How to Retain Good People
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Sometimes you’ll have a member of your team who needs to move on but the right opportunity isn’t available for them. Unfortunately this can sometimes cause them to leave the organisation to progress their career.
Sometimes you have to accept that giving a high performer a good departure – and keeping in touch with them for future roles – is the right outcome. But before it gets that far there are things you can do to retain them…
Have you explored the following options?
- Find a new initiative or name-making project that they could take responsibility for. What new things do you have coming up in the organisation that you could get them to work on? Choose something that will give them exposure with senior people, or provide an achievement with great metrics for their CV. This will be motivational and attract them to stay.
- Change or swap the boundaries of their role. What are other team members doing that they could get involved with? Can you rotate them into responsibilities that will give them well-rounded experience that will be unusual and desirable in applicants for jobs at the next level?
- Deepen or broaden their technical knowledge in their area of expertise. Sometimes people relish the chance to go to an international conference (or present at one on work they’ve done!) – or pursue an interest, or even study for a qualification. You can also help people by shifting their title to reflect that they are the Technical Lead on a subject.
- Get them to deputise for you. This is great preparation for promotion – what parts of your role could they take one, which would prepare them for a leadership role (or a more senior leadership role, if they are already a manager)? Deputising has the added advantage of giving them more senior exposure and visibility – and might lead to the creation of a career opportunity which will allow them to stay with the organisation.
- Help them take up some responsibilities in a charity or third sector organisation, or help them join or get involved with their professional organisation. Look for development opportunities outside of the organisation itself. How can they build experience and reputation?
- Find a sideways move or a job swap they could take. The key is to understand what’s next in terms of their progression – look at their skills gap or what’s stopping them. Give them something that’s aligned with the next role that they’re seeking – or opens up a new career pathway!
Look across the members of your team and spot anyone who is keen to move on but can’t at the moment. What can you do to help them feel a sense of progression and growth? If the opportunities are not there, you may not be able to retain them forever – but you can create a mutually beneficial extra year or two. And in a year or two, there is always the possibility that an interesting role could turn up!