Retention Tops CEOs’ Concerns that HR Needs to Solve

Let’s look at a shockingly stark contrast that applies to all of us in Human Resources and Talent Acquisition. Here are just a few summaries from some recent studies and publications of what CEOs say they need most:

• SHRM: Top challenge last two years, “Retention”
• Harvard Business Review: Top thing CEOs worry about is “talent management”
• KPMG: 99% of global CEOs named top challenge as “developing talent”
• Inc Magazine: The biggest challenges these CEOs face every day…”attracting and retaining talent”
• The Economist: “Talent has always been important but now it needs to become an inseparable part of business strategy on par with technology and finance
• Fortune: Biggest challenge facing businesses will be “lack of qualified labor”
• Chief Executive Magazine: “75% of CEOs say recruiting and retaining key talent is their top business challenge

Every CEO Concern About Retention is Really About the Work HR Does

The fact is OUR human resources work is now, more than ever, the most important work. Human Resources work is now, more than ever, the most important work. We are in the bullseye of turnover, employee engagement, employee retention, and recruiting challenges with no end in sight.

I know you accept this challenge/opportunity/burden. However, a recent study of HR professionals reveals that the top assignment from the CEO list is one we don’t know how to effectively or measurably fulfill: improving retention. And retention is not only the solution to keeping good workers but also to reducing the number of open jobs.

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Further Reading: When Non-HR Executives Ask About Turnover…

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Ask Yourself These Three Questions on Employee Retention

Those who are familiar with our work can anticipate what I write next, that (1) voluntary quits are approaching our all-time high, (2) engagement per Gallup has been completely stuck for 17 years, (3) that only 33% of our employees at best are giving their all, and (4) the culprit here is surveys, engagement and exit, because we believe data identifies easy solutions…but data only provides data, not solutions.

I have a three-question quiz I use with HR leaders at the start of any retention conversation:

1. Who is accountable for employee retention at your company?
2. Do you know from memory which managers have the highest turnover?
3. Have any of your managers been fired because of high turnover?

The strongest answers to #1 is usually “all of the above”, which in reality means nobody. Most said “yes” to #2, and as nearly all said “no” to #3…as we would all likely predict.

But I went on report on just some of the research which all points in the same direction regarding why employees quit their jobs:

• “If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers”… Gallup
• Employees stay for managers first and co-workers second… salary.com
• “When employees stay, it is because of their immediate managers”…National Education Association
• “22 of the top 25 most effective levers of employees’ intentions to stay were driven by their managers”…Corporate Leadership Council
• Onsite childcare and flexible scheduling cut turnover 0% whereas holding nurse managers accountable to retention goals cut turnover by 41%…Healthcare Advisory Board
• “Make supervisors accountable for retention”…monster.com
• “Poor leadership causes over 60% of employee turnover”…Saratoga Institute
• “70% looking for new jobs, primarily because of disliking the way their managers performed their jobs”…Yahoo           

Questions on Stay Interviews from HR Professionals

HR professionals who have associated me with only my Stay Interview work or books reported that they had previously missed the key thing I describe as “the best-ever employee retention solution”.

Why? Let’s start with these common phrases I hear all the time when meeting someone describing Stay Interviews:

• “We tried them once. HR did them I think”.
• “We already have too many meetings”.
• “Isn’t that like rounding? Our nurse managers try to do that every month”.
• “Our managers would never take the time…”.
• “We did them once, like focus groups”.
• “HR did them, did a report, nothing happened”.
• “We sort of do them already. We do a survey…”.

In other words, they see Stay Interviews as soft, as another HR intervention that goes awry for all of the reasons said above. And I agree…unless they apply Stay Interviews like we do, with strong accountability for first-line managers to achieve their employee retention goals.

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Further reading: NBC News feature: Stay Interviews, Quest Diagnostics, and Dick Finnegan

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HOW Do You Actually Implement Stay Interviews Effectively?

Stay Interviews put HR in the driver’s seat by addressing each employee’s needs as individuals, as people, and as people who need to trust their direct supervisors. Building trust with employees and having managers, not HR, accountable for their people directly affects productivity and the bottom line, something your CEOs and leaders will respond to.

While Stay Interviews are powerful relationship-builders, without goals and forecasts they become another flavor of the month idea. Accountability for retention, engagement, and building the right, individualized stay plans so employees feel valued, recognized, appreciated…and accommodated, when possible, must be built in. Because nothing drives turnover down more than each manager being held accountable for meeting their retention goals. Our most recent clients achieved these turnover reductions by not only implementing Stay Interviews but also applying additional business principals to your retention solution.

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Further Reading:  Want to Implement Stay Interviews Internally? Join Me at Disney

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Learn How to Implement Stay Interviews with CEO-Approved In-Person Training

Based on my ground-breaking work with Stay Interviews, our expert facilitators will train you on our entire process so you can return ready to implement an effective and proven retention and engagement strategy. Some of the most asked questions for the event are answered in our brochure and on our registration page.

No matter what size or type of company – public, private, non-profit and no matter your budget, we will give you 100% of the support and training you need to leverage our solution to do it yourself.

The in-person event is in Orlando, Sept. 25-27 and registration includes all the training, tools, and resources, plus one year enrollment to our Finnegan Institute Stay Interviews Certification course to add to your credentials.

I hope to see you in Orlando, or at a future training event. If you have any questions or need further information, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at dfinnegan@c-suiteanalytics.com.