On making opportunities obvious
“Every interviewing manager says, ‘oh yeah, there’s plenty of opportunity here,’ but they need to make sure that holds true once the employees sign on. Even when there is opportunity, managers need to make sure it’s obvious to employees that growth potential is available. When the path is muddied, that’s when people become frustrated and look elsewhere.”

On the competitive trend toward empowerment
“Managers used to hold onto the overall goals and information coming from the top of the company. It was a source of power for them over their employees. But today, we see more and more mangers providing company information and strategic organizational goals to their subordinates. They’ve been forced to change because the competitive pressures are so great that they looking for an edge anywhere they can, and generally, they’re finding it in their people. And not only are managers communicating more, but they’re giving their people more training to keep up with competitive pressures. Managers sometimes don’t like doing so because it’s risky – by giving them access to information and more resources they are making them more attractive to other organizations – but communication, training, and increased responsibility are also important for retaining them. It allows them to understand their contribution and the opportunities for growth, and makes them feel needed. From the organization’s point of view, communicating the overall goals also makes sure people don’t make decisions in a vacuum.”

On training following empowerment
“Managers often become enamored with their High Pots and plop them into major roles without the training or resources needed to succeed. Then they look in hindsight and say, ‘geez, we thought he could do anything.’ Well, maybe he could have if the manager had only given him the appropriate resources and training.”

On retention in small businesses
“Many large organizations hire executive coaches to develop their top talent, but most small businesses don’t have that option. That’s why a supervising manager in small businesses is so important, because they must fulfill basic management responsibilities and be a “coach” to their employees at the same time. Setting up regular meetings with employees to discuss their development is crucial. It does take time, though - having hour-long conversations with six employees once a month can be tough. The alternative, though, is looking for new hires and that costs lots of money and time.”

On different rewards for different people
“Once a reward system is set up, then managers need to make sure that employees who do well are rewarded appropriately. The tricky thing, though, is that not everyone wants the same thing. For instance, employees in their 30s and 40s commonly look at things like flexible work schedules and job security as really important since many of them have young families. A college grad, on the other hand, is going to look at salary almost exclusively.”

On flexible managers
“I think that might be why the idea of retaining top employees is always so challenging – it’s tough to keep people inspired and challenged because we’re all so different in what we value. The more a manager can be flexible about offering incentives and opportunities for growth, the better retention they’re going to have. It can be as simple as praise for a job well done or as creative as on-site childcare, domestic partner benefits, or providing laptops to allow telecommuting opportunities. The more creative managers can be in reaching out to their employees, the more likely employees will be excited about their work and thus stay put.”