How to Retain Your Most Promising Employees as a Leader

Consider a highly capable employee in your team. This individual is going to be a leader, if not already leads others. They typically go above and beyond in their career, willingly take the lead on projects, boost team morale, and show eagerness to grow within the company.

Imagine if this employee suddenly stops speaking up in meetings, pulls back from team interactions, and starts leaving work earlier than usual.

Perhaps you'd subtly remind them of their value to the team and organization, yet feel unsure about directly addressing the issue. Eventually, as you might have partly expected, the employee departs.

This scenario is all too common in today's workplaces. Talented employees often plateau and eventually leave, partly due to the very qualities that made them stand out. Leaders often feel helpless in these situations, which isn’t surprising. Most companies don’t provide consistent training for leaders in effective retention and career development, especially for disengaged high-potential employees. This may stem from the assumption that these employees will inevitably seek external growth opportunities, higher pay, or better benefits elsewhere. Organizations often feel that their only option to retain talent is to make counteroffers, which can lead to retaining an even more disengaged employee at a higher cost.

Blaming employee turnover on external factors lets the organization and its leaders off the hook. It's an easy out, suggesting that turnover is beyond their control and, therefore, not their problem to solve.

This mindset is contradictory, especially since leaders are often held accountable for turnover rates in their departments. So why aren't organizations equipping leaders to reduce turnover through controllable factors?

As I mentioned in "The Dangers of Searching for Meaningful Work: A Letter to Employers and Employees," the best retention strategy is empowering employees to take charge of their happiness at work. This approach focuses on elements within a leader's control.

Leaders can't control external job offers or personal decisions, but they can influence the workplace experience (encompassing all aspects of an employee's work life).

For instance, leaders can develop their leadership style, clarify work responsibilities, manage how tasks are completed, oversee team dynamics, and provide necessary resources. This comprehensive workplace experience can make employees more engaged, meaningfully contributing to their reluctance to pursue external opportunities, even in the face of attractive offers.

Over my years of working with organizations and leaders, I've found that an employee's workplace experience comprises four key elements a leader can influence: Trust, Environment, Assignments, and Meaning. These form the TEAM© model for motivation-driven management.

Trust involves creating a safe, supportive atmosphere between employees, leaders, and the organization. How have you recently shown care and trust towards your team?

Environment includes the resources available for employees, the social dynamics among coworkers, and customer interactions. Do your employees have the tools they need? Are team dynamics and customer interactions managed effectively?

Assignments refer to the actual tasks employees are responsible for. Are you in tune with your team's preferences and dislikes? Is the work tailored to their strengths?

Meaning relates to the sense of purpose employees find in their work. Do you understand and reinforce the reasons your employees are committed to their jobs and the organization?

The TEAM© model provides a straightforward framework for leaders to positively influence their team's work experience. It prioritizes internal factors over uncontrollable external ones, empowering employees to love their current job.

How would this model reshape your leadership approach, focusing on each employee's unique work experience?

What changes could you make in your daily routine to implement the TEAM© model?

How would your organization's culture transform if it created individualized work environments and took responsibility for retaining top talent?

It's crucial to recognize that employees often seek other offers not because of the offers themselves, but because they were already prepared to leave. Organizations must understand their role in employee retention, focusing on developing leaders who can effectively shape each team member's work experience. A leader who truly cares about their team concentrates on what they can control - their TEAM©.

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