers are desperate to fill positions requiring high demand skills.  The problem seems to be that there are more jobs (believe it or not) than qualified candidates (who are actively looking for a career change).

Finding top talent can be a bit challenging in today’s market, but that’s what IT recruitment agencies like Agile do (although we admittedly do it better and faster than other agencies).  But what we’re finding to be the real challenge now is when the candidate’s current employer makes a counter-offer to keep the top performer from leaving.

Recently, one of our candidate’s interviewing at a client company received a counter-offer from his current employer. The candidate was really impressed with our client, but he was just a little nervous to make a move and decided to stay put. The client was disappointed because the candidate was a perfect fit. The hiring manager at the client company was empathetic though, because he had been in a similar position earlier on in his career.  He decided to write the candidate a message to share his experience and offer a persuading argument as to why the candidate should reconsider.

The email goes something like this (names have been changed to ensure the privacy of all individuals and entities):

Seth,

I can’t say that I am not disappointed, but I do understand that everyone has their own circumstances and must do what’s in their own best interest.  I will say this, my circumstances were very similar to yours when I made the decision to leave my last company to be a part of Acme Enterprises. I was working for a very successful company, I was well respected, making a huge business impact, big salary plus bonuses, office with a view, great people, etc.  But there were several things that, regardless of my compensation and my environment, were not going to change. I was the biggest fish in the pond.  I had no peers, and no potential to really learn from others.  I found myself implementing the same technologies\techniques\patterns – occasionally introducing something new, but no peer validation that these were great decisions and implementations.

I can honestly say that I have learned more in the last 12-18 months through the process of designing this platform from the ground up than I have in the last 5-10 years working on legacy technology and enhancing existing platforms.  Another factor for me was the “Acme Enterprise” opportunity itself. At my previous company, I could begin to see the end of the runway from a technology roadmap perspective. I spent several years getting them on the right path and putting the right pieces in place which in my opinion covered about 75% of the “runway”.  The remaining 25% would be spent making minor tweaks, maybe integrating a few new technologies here and there.  I could see that final 25% dragging out for quite a while and I could see myself getting complacent – which can be very dangerous from a technology career standpoint.

Acme Enterprise, on the other hand, was a blank slate, with easily 6-10 years of runway.  We have been working on the core platform and client for about a year and a half and have only begun to scratch the surface.  As we present this to future customers, we learn more about the business potential and the opportunities, and the runway keeps increasing – which is very exciting!

The last factor for me was the core competency and the attitude of the team itself.  Every member of this team is a winner.  Each one of us has been successful in the past and this company will be no exception.

Sounds like you have made your final decision, but If there is anything else you would like to discuss before completely closing the door, let me know.  If this is the end of the road, I wish you the best.

What an impactful message. After the candidate read the email, he had a change of heart and decided to accept the company’s offer because he was so impressed, and could so relate to, what the hiring manager had written. The key point is how the hiring manager had the ability to see things from the candidate’s perspective. He then provided an honest and compelling story that resonated with the candidate – so much so, that it convinced him to reconsider and accept the client’s offer.

Long story short – if you want to hire top talent, you have to impress candidates. Sometimes that may require a deep understanding of where the candidate is coming from and what some of his concerns may be.  Once you are able to relate to the candidate, build a compelling case that will convince him why your opportunity is the better career choice.