The Retention Formula
Career paths are key to retention; especially when there is an ease and flow to them.
As businesses are challenged with the ongoing need to recruit and retain talent, you often hear the word upskill tossed around.
Some will refer to it as “leveling up.” When I delve deeper into the concept of upskilling a workforce, I challenge leaders on the idea that their team is lacking in skills. Often what I see is the presence of skills that are not being tapped into or leveraged.
What if leaders reframed the term upskilling? What if leveling up really meant “drilling down” into the skills that are already available? What would it look like to reach down and tap into the skills not being used?
The first step is to know what you have on board in your team’s skillset. Going down that path to discovery can be expedited with software that will not only give you the information but also inform your future decisions.
A low-tech entry into the discovery process is to ask. Have open conversations about what your employees did in former roles. I have seen incidences where individuals played down their skills to get a less senior role just to get into the door.
In other instances, some of those skills they possessed were not relevant at the time of hire. Have you considered that perhaps now your organization has grown through innovation or pivoted into a new space which could use those skills?
Internal career pathing paves the way to another solution. Successful career pathing considers the meaningful work an employee wants to do, their skills that match that role, an organization’s business strategy and growth plan, and the behavioral drives that motivate individuals towards engagement.
The trick is to not allow it to be a one and done exercise, but rather an ongoing strategy. When it is done well as an ongoing strategy, it can be leveraged despite the current economic forecast.
Career pathing isn’t about today’s rain, but rather being able to dance in the future regardless of whether the landscape is hot, cold, rainy, or sunny.
Career pathing is key to retention. However, I often find leaders define retention incorrectly. Retention is not about holding high performers hostage under their control – it is about employee experience.
My simple equation is Retention = Employee Experience.
To arrive at that equation here is the formula for success:
Employee Experience = Meaningful Work + Engagement + Growth Opportunity
Within each of those three factors that make up the employee experience, there is an inherent responsibility for its realization. In my view, the responsibility for meaningful work is a shared responsibility between the employee and the employer. The responsibility for engagement falls on the shoulders of the employee. The responsibility of providing growth opportunity is held by the manager or overall organization leadership.
I coined the term mobility current to describe career pathing’s role in retention. How would you describe the mobility current in your organization? Can it withstand the winds of change or serious headwinds? Is there an ease and flow to it? Is it agile and adaptable in the face of obstacles? Or is it more like a pond filled with a tangled mass of stagnant algae?
Looking for answers to the retention question? Want to educate your leaders on this topic? Let’s have a conversation! Or book Pam Knox as a speaker for your next conference, annual meeting, or convention.