Just ask!

Last week I read  an article in the Globe and Mail‘s Report on Small Business.  The article is part of a regular weekly series where the paper asks experts to advise small and medium-sized businesses on how to handle a particular business issue.

In this case  the CEO of a small agency felt his company had become the training ground for other, bigger agencies.  The company provides compensation and benefits in line with bigger firms. They’ve started funding professional training and development. They offer “perks that would make it fun to work there – from beer flowing on Fridays to staff bonging outings.” And still they’re losing employees. Recently 3 employees were actively headhunted and recruited by one company.

Three experts offered their advice.

1. Implement a bonus plan
2. Get potential employees to work harder to get the job in the first place by having them do a presentation to all staff so they’ll be less likely to leave.  Reduce the number of employees and pay them more
3. Identify and get to high performers faster to demonstrate your commitment.  Titles matter.

Not one of the experts suggested asking employees what they want. .  Maybe beer on Fridays isn’t what they’re after. The truth is the CEO doesn’t know. And, he won’t know unless he asks them.

For exiting employees:  Why are they leaving?  Is it something we have control over or not?  I think the exit interview is one of the most under-utilized communication channels.  And even when it’s used the information gathered doesn’t seem to be fed back into the system in a way that makes any meaningful difference.

For current employees:  What do they like about their work? the agency? their teams?  What would they like to see change? What aretheir expectations for their careers?

For new employees:  How did they make their decision to join the agency?  What attracted them?  What expectations do they have for the work and their careers?

Sometimes there’s really nothing that can be done organizationally.  Turnover can just be a feature of the industry [and may even be welcome].  And sometimes we can learn a lot and make even small changes that make it easy for employees to stay.  It starts by asking and listening to employees!

Just ask!

 

Tags: Communications, Cultural norms, Employee communication, Engagement, Trust