Laura's Letters: December Newsletter
A complimentary newsletter on Business Relationship Development
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Vol. 6, Number 12 - December 2005
Publisher: Laura Benjamin
http://www.LauraBenjamin.com
(C)Laura Benjamin International Inc. 2005
Reprints upon request and with attribution please
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Teamwork quotes of the month:
"It's a poor sort of memory that only works backward."
(Lewis Carroll)
"Being tolerant does not mean that I share another's belief.
But it does mean that I acknowledge another one's right to
believe, and obey, his own conscience."
(Viktor Frankl, The Will to Meaning)
Please find more teamwork quotes at www.LauraBenjamin.com
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In This Issue
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1. Employee Retention
2. Useful Resources
3. Shameless You-Know-What
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1. Employee Retention
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Families and Work Institute reports the number of workers who
say they want positions with greater responsibility has fallen
nearly 19% in the past 10 years. I wish I could say it isn't
true - but informal reader feedback supports the data. In just
the past few weeks I've heard of a number of highly talented
managers and director-level individuals who have sought and
found positions which:
- allow them to reduce business travel and stay at home more
- take them out of the role of delivering bad news, and more
bad news, while trying to do keep their team's morale afloat
- step out of a "fast track" capacity. This means they have
voluntarily declined to remain within the "best and brightest"
career development category within their company
This is hard news to swallow in times when employee retention,
recruiting for strong talent, and human capital campaigns are
at the top of most company's agendas. The Jan 2006 issue of
Entrepreneur Magazine features PriceWaterhouseCoopers' first
annual Entrepreneurial Challenges Survey where they interviewed
CEO's and founders of 340 fast-growth businesses with an average
of $31.5 million in annual sales and a 259 percent compound
annual five-year growth rate. (See page 60 for the full article.)
They asked these entrepreneur's to choose the 3 factors most
critical to their business success in 2006. The results?
1. Retention of key workers (73%)
2. Developing new products and services (38%)
3. Expansion to markets inside the U.S. 36%)
4. Increased productivity (35%)
5. Upgrading technology (28%)
The list goes on and the article is worth reading, especially if
you recognize the importance these fast-growth companies play. I
imagine their concerns are not just specific to these companies
either.
So why is it that these hifalutin initiatives (I looked the word
up; it is a real word meaning "expressed in or marked by the use
of high-flown bombastic language") fall short when it comes to real
life application and execution? I imagine that the few folks I
hear from are not the extreme fringe, but represent a greater
percentage of people who quietly make the decision to opt out.
Oh, and did you happen to notice that they usually stay
long enough to collect the annual bonus? I don't blame them, but
here's the rub...how long do you think they were hanging in there,
just checking the box, just gritting their teeth? How much "human
capital" do you think has been wasted along the way? And guess
how many of them are going to leave behind teams who will miss
them in a big way - and perhaps follow them to the new abode?
After the Nov newsletter a subscriber observed, "You must have
a mission to shake up the mainstream," and yes, I believe that's
true. It's just such a darned waste of "human capital", energy,
and expense when you see well-intentioned people trying their
best to make the workplace a better place while at the same time
we have others who leave "bloody bodies" in their wake. (It's an
analogy.)
So rather than just rant, please allow me to offer some ideas to
help personalize the workplace, retain your key workers, and get
so much more from people who know that you are an employer of
choice:
- Check employee vesting dates before trigger happy supervisors
get ready to lay someone off or fire them for cause. You could save
yourself a lawsuit.
- Ensure that trainers are training information that, for the most
part, your leadership practices. There's nothing worse than sending
folks out of a class on break and watching them file back in after
getting news that flies in the face of the content they just learned.
- Pay attention when your best and brightest decide to leave.
Find out why and for goodness sakes, don't chalk it up to
"they don't know what they're talking about" assumptions.
- Get rid of leaders who put you at risk for lawsuits. Chances
are, they are the reason why some of your better people leave.
- Begin training your folks on common courtesy, etiquette, writing
skills and call-handling techniques (the Telephone Doctor is a good
resource as are any of Diana Booher's books on communication)
- Instill a formal performance feedback process at least quarterly.
Yes, quarterly. Too many managers only talk to their people about
how they're doing once a year when they are forced to do the annual
performance review. This is the number one complaint from workers -
they don't get clear expectations and they don't get constructive
communication from the boss.
- Consider switching people to a new job within the organization if
their present job is not the best fit. Too many times, we follow an
"up or out" approach that ignores the possibility they could be of
service somewhere else within the company. For goodness sakes, make
some concessions, be willing to stretch the rules a bit in order
to keep good people on board.
- Get this book for you and everyone on your leadership team:
"7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave" by Leigh Branham, then ask them
to read one chapter a week. Then review your existing interview,
hiring, promotion, and performance management processes to ensure
you embody the spirit of the guidance within this book.
Thank you again for your enthusiastic and continued interest in the
thoughts, opinions and resources I publish in this newsletter. My
best wishes for a happy, healthy New Year!
Laura Benjamin
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2. Useful Resources
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Check out Executive Book Summaries (www.summary.com) if you
find yourself time crunched. From someone who relishes the
paper-based experience, I was pleasantly surprised at the depth
of information these audio reviews offer. In fact, I can't
wait to purchase "Brand Hijack" by Alex Wipperfurth. The book
explores how to allow your brand to evolve by involving your
customers. Imagine that!
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3. Shameless You-Know-What
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Coming up in 2006 on www.LauraBenjamin.com:
-Link to the "sister site", www.CarlaConcept.com where you
can submit stories on how you've used the C.A.R.L.A. Concept
to make better decisions, improve communication, or do a gap
analysis
-Complimentary newsletters continue for the 7th straight year
-Laura's weekly Blog
-Sample complimentary downloadable chapter of Laura's book,
The C.A.R.L.A. Concept
-Request form to receive complimentary Quarterly Content
articles snail-mailed to your home or office
-Schedule and registration for monthly complimentary teleclasses
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Privacy Statement: I never release your contact info. Ever.
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Laura Benjamin International Inc.
Colorado Springs CO USA
Phone: 719-266-8088
Fax: 719-785-5768
Laura@LauraBenjamin.com
http://www.laurabenjamin.com
(C)Laura Benjamin International Inc. 2005
Reprints upon request and with attribution please
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