Take steps now to re-engage and retain high-value employees

Despite foregoing pay rises and perks throughout the downturn, most employees now require very little from their employers to become re-engaged at work. In fact, many workers were exploited or ignored during the downturn and people have done a lot with less. Now, the risk is that employers have used up their engagement capital and returned to business as usual without considering the impact on their staff. Some are not even at ground zero when it comes to engaging their workforce - with employees either passively or actively disengaged.

The good news: Initiatives to re-engage these employees don’t need to be expensive or time-consuming. Workers have been exhausted from that pressure to perform for no reward. But when asked what they mean by reward, employees' most common response is: "I just want someone to say thank you. I just want someone to say, 'Man, you just put in such a massive effort over these last three months; I really appreciate it'. In most cases, recognition and encouragement is all people really want.

Beware disengagement events

As the employment market continues to recover, many employers should expect to face a rush of resignations, and “disengagement events" cause this to happen, including bonus time, or the resignation of just one employee. It's the beginning of 'musical chairs’ - when a key colleague leaves, it really destabilises the team dynamic.

Employers should act quickly when this occurs. Low-cost initiatives might include changing the seating arrangements; giving certain members of the team a different project to work on (and instilling a sense of urgency to complete it); holding social events to get people bonding; and celebrating team successes.

The key is to think about what employees will say when they go home at night to their partner, You want people to say, 'it's a real shame that Sarah's resigned, but I'm getting to know Mary really well because we're working on this new project'."

Disengaged employee alert

Once employees become actively disengaged it's usually too late for an employer to do anything about it.

However employers can be alert to several signs, including employees who:

• arrive late and leave early (if this is a departure from the employee's normal behaviour);
• stop volunteering for projects;
• make a jobsite their internet homepage;
• are unusually well-dressed (to attend interviews);
• start taking unaccounted-for leave; and
• withdraw from their social bonds. One of the biggest connection triggers at work is people - people at work make people stay at work. So if someone is thinking about leaving, they have to start withdrawing from social contacts at work - 'I can't meet you at the pub tonight' or 'No, you go to lunch without me'.

Prepare now

All of the major disconnection events at work have completely different solutions. To convince senior executives of the need to take action, I recommend that HR managers build a business case that outlines the extent of the possible damage to the organisation. They should identify high-value people first, and attach a value to their loss - pricing the risk, effectively, of people leaving.

The business case needs data, so you need to understand why people join your organisation, and why people quit. Look at your exit interviews, and if you don't have them, get good data from the last 20 people who've gone. Next, go to your high-value people and ask them, why are you still here? How long do you want to stay? What do you want more of? What do you want less of?

Get some really rich data, because there's going to be a lot of no-cost to low-cost solutions that you can put in place, but you have to be targeted.

Lisa Halloran is Director of Retention Partners, which she founded in 2000 to focus on exit interview outsourcing, retention surveys and manager retention skills training. Lisa is an expert on employee retention, with 14 years' experience in HR management roles, and has provided HR policy and strategic planning consulting services to blue chip financial services firms, FMCG, television, pharmaceutical and education as well as the NSW public sector. Lisa will be speaking at Acelero's upcoming free Thought Leadership Events: register your interest here.