Performance Management: Constructive Criticism - Managing the 'Pain Problem'

In my article Giving Constructive Criticism - What's the Problem? I talked about three of the reasons managers struggle to give their employees constructive criticism in order to improve employee performance. In this blog I'm going to talk about a fourth reason, what I call the 'pain problem'

Here's how some of the managers I've worked with describe it:

'I know I need to give my employee some constructive criticism on an area of performance they need to improve. But I know that when I do they will be; upset / angry / disappointed / embarrassed and I don't want to make them feel that way'

Constructive Criticism: The Pain Problem

The issue here is that managers don't want to cause their employees pain. That 'pain' might be upset, anger, disappointment or embarrassment. So because we don't want to cause pain (who would?) we avoid giving constructive criticism

But here's the thing

NOT giving criticism causes pain. It causes pain to;

• The business: If our employee is underperforming that must be causing pain to the business

• The team: Nobody, but nobody, wants to work with an underperforming team member - particularly if that underperformance isn't being dealt with. Not dealing with underperformance is the easiest way to demotivate an entire team - and that brings pain

• You as the manager: Do you enjoy not dealing with underperformance? Does it do great things for your confidence? Need I say more?

And most importantly it causes pain to;

• The employee: Very few people enjoy being an underperformer. Even if they are not aware that they are underperforming, other people will be (including you). Underperforming employees are rarely, if ever, well thought of. Other people don't tend to relate well to an underperforming colleague (do you?). I could go on. The whole point of giving constructive criticism is to help the employee improve their performance. If you don't give the criticism you can't help your employee improve their performance. Is that fair?

So, we know that there are consequences to not dealing with underperformance. But we still have the issue of how to deal with our reluctance to cause our employees pain. Here are two ways to address the issue

1. Be skilful in giving constructive criticism

I've written a lot about how to skilfully deliver constructive criticism so that your employee finds that criticism easy to understand and easy to accept (and relatively pain free). Without repeating the whole lot, here are two key points:

a) Focus on behaviours. Your employees are much less likely to have negative emotional reactions when they hear criticism focused on their behaviours rather than on their personality. There is much less pain in hearing criticism on what we do rather on who we are.

b) Focus on Action>Results>Consequences. When we help our employee to see the results and consequences (to the business) of their actions we can help them see the need to change those actions. The more we focus on the business consequences the less 'personalised' the criticism feels - and the less painful

2. Take Ownership for Your Responsibilities - and Only Yours

No matter how skilful we are at giving constructive criticism, our employee may still feel some upset, anger, disappointment or embarrassment. Why? Because, for many of us, that is how we are hard wired to react to criticism. It's often part of the 'fight or flight' response to stress and a natural response to hearing something we find stressful - criticism.

My view is that we cannot and should not try and take ownership of our employee's emotional response - that is for the employee to own

We should take responsibility for:

• Giving constructive criticism in order to improve performance
• Giving the criticism skilfully

And that's all

When we try and take responsibility for other people's emotions we treat them as children. Our job is not to parent your employees, but to manage them effectively. Our employee's emotions are for them to own and it's just not helpful to try and take responsibility for those emotions

Formulating a performance management framework for your company? Look for Recruitplus today, an award winning HR consultancy in Singapore, visit here.

Want an Improvement in Your Company's Performance? Hire a Consultant

Are you considering whether or not a consultant is someone that can help your business? More businesses than ever look to get outside help and assistance in order to help them with their business. This measure can even save a failing company. A management consultant is an individual that many businesses, both large and small, can benefit from utilising for various services.

How can a consultant help you?

A consultant is an expert that is specialised in various facets of running a business. The consultant can help struggling businesses improve their profitability and there are many other instances where their services can be useful. Some are specialists and some are generalists. Some are used for a particular reason or time frame and others are contracted on an ongoing basis to continue to help a company.

Some of the instances companies may choose to use them include services such as:

• Helping a company to cope effectively with a major change
• Working with technology (growth, changes, major technology deployments)
• Working with human resources (downsizing, training, employee development)
• Looking at process improvements

There are many businesses that use this type of outside service so that they have a set of fresh and experienced eyes that can help them meet objectives or deal with issues. Some companies find the services of a management consulting firm so helpful that they use the services on an ongoing basis.

What does a consultant do?

When a company enlists the expertise of a professional consultancy firm, they generally sit down with the consultant and go over their issues and concerns. Quite often, that specialist will learn about the company's systems, processes, and gather business intelligence data to help put together a plan to help the company reach their goals. The consultant works closely with executive to implement a plan of action based on those goals. These can include multiple areas.

Is the process difficult?

Any major change can be a period of transition for a company, the staff, and even the customers at times. A consultant's job is do help a company reach goals with minimal disruption, wherever possible.

Although change can be difficult it can also be rather necessary for a company to be able to overcome the obstacles that are currently in the way of success. Sometimes those obstacles are large and sometimes they just seem large but are, in reality, quite easy to resolve an experienced and objective individual gets involved. It's the job of the management consultant to shed light on the situation and help the company move forward. By finding an experienced consultant that guarantees results, you can be assured of your company's success.

Headhunt for job consultants in Singapore or executive search firms Singapore,check out this directory. A marketing strategy program by Scotts DIGITAL

Procurement Performance - How to Measure Procurement Performance in 9 Easy Steps

The purpose in measuring procurement performance is to give people feedback on their achievement of the goals and targets that they have been set. The way to do this is to decide what needs to be measured, set targets for the level of performance that you want, compare current performance against those targets, decide what action (if any) needs to be taken and then check that the action has been taken and has been effective.

Here is a simple 9 step process for how to measure procurement performance.

1. Write down your key objectives. Remember that a goal is a broad statement of your intentions and an objective is a means of achieving the goal. It has a beginning and an end and is measurable. For example, our procurement goal might be to realise significant benefits for our organisation. Our objective might then be to reduce costs in the next 12 months by achieving an average 5% price reduction through better sourcing strategies. Your primary objectives should be traceable to your corporate objectives to show how your role supports the organisation.

2. Identify the activities that are critical for achieving those objectives. In our example, critical activities could be to assess supply risk for those categories that account for 80% of our total spend and to develop sourcing strategy options for the high spend, high risk categories.

3. Decide the best way to measure those activities. For our example, this could be to have a governance process that approves the sourcing options that we develop so one way to measure the activity would be to measure the percentage of sourcing strategies approved to the number submitted.

4. Set targets for the activities. Now that we have a way of measuring the critical activities we must now set targets. In our example, this could be to have an initial target of 60% of sourcing strategies submitted for review are accepted.

5. Decide what data you need to collect. The data you need will be dictated by the performance measure that you set.

6. Allocate responsibilities. Data does not get collected, analysed and reported on by itself. These tasks must be allocated to those who have the skills and aptitude to do them. Having the time to do it might be an issue that needs to be addressed by looking at their priorities and re-setting them as needed.

7. Turn the data into meaningful information. Data on its own usually has no meaning - it is just a collection of facts. However, when you have processed, organised and structured it, you have created information - intelligence that enables you to take action. For example, data that tells you how much was paid for a list of items is not valuable on its own. When you have processed it so that you have an analysis showing that you have paid different prices for the same item to different suppliers - you have useful information.

8. Communicate the results. Your performance measures need to be communicated. This is because they will be acted upon by different people at different organisational levels. In particular, the results of your measures need to be linked to processes, to improvement projects and to the people responsible for both. This needs a performance management system.

9. Take action. Knowing that performance measures either exceed or fail to meet the targets you have set is of no use unless someone takes action. This can be corrective action to get you back on track or action to further improve performance.

Generating a performance management framework for your company? Look for Recruitplus today, an award winning HR consultancy, visit website. A marketing strategy initiative for small business by Scotts digital.

The Causes of Poor Employee Retention

Employee retention is the key to long-term success in any organization. Managers who recognize this fact always strive to keep the best talent with the company. They know that recruitment and placement reduces their company profits and they therefore look for the best retention strategies with a view to increase the tenure of the employees with the organization.

This ability to convince the employees that attrition is not always necessary is not an easy option. Many organizations however incur recruitment costs very often because they do not have people management skills. Once they employ, they do not work hard to ensure that they retain the so much sought talent they have acquired.

Employees leave the organization for various reasons. Some of these reasons include medical reasons, retirement or company closure. These factors cause voluntary attrition. Other reasons that make retention a problem is a lack of recognition for employees, poor job fit, financial incentives, lack of promotion, lack of motivation and stagnation. Employees want to grow and advance in your organization and when you deny them the opportunity to climb the career ladder, they opt out.

When employees realize that the organization does not recognize their efforts, they may become demoralized and decide to look for jobs in other organizations. Besides a good pay, employees feel content with an employer when he/she recognizes their contribution towards the achievement of the corporate goals. Poor job fit causes employees to leave the organization because the employees may not completely 'fit' with the organization's culture and therefore the employee will always feel unwanted and that their output not really needed.

There could also be a case of poor match between the person and the job that they are doing. For example, to be a public relations officer, one must have mastery of communication, be pleasant and courteous. A person who lacks these basic qualities will not perform a public relations job competently and might therefore decide to leave.

Poor work relations with other colleagues might also cause employees to leave an organization. This might result to isolation of the affected employee and he/she might consider leaving for another organization.

As an employer, it is advisable to consider the above factors when working out a retention strategy. This is because you do not want to have frequent recruitment and selection processes as these are costly to the organization.

However, it is good to note employee attrition is not always bad. It enables the organization to have new ways of work since new employees bring in new ideas that help the organization to adopt to the ever-changing work environment.

Having talent attrition problems? Talk to our talent management & HR consultancy in Singapore. Website here.

Using Performance Management Innovation To Increase Efficiency

Adopting performance management innovation techniques within the company is a strategy that is being used by businesses in various market sectors. This trend is continuing to grow as companies look for ways to increase efficiency as well as profits. All departments, from marketing, finance and human resources love this approach since there are metrics that are used in which to evaluate the performance of a company in a particular area.

The role of motivation in innovation is huge for management in that employees look for positive feedback that reinforces desired behavior. If employees fill that upper management is usually using "lip service," then they feel that they do not have a stake in the company's well-being. In return, they may not perform up to their greatest potential. Conversely, if they feel that management are making a great effort in creating an innovative culture they may in turn feel empowered to contribute more.

Performance management is a process that provides both the business manager as well as the staff member (the individual being monitored) the possibility to determine the shared goals that relates to the general targets of the business by examining worker performance. The performance management innovation creates a scenario in which both parties are accountable for making sure that they are aligned with meeting company goals. This allows both parties to have clear objectives that would certainly help them in their work as well as their professional development.

There are many strategies that can be used when adapting performance management techniques; however there are several tactics that can be utilized across any company. These tactics can include organizing, creation of special projects, and most importantly is being tracking of the results.

Organizing usually takes place at the beginning of a project in which a company would like to establish parameters to ensure success or failure of an initiative. At this stage, there are usually project descriptions and identification of the staff member's essential functions that need to be completed. In addition to the individual staff number, there typically is a general overview for the department as well. At this point, the initial goals may include a specific job function as well as the estimated time in which the project should be completed. There is also a "sign off" in which both parties, employee and supervisor, agreed to the terms that have been identified. The role of motivation in innovation is to find ways that are "outside the box" in which to achieve these goals. This way, there is some level of flexibility in which a project will not get stifled with outdated thought processes and procedures. This can particularly be beneficial for the company because the team is allowed to be fluid with the creative process.

The creative process phase of performance management looks that multiple ways in which the special project that is being executed can being delivered while still meeting objectives. This area is where the rubber meets the road and if performed correctly can achieve great benefits. The system is set up so that new employees as well as veterans can achieve the desired result. Project objectives are clarified to freshly chosen employees as well as are later utilized to examine work functionality.

Functionality criteria are generally described with the assistance of the employees who actually carry out the tasks or functions. There are a number of advantages with this method:

Tracking is a very important metric that is used during the process of performance management innovation. If tracking mechanisms were not employed, a project can easily get derailed and objectives would not be met with efficiency. Tracking can also be ongoing so that there can be specific periods during a particular project in which the team can identify if everything is staying on schedule. At this point, there also may be evaluations that are given out so that everyone can have a snapshot of the project at hand. Since companies are dedicated to creating an innovative culture, employees benefit greatly from feedback that will help them continue to push the envelope. This feedback is also used in identifying areas in which there may be room for improvement during the project.

Creating a performance management framework for your business? Approach Recruitplus today, an award winning HR consultancy, visit website.

What is New Employee Onboarding?

Onboarding is a systematic and comprehensive approach to integrating a new employee with a company or department, and it's culture; as well as getting the new hire the tools and information they need to become productive, contributing members of an organization's workforce.

A well-designed, fun and engaging onboarding process has a significantly greater affect on employee engagement and thus retention when compared to the old school mentality of one-day "orientation." In fact, The Human Resources Corporate Leadership Council found that increasing an employee's level of engagement could potentially improve performance by 20 percent and reduce the employee's probability of departure by a whopping 87 percent!

If you're one of the many organizations that are still partaking in new hire checklists and orientation days packed with endless paperwork and videos, have no fear! Developing an onboarding program at your organization may seem like a daunting task but it doesn't have to be.

Many onboarding software solutions exist that enable organizations to quickly and easily automate a formal onboarding process for employees beginning even prior to day one, making the onboarding process even more streamlined. Onboarding software provides automated workflows and task management tools, electronic forms management, and socialization features to help introduce new hires to a company's culture. Technology solutions for onboarding take away the administrative burden of the process, making it much easier to manage

Onboarding processes are meant to quickly help new employees feel like a valued part of the workforce and get them up to speed on the job requirements so they can start producing quickly. Onboarding helps companies retain the talent they worked so hard to recruit, and keep them motivated and satisfied with their decision to join that company, in the end saving costs in training, turnover and bottom line revenue.

Having staff attrition situations? Talk to our talent retention & HR advisory consultancy in Singapore. Website here.

Retention Begins With Hiring

Have you ever had the sinking feeling that the candidate you hired just a month ago isn't the right person for the job? You were so careful in the hiring process - what went wrong? Often it is because your intuition or gut got in the way during the interview process. But - let's start at the beginning by taking time to set the stage for the right hire.

1. Be sure that you have posted an accurate job description.
Responsibilities and functions of a position change as frequently as everything else in the workplace. Be sure that you have an accurate, current description of the position.

2. Screen for experience and be sure the screeners knows what you are looking for.
The screener's job is to check tangible factors for the position. The real work belongs to the interviewers.

3. The interview: The best predictor of how a person will behave in the future is how he or she has behaved in the past.

Behavioral interviewing is designed to help you:

o ask questions that will provide you with information about what the candidate actually did and said in situations similar to those they will experience in the open position

o observe the thought processes and feelings of the person as they were involved in similar situations

Each of these observations contributes to more accurate assessment of the skills, behaviors and attitudes of each candidate, and assists decision making that is based on objective data, not just intuition and personality.

Example:

"Think of a time when you had to stick your neck out to resolve a problem."

The candidate may give you an abstract answer to which you reply, "Please think of something specific" -- and then give them time to think.

Help them with: "Tell me about the situation. How did you decide what was needed? What did you do? How did you feel about your role in finding a solution?"

Here's what will happen:

The candidate will typically do the following (and this is what you want):

o Break eye contact with the interviewer

o Briefly pause while visualizing an event

o Resume eye contact

o Describe a specific life/work event

Usually, it will be a positive response.

Contrary questions at this point are crucial. Otherwise, when you hear what you wanted to hear or you are beginning to feel good about this candidate, your gut takes over and clarity goes right out the window. Result? You may hire the least qualified of your candidate pool.

A contrary question is just what it sounds like: it is to look at the other side of the situation.

Critical next step: You repeat the example question, saying. "That was helpful. Now think of a time when you had to stick your neck out to resolve a problem and it didn't turn out so well. What did you do next?"

Do not let them off the hook about the contrary question. Let's face it, everyone interviewing for this position solves problems well - especially when they are fairly simple problems. What you really want to know is what do they do when it is not so easy. You're looking for how they handled a problem that needed a different solution that would work, in spite of the difficulty.

If you conduct your interviews in this way, you will select the right candidate for the right reasons. You have begun the retention process !

Facing talent attrition problems? Talk to our talent management & HR consultancy in Singapore. Visit here.

Employee Performance Management

Fixation of compensation or wage rates for different categories of employees in a company is an important task of management. The employees are not only concerned with the wages received but also concerned with the level wages received by same level of employees in similar organizations. Hence wage structure may be considered very important. The relative wage-rules must be fixed carefully, because they have implications for promotion, transfer, seniority and other important personnel matters.

Wage plan should possess certain fundamental characteristics if the long term interests of the worker, management and the consumer are to be served. The wage plan must be linked with the productivity of the workers. Unless higher pay scales of workers are linked in some way to the productivity of workers, a wage plan will not be fair either to the management or to the consumers.

Basic wage for each job classification should be related to skill job requirements of job. Due consideration should be given to such factors as skill, length of time required in learning, versatility required and working conditions. In all fairness to management, the plan should usually result in a reduction of unit cost of manufacture, making possible lower prices and higher profits.

In all fairness to the consumers a share of higher efficiency should be passed on to them by way of lower price. This will be possible when there is reduction in cost due to higher efficiency. Thus the wage plan must ensure that all participate share the gains of higher productivity. The wage plan should include an incentive system for the efficient workers. The system should ensure higher pay to the workers who perform work at higher level of efficiency. The wage plan should guarantee minimum wage to protect the interest of workers against conditions over which they have no control.

Formulating a performance management tools for your business? Look for Recruitplus today, an award winning HR consultancy, click here.

What Books Can't Teach You: Performance Management for Beginners

If you poke around in the business section of your local bookstore, you're bound to find an assortment of books on management and perhaps even more specifically, performance management.

Learning not only theory but how to actually implement good performance management in your office or other workplace has the potential to save your organization time and energy wasted in employee turnover. Books can give you theory, but not the physical tools to organize and practice more effective management. This is where LMS performance management courses come in.

What an LMS course gives you is that interactive learning experience, which has many benefits including the simple fact that it's faster and simpler than reading a book. In addition, its dynamic and interactive nature allow the information to stick in your brain long-term and is more likely to completely transform your management practices. The non-interactive nature of books prevents them from having this same function.

You probably already know some tenets of good performance management, but perhaps you don't know how to actually implement those ideas. You may be wondering, how can you foster the drive for success in your employees? Start by creating goal-oriented performance review meetings and appraisals.

How can you establish a solid communication system in order to prompt the best performance and value from your employees? And how can you help employees understand how their jobs contribute to both their own goals and those of the organization? An LMS course in performance management is a time- and cash-saving investment that's simple and easy to complete.

Creating a performance management process for your business? Approach Recruitplus today, an award winning hr advisory, visit here.

Top 10 Retention Strategies: Save Money on Personnel Turnover

It costs too much to recruit, hire, train, and develop new personnel. Retaining your best and brightest is worth your time and resources. Great retention strategies can also demonstrate your organization's care and concenrn for your loyal people and can add to their productivity.

We gathered this Top 10 list from interviews with top level executives and successful Human Resource managers. I hope that you can find some strategies that would be worth trying in your organization.

• Tip #1
  Treat your employees like you treat your most valuable clients. It is cheaper to keep your good employees than it is to hire and train new ones. Your top 20-25% should be courted as you would court and then service your top customers.

• Tip #2
  Get your employees to "Fall in Love" with your organization. Communicate your vision in a compelling way. Show everyone the role they have to contribute to this vision. Create opportunities for people to connect with each other for support and to improve communication in work teams.

• Tip #3
  Strong retention strategies become strong recruiting advantages.

• Tip #4
  Retention is much more effective when you put the right person into the right job. Know the job! Know the employee and their motivations.

• Tip #5
  Money is important but it is not the only reason people stay with an organization. If your compensation plan is in the top 20-30% of your industry, then money will often not be the reason why people leave.

• Tip #6
  Employee committees to help develop retention strategies is a very effective strategy. Get their input! Ask, what do people like about working here? What would you like changed to make your company a better place to work?

• Tip #7
  Leadership must be deeply invested in retention. Management must be skillful communicating company policies in a way that creates "buy-in" from their staff and be open to employee input. Help create "ownership" in your employees.

• Tip #8
  Recognition, in various forms, is a powerful retention strategy. It does not have to cost a lot. U.S. Dept. of Labor - 46% of people leave their jobs because they feel unappreciated.

• Tip #9
  Remember, the "Fun Factor" is very important to many employees.

• Tip #10
  Know the trends in benefit packages. Do your best to offer the ones your employees need. Consider offering the best of the rest.

   

Having staff attrition challenges? Talk to our talent retention & HR advisory consultancy in Singapore. Visit here.

The Triple Bottom Line and Talent Management

Leading authors are writing about it; conferences are featuring it; and many are calling on corporations to report on it. The triple bottom line-people, profits and planet-has unofficially become a leading indicator. Rather than being measured solely on profitability, companies, and their customers, are increasingly adopting "the three pillars" to define business success.

The term "triple bottom line" was first used in 1989 by sustainability consultant John Elkington to define business success, and has since become a common term, although not well understood. It measures performance in three ways: by social, economic and environmental factors. This means successful organizations must demonstrate good working conditions for employees, commercial success and environmental responsibility. Increasingly, companies that pay attention to the triple bottom line see a sustainable competitive advantage-and it begins with talent management.

Leading to greater profitability

As Pete r Drucker aptly put it, "Management is about doing things right - but leadership is about doing the right things." The triple bottom line is about doing the right things, beginning with how you treat your employees. Treating employees right means several things in triple-bottom-line parlance, including:

•Paying a fair "living wage," a minimum hourly wage that would afford a reasonable standard of living
•Providing healthcare, profit sharing, ongoing training and openly addressing employee needs as they arise, such as eldercare and childcare
•Awarding bonuses only after triple-bottom-line goals are met in all areas
•Linking manager's pay with sustainability and staff well-being as well as performance (as more companies are beginning to do)
•Creating a healthy work environment
•Giving back to the community at large

Increasingly, employees (and customers) want to be involved in something that makes a difference; and that means leaders must engage employees in something larger than company profits.

In a 2007 Center for Creative Leadership survey, researchers found that 73 percent of leaders surveyed reported that the triple bottom line is important to organizational success, and 87 percent agreed that it will be increasingly important in the future. Corporate leaders with a triple- bottom-line vision believe that three competencies are important in engaging their organizations in sustainable thinking: a long-term view, communication, and influence. Using these competencies to increase employee engagement, these leaders feel their organizations can benefit from increased revenue and market share, employee retention and community support.

You can't ignore the benefits

All of the benefits of effective talent management apply to an organization's triple-bottom-line commitment, probably times three. They include:

•It's easier to attract the best talent-It's generally acknowledged that the most important corporate resource now and in the future is talented employees; and many of the best candidates pay attention to corporate social and environmental responsibility as an important company attribute.
•It's easier to retain top talent-Today's environment is competitive, and keeping your most talented employees is a challenge; talented employees tend to stay with organizations longer when they have meaningful work. Retention is pure profit to the bottom line.
•Engagement increases productivity-There is a strong connection between meaningful work and productivity; employees engaged in the triple bottom line give back enthusiastically to their work at the company and in the community. As a bonus, the company image is enhanced.

In addition to the advantages associated with talent management, by adhering to the triple bottom line, your organization can: increase market share, lower expenses, decrease risk, enhance investor appeal, increase efficiency, improve product quality, and strengthen your competitive position.

It doesn't take much to see that if you want to succeed, adopting the triple bottom line is a given.

Skip the greenwashing

As with any corporate initiative, authenticity is critical. In the world of the triple bottom line, greenwashing, or publicizing sustainable practices when they're not really true, can be deadly in terms of employee morale and reputation in the market. Your organization will thrive with a strong commitment to the triple bottom line. And your employees will happily take on the mission.

Having staff attrition situations? Talk to our talent management & HR consultancy in Singapore. Click here.

Recruiting Sales and Marketing Talent in a Full Employment Economy

It's no secret that the economy continues to hum along and is growing at a very nice pace. Barring any catastrophe in the Middle East or any oil shock, we expect this to continue for the next few years at least. What does this mean for companies that are trying to grow their businesses? It means it's a tough sell out there to get top sales and marketing employees to make a job change. Why? All of the good talent is already working elsewhere, and making great money!

If your company is constrained in its ability to grow its revenue because of a deficit in its employee ranks, you've got to find new ways to think about how to attract and retain employees. Retention may be tough as well. If you're a sales and marketing employer, you're going to find more turnover happening amongst your sales ranks, particularly among employees that have waited out several years at your company while the economy has been slow. They're going to start looking for and finding great opportunities for increased pay, so there's going to be more churn in your employee ranks, meaning you're going to have to focus more of your time and attention on employee retention programs.

Bad managers and bad leaders will no longer get away with driving their employees at overly aggressive levels for too few rewards. Companies need to continuously attract their current employees to stay with them by offering a combination of strong leadership, great vision, outstanding go-to-market strategy, wonderful products and services that outsell the competition and a culture and environment that fosters employee growth. If your company is trying to hire more sales and marketing talent in order to grow its business, make sure that you're doing everything you can to retain the talent that you have, because you're more vulnerable in this economy to losing key employees.

Because the job market is so tight right now and so many firms are out trying to recruit and hire sales and marketing management and frontline producers, you are competing actively against those other employers for a limited pool of talent. This means that you need to have a very aggressive recruiting process...one that will allow you to outshine your competition. Outshining your competition is not just dependent upon the wages, benefits and incentives that you're paying, but also how strong your company's growth strategy is.

Also, it's crucial to create stakeholdership amongst potential employees so that they can buy into the vision and are passionate about what they do and love where they work. This is the job senior management in sales and marketing is tasked with: retaining top talent and in order to do so, you've got to have great strategy and great vision.

Facing talent attrition problems? Talk to our talent management & HR consultancy in Singapore. Click here.

What is Managing Performance?

Managing Performance is the operation of measurement of advancement, of an establishment, towards a preferred goal. It is the measure, analysis and optimisation of tools to supply a service at a level that has been agreed upon by both party's. It centers on the delivery of service.

The underlying idea that is behind performance management is a operation through which the management merges the people, systems and schemes, to maximise both strength and efficiency so to present the preferred effects. Plainly put, the affirmation means, doing the precise things and doing the things right. That is, an up-and-coming organisation must include one scheme that incorporates leaders, and the other that insists on attaining quality.

An efficient performance management in an establishment can reach leaders skills that can be increased alongside mental attitudes, interpersonal skills and behaviors. This is a primary aspect of managing performance as it assists in keeping back and keeping people who substantiate the basic human capital of the organizations. as they are the ones responsible for the implementation of the primary plans of the business enterprise.

It is extremely primary for a business concerns to have a secure, performance management. It should be able to operate the systems, individuals and strategies actively, for the productive execution. This would also result in an growth in the sales and a greater profitableness that would plausibly not be reachable, if the operation was not executed.

With an impressive performance management, commercial enterprise will expand like never before. It is an highly principal procedure of business management, that is practiced by managers of individuals, as an capable instrument, that is utilized by them to meet the targets of the establishment.

Performance Management may be able to accomplish the next commercial enterprise objectives: The missing link between Dreams and outcomes: Nowadays, commercial organizations are progressively aware that it is usually not their strategy but the integrated endeavor and powers of their employees to accomplish the scheme that makes all the difference to their flourishing commercial enterprise. Therefore, it becomes the duty of top level directors to fill in the gap between the missing links of aspirations and results, by motivating their employees, through management of their performance.

To grow the potential of an organization, in order to reach its scheme, it is fundamental that the establishment develops and creates the capabilities of its employees. Impressive people management is the only key to improve the businesses operation.

The most important function of Performance Management is to grow the effectiveness of the employees. This should be complete, in order to improve the operation of the business enterprise.

Managing Performance is linked up with paperwork, tough conversations and bureaucracy, and is consequently frequently put away as a task no one desires to do. All The Same, Performance Management is a operation that affects people and directors, that use the process on a regular basis, to increase their potency towards the employer's establishment.

Creating a performance management system for your company? Look for Recruitplus today, an award winning hr advisory, click here.

Successful Talent Management

Human Resources has seen some radical changes over the past decade in the way it operates, many of these changes are due to outsourcing to other countries in order to cut costs and reduce overheads. The advances in technology and ease with which the World Wide Web can be accessed by people all over the world have significantly transformed human capital management.

Due to this technology growth companies now have access to an international workforce, leading to changes in the way they recruit and train. Employees now often work from home and can be located in a totally different country to the main office of the company they work for, training has to be designed and implemented in such a way it will adequately prepare them for their new role.

The responsibilities of a human resources department are many and varied, some of the different functions carried out by this department involve recruiting employees, training staff and keeping employee records. Each function has an important role within the organization and forms the foundation from which it can run smoothly and efficiently. HR have had to adapt and change in order to meet the new standards and demands of global asset management.

The main challenge human resource professionals have to deal with in today's competitive world is to identify and implement successful methods to hire and retain good quality employees, or in other words, 'talent'. This is known as talent management.

Talent management is concerned with coordinating and managing the different talents people have to offer within an organisation. This is done by studying and evaluating each individual on their skills, talent, personality and character, in relation to filling a particular vacancy within the company. Everyone has different skills to offer and the hard part for a company is identifying those that fit in with the existing company culture - effective HR procedures will be able to identify these individuals and appoint them appropriately.

Talent in an employee can involve all kinds of elements, from their educational qualifications and skills, previous experience, known strengths and additional training they have undertaken, to their abilities, potential and motive, qualities and personality. Most companies practise TM in some way, this could be anything from the recruitment and selection of individuals, to their placement within the company, training and development courses, to performance management and various schemes that reward high-fliers and achievers. How involved a company is in talent management generally depends on the size of the business and their commitment to employees and their future.

Succession planning is a fundamental ingredient of a business strategy, enabling your organisation the ability to recognize potential high performers so you can plan for the future regarding staff changes. It's important formal recruitment processes are in place, whether you are recruiting from the existing workforce or looking for fresh talent, also there should be a clear career path for employees who wish to progress, this should include relevant courses or on-going training to prepare them for their new role. Succession planning tools can be facilitated to help you identify and develop existing and future talent within the organization, raise employee commitment and retention through definite career paths, and ease costs connected with identifying successors.

An effective solution will show the achievements of individual members of staff and whether or not they are performing well in their present responsibilities. It can also assist in identifying those who should be rewarded, anyone who may need a warning for whatever reason and those who could cope with, even benefit from, additional responsibilities. Staff training and development needs, promotions and demotions are all part of the process and a successful performance management solution should cover all elements.

Talent Management will not be successful if there isn't a system in place clearly identifying performance results. If a member of staff is deemed average then they should be rewarded to reflect this, whilst the high achievers in the company should receive higher rewards otherwise they will become demotivated.

Outsourcing your recruitment process will save your company money and improve the candidate hiring process, as well as cutting costs, and give you that edge over others in the market.

Having staff attrition situations? Talk to our talent retention & HR consultancy in Singapore. Visit here.

How to Create a 5 Stage Employee Retention Plan

The best way to improve your employee retention is to create a strategy that you can systematically deploy which will address all of the essential elements of staff retention. When it comes to creating a retention strategy, there are the 5 main areas you want to have covered. This is not meant to be an exhaustive article on each stage but rather an overview of some of the things you want to be thinking about for each one.

1. Attraction

Think of being single, and putting your best foot forward to attract a date. The more attractive you appear as a place of employment, the more interested most qualified applicants will be. The more applicants, the more choice, and the better chance you have of picking top-notch people. The question is, how attractive are you? It doesn't matter how attractive you think you are. What do others think of you? What is your brand (reputation) as an employer? Most organizations do no have a brand because they do not put any effort into creating one. Size does not need to stop you from creating a brand as an employer of choice. Gone are the days where the only marketing you did was for your product. Now also you have to give thought to marketing your image as an employer. You may be the best place to work on planet earth but if no one knows about you, then you will not create the attraction you are looking for. First determine what you want to be known for, then figure out how to get the word out. Many companies are doing some innovative things these days to become 'attractive'. Placing a job offering in the classified section is not one of them.

2. Hiring

From the moment someone interviews to the time they sign a contract is the hiring period. Often we think the hiring process only includes those we end up hiring, but in reality, anyone who interviews for your organization is a part of this period. Think of the hiring stage as having multiple people over to your house for dinner, one after another. You will have far more guests than you have spots at the table. Eventually one will be chosen. What about the other 5 who sat down with you? As they leave your house, what will they say about you? How you handle the applicants you rejected will do a lot to shape your reputation as an employer. I heard of one firm offering movie passes to anyone who took the time to come in for an interview. It's a small touch, but it makes an impact.

Interviews are like first dates. Both parties try to impress the other, and because a lot is on the line, candidates have their inner radar dialed up to spot any kind of flaw, imperfection, disorganization etc. Make sure this process is smooth, planned, and professional. When was the last time you took a good look at your hiring process to find ways that it could be better, faster, and more compelling?

3. On Boarding

The first 90 days is all about connections. There are numerous studies that show a new employee can make up their mind within the first week whether or not they will stick around for the long haul. This is your chance to rope them in. Most companies do a good job of supplying people with information for their role but do a poor job when it comes to the more important connections like relationships. Emotional connections need to be forged quickly for a new hire. You want to make sure you connect them to the team, to their manager, and to their role, in the context of how it affects the company. These connections naturally happen for some but for most people they need a little help. In my workshop on retention I outline in more detail how to create an on-boarding plan that you can use to help cement new hires to your organization. The key is to create a step-by-step process that helps new hires make those essential connections early.

4. Length of Stay

This is really the duration that someone stays with your organization. Your goal is to increase the length of stay for each employee. The ultimate goal is to make your organization their last stop before retirement. This is where the bulk of your retention efforts need to be focused. It is always more efficient to put your energy into employee retention than employee acquisition. Take care of what you have. This is where the bulk of my training is focused. You want to create an engaging workplace, and you do that with inspiring leaders who know how to lead people and manage projects. You want to make sure you have a healthy culture of challenging and exciting work, great teams, rewards and recognition, training and development, fun, and inspirational leadership Inspiring leaders: know how to communicate and create a compelling vision; solicit input; are enthusiastic about their role; set great examples; foster great culture; and, sincerely care about their people. Equipping your mid-level managers to create engaging workplaces is where the bulk of your training time should be spent.

5. Departure

Everyone will leave your organization! Even you. The best-case scenario is that people leave to retire. But for everyone else, how we say goodbye will do a lot to affect the first point we discussed - Reputation! When any employee decides to leave a company it is never an easy decision. There are many fears and anxieties involved as an employee severs ties. As a boss you may be hurt, angry, bitter or maybe even happy. The key is emotional management. If you ever want a chance of seeing them come back again, then let them leave on a good note. If you never want them to come back again, let them leave on a good note. Everyone that leaves your organization on bad terms is like negative advertising for your organization. They can be a poison that leaks into the talent pool you so desperately want to tap into. It does not take much to create a process that ensures almost everyone leaves on a good note.

You also want a way to keep in touch with those who have left. Treat them like alumni, or extended family. If you can keep in touch occasionally via email news bulletins or other means, you are able to keep your organization on their minds. This is especially great when their new workplace is giving them grief and you just happen to send them a cheery email that same day!

Keeping an alumni who left your company on good terms is like having unpaid recruiters out in the field for you. When you need a spot to fill you can send word out to your alumni asking if they know anyone who they could refer for the position. Add in some kind of paid compensation for referrals and you can build a powerful force that is always keeping your pipeline of new recruits full.

If you can create a strategy that eventually covers each of these stages I have mentioned, you will begin to see a dramatic difference in your retention rate. As more people stay in your organization longer, you will see an incredible transformation in morale, your culture, productivity and overall fun. For starters pick something easy that you can address like a strategy for those departing, and then move on to some of the bigger more complex issues. If you need some ideas, give me a call.

Having talent attrition problems? Talk to our talent retention & HR consultancy in Singapore. Website here.

Five Employee Retention Mistakes Employers Are Making Now

Even though it's an "employer's market" with millions of capable people looking for work due to the recession, many employers are making five key employee retention mistakes.

Mistake #1: Assuming employees "won't dare now leave due to the recession."

Many organizations have discontinued their employee retention programs, figuring they aren't needed because their employees would be crazy to leave now.

While it's true that most of your good employees won't leave now, some employers lose some of their most valuable employees during downturns and recessions.

Why?

Having already undergone several waves of layoffs, many organizations now operate as lean as possible, continuing to employ only their critical skills and best performing employees.

If even one of those key or high performing employees leaves, the impact can be significant.

Every time there's more bad economic news, reduced customer orders, or another layoff, many employees ask themselves, "I wonder if I'll be next?"

If another employer, possibly one of your competitors, can offer them a job with more security, don't you think some employees will at least consider it?

Or, if their families are complaining about increased workloads and time away from home, including nights and weekends, and another employer can offer a job with improved work-life balance, won't some consider it?

Is this really the time to potentially risk losing the employees who are getting you through the recession?

You want to be looking for ways to better serve and retain customers, not dealing with costly employee turnover.

Reason #2: Assuming other employers aren't hiring or making strategic job offers.

Many organizations have kept only their most valuable employees: the ones with the most skills, knowledge, expertise, important customer relationships, and highest productivity.

All of these are things other employers, especially competitive ones, value.

Even though their talent management plans don't include hiring new employees now, some employers will make special allowances to hire valuable employees away from key competitors.

And, it's also not unheard of for companies to terminate one or more existing employees in order to gain another employer's "star."

Mistake #3: Not talking with your best employees about how they're coping.

Many high performing employees were already working to full capacity before the recession; now, many of them have even more demands and responsibilities.

Meet with them one-to-one in private, asking questions like these:

1) Do they feel overloaded or overwhelmed? If so, what might help reduce this? Can some of their work or projects be delegated to others?

2) Have their families complained about the hours they're working?

3) What would they like from you to help them work more comfortably and effectively?

4) If they were going to consider leaving the organization within the next 6 months, what might make them do so? (Don't be afraid to ask this question fearing you're putting thoughts in their heads that aren't already there. They'll appreciate your honesty).

5) How do they describe their relationship with their immediate boss?

While this dialogue is always important, it's especially important now; it helps establish relationships of open communication and trust which is one most of the most effective employee retention strategies there is.

Mistake #4: Not paying enough attention to the relationships between employees and their immediate bosses.

Research has continually shown that the quality of the relationship employees have with their immediate boss is the number one reason they leave.

If their boss places more and more demands on them while treating them as less than a valuable asset during a difficult economy, this will prompt some employees to look now, or decide to leave once the recession's over.

Train managers how to retain good employees; make retention part of their job descriptions; and make good employee retention at least 25% to 33% of their bonuses. Employee turnover will usually decrease.

Notice that the one-to-one conversations previously recommended can help you uncover concerns in this area.

Mistake #5: Assuming employees will stay once the recession's over.

Just because capable employees don't leave during the recession, you can't assume they won't leave once it's over.

Because they often do.

After several past economic downturns and recessions, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), reported that two-thirds or more of employees intended to seek new employers.

When the economy improves, you don't want to be spending resources on employee recruitment to hire and train replacement employees, you want to take advantage of increased business and recoup lost revenues.

Avoiding these five employee retention mistakes will help you avoid spending tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars and substantial amounts of administrative time.

Having staff attrition situations? Talk to our talent retention & HR consultancy in Singapore. Visit here.

Eight Powerful Strategies To Retain Clients, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Do you practice strategic thinking in your marketing efforts? Do you develop client-retention strategies, in addition to strategies to gain new clients? If you answered NO to these questions, you may want to rethink the way you are doing your marketing. My experience indicates that a strategic approach to client retention is underutilized and therefore a great deal of energy, time, talent and money is being wasted in marketing efforts seeking new clients and ignoring or giving "second rate" efforts to retaining existing clients.

Let me share an example of the dramatic effects of a small improvement in client-retention. If you increase your customer base by 20 percent and retain 85 percent of your customers, your net customer gain is 5 percent. However, if you institute a customer-retention program the next year and your customer base increases by the same 20 percent but you increase your retention rate to 90 percent, you now have a 10 percent net increase in customers, which is twice the size of the previous year's growth.

Do you practice strategic thinking in your marketing efforts? Do you develop client-retention strategies, in addition to strategies to gain new clients? If you answered NO to these questions, you may want to rethink the way you are doing your marketing. My experience indicates that a strategic approach to client retention is underutilized and therefore a great deal of energy, time, talent and money is being wasted in marketing efforts seeking new clients and ignoring or giving "second rate" efforts to retaining existing clients. Long-term clients tend to feel more satisfied, and are more likely to refer others and purchase additional services from you. A strategic thinking approach to client-retention will produce outstanding results. Your strategic thinking business coach offers eight powerful strategies for client-retention.

Strategy #1: Clearly focus your marketing efforts on existing clients. This is where your time, energy and financial resources will be best spent since it takes less time, money & energy to retain a client than to acquire a new client.

Strategy #2: Develop and implement a strategic client contact management system. Stay in touch with your clients in a consistent and professional manner.

Strategy #3: Always follow through on the commitments you make to your clients. You will earn their loyalty and trust by doing what you say you will do.

Strategy #4: Know your customer! Commit to connecting with them and to finding out more about them so you may determine how better to serve them.

Strategy #5: Commit to being a life-long learner. As you focus on gaining new knowledge, new skills, and new experiences, you will have more to offer your clients. The more you have to offer, the more they will benefit. And the more they benefit, the higher your value to them.

Strategy #6: Seek feedback and suggestions from your clients. By asking what they think, you are demonstrating that you value their opinions and ideas.

Strategy #7: Be a resource for your clients. Share ideas, resources and contacts that will provide value to your clients.

Strategy #8: Develop and implement an appreciation and/or recognition program for your clients. This can be a real opportunity to be creative without spending a large amount of money.

Your strategic thinking business coach encourages you to use strategic thinking in developing a client-retention program. If you would like to learn more about the power of client retention as a strategy to grow your business and how a strategic thinking business coach can facilitate and guide you in that endeavor, please contact Glenn Ebersole today through his website at http://www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com

Facing talent attrition situations? Talk to our talent management & HR consultancy in Singapore. Visit here.

10 Ways to Retain Your Top Talent

If LaBron James decided to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for another team, the performance of that franchise would drop like a rock. This is the case for any business, no matter what business you're in. Studies have shown that losing any of the top 10% of your performers has 5-10 times more impact on your business than losing your average performers. With that in mind, here are 10 strategies for keeping your best people:

(1) Go to your best people right now and do a pre-exit interview. Don't wait for them to get a call from a headhunter or to come to you saying that "I've decided to resign." Be proactive and ask them in a one on one: "What are the factors that will cause you to stay?" Ask them to warn you if they become unhappy.

(2) Verbally ask them to rate their current job on a 1-10 scale on the factors below. And then ask them what corrective steps could be taken to raise any problem scores to a 10:
(a) My job provides honest, frequent two way communication
(b) My job provides challenging exciting work
(c) My job provides opportunities to grow and learn
(d) In my job, I know my work makes a difference
(e) In my job, I'm recognized and rewarded for my performance
(f) I have some degree of control over my job

(3) Ask them to describe their ideal job or where they would like to be in 1-2 years. Then work with them to develop a plan to get them there.

(4) Tie pay to staying with the company and their performance results. Money is never the only reason that people leave. Generally leadership screws up something first...then money begins to get their attention. Fix the job first or address their career concerns and then if you give them more money tie it to their results so that they don't end up staying..."well paid but dissatisfied and uncommitted!"

(5) Develop programs that bond them to affinity groups. One of the hardest things to leave in a job is their close friends. By developing affinity groups (sports, professional groups, play, ethnic, gay and other shared interests) you help build bonds beyond the job that are difficult to break.

(6) Sponsor programs for their spouses, friends and children. Puts more people on the team -- besides the Company -- working towards getting them to stay with the organization.

(7) Develop a list of "motivators" for each employee you want to retain. Non-monetary motivators are powerful but most managers are not aware of what motivates an employee. Develop a list (through trial and error as well as asking them and friends) and use it to keep them satisfied.

(8) Reward managers and teams for retention. What gets measured gets done. Managers seldom have time to do things that are not measured. So reward managers and business teams for keeping high performers and key talent.

(9) Use "pulse surveys. Do periodic e-mail surveys of a sample of employees to get a "pulse" of the organization. This helps to identify new issues and trouble spots.

(10) Get rid of bad managers. Remember, that most top performers don't want to work for bad managers who are insecure, not challenging or developing them. If you have managers who are not good at developing, inspiring or supporting top talent...get rid of them or at a minimum move them to a new assignment where they don't have to develop people.

Having talent attrition situations? Talk to our talent management & HR advisory consultancy in Singapore. Website here.

Talent Management - Saving Your Workforce

As I am passionate about helping great people, and great companies, do great things, I hope to inspire you today to think about the changes your company has gone through in the last few years, think about your employees, and consider whether you are at risk of losing your talented workforce. As we all know, companies will soon be facing a war on talent. As we revamp and enhance positions, eventually, the number of qualified candidates will start to fall short of your new minimum job requirements. Add to the mix, the stressors of the economy, the tightening of expenses, winning the war on talent might look grim.

Let me just highlight some facts and figures about our talent.

Via Deloitte 2010 Ethics & Workplace Survey, a third of our employees plan to look for work when the economy turns around. Turnover cost is as low as 93% of the exiting employee's salary, but could run as high as 200%, according a 2000 Costing Human Resources study by Wayne F. Cascio. To put this into perspective, a small company that has 20 to 99 employees, with an average salary of $53,000 could be spend up to$300K to $1.6M on turnover cost alone. Not only is this draining on your resources, but, your pockets too.

The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) indicates via June's 2011 LINE Report recruitment difficulty is up 8.6% and 13.1% from a year ago for the manufacturing and service sectors, perspective. Contributing factors for the recruitment difficulties are linked to "new or enhanced skill requirements", according to SHRM. In addition, the report also highlights an increase in new hire compensation.

The psyche of the workforce has changed tremendously. Before even arriving to our doorsteps for work, employees are dealing with foreclosures, the fear of being unemployed, the rising cost of health care, dealing with and making arrangement for their ailing parent, and lastly, some are struggling to feed their families. Walking through our doorsteps, the internal psyche of the workforce has changed. The workforce is being asked to do more with less. Pay cuts, demotions, elimination of merit increase and RIFs are taking a toll.

Employees, while being asked to go that extra mile, are resentful as companies have taken precaution to protect the bottom line. While being unemployed is certainly the worse outcome, employees are feeling the pressures to exceed production standards in hope the company does not need to take further actions. Finally, these are definitely new times for all of us. As a result of our tough times, training budgets have been slashed and with it companies are finding their supervisory /management staffs are untrained to deal with the stressed, overworked, and resentful workforce.

Let's recap: a third of our staff will look for new work when the economy turns around; turnover costs are 93% to 200% of the exiting employee's salary; recruitment is becoming difficult because of "new and enhanced skill requirement"; the workforce psyche has changed and finally our management teams are untrained to deal with this new type of staff. The makings of a fierce war are upon us and the fight to attract and retain talent is around the corner. So, where do we go from here? I say, don't get into the battle but rather beat it before it gets to you. Give your employees reason to stay with you. Focus your attention on wellness, engagement and retention strategies.

Wellness statistics are all over the internet. Forbes.com, April 2006, reported for every $1 invested in a wellness program, saves $3 in health care costs. Wellness programs are not all that hard to start and implement. Employees can even organize and runs these programs w/minimal oversight. Consider how easy it is to start a walking group. Sponsor the group to walk for a cause. Or, make healthy eating a priority for the whole company by initiating a monthly 'Healthy Eating Potluck Competition'. The competition is based on nutritional value/calories and taste. Weight loss can be a subcategory of healthy eating. Other initiatives could include an anti-smoking campaign, stress reduction and going green. The upside of a wellness program is the reduction in health care cost, both for you, as the employer, and for your employee. Also, letting your employees organize and run it, you engage and commit your staff to each other. An employee, who "fits" within a company, will stay with their company.

Engagement strategies align employees to the vision of the company. Let me go deeper. An engagement strategy shifts the success, the ownership of success, to employees. For example, Intel has shifted the responsibility of their social media and blogs to employees. Based on employee performance, employees are trained, via a five level certification program, on how to respond to questions while continuously branding the company (Galagan, Pat., "Ready or Not?" T+D, May 2010, p. 29-31). KPMG, well known for their recruitment efforts, have included employees to share with the world why KPMG is such a great place to work at (Galagan, P).

To increase employee engagement, create an environment that inspires employees to unleash their talents and lead. Job satisfaction increases as employees are learning and enhancing their career experiences. Create new and exciting positions; target your middle management (as they are the least engaged), provide challenging work, and create a culture of daily learning. There is a basic need at play here which is often over looked; we as, individuals, are thirsty to learn.

Lastly, knowing recruitment costs are high, recruitment of new talent is harder today than it was a year ago, and recognizing it's going to get worse, a retention strategy will be key. Tomorrow's workforce, via core competencies, will be very different. Unlike the past, we are now asking, more like requiring, our workforce to be more analytical, intuitive, decision-oriented, and educated. As part of your retention strategy, work with your executive team to identify your future's core competencies. Then help educate your staff and prepare them for the company's future. Develop career paths or advancement opportunities (i.e. succession planning). Re-evaluate your tuition reimbursement and make it more accessible to employees. And finally, recognized beyond compensation, such as, for your true high performers provide them with the benefits of working from home, allocate extra time to work on a special project (a project that the employee wants to do), and/or let them run a wellness project.

To ask if your company is at risk for a turnover crisis, ask yourself these questions: Have you eliminated merit increases and/or change your compensation plan? Did you cut pay? Did you demote or reduce your workforce? If your answers are yes, to any of these questions, then the answer is yes, you are indeed at risk. If your answers were no, you are still probably at risk. Consider this, job requirements are being enhanced and minimum requirements are increasing. Employees today are falling short of the new minimum requirements, not to mention, colleges will soon fall short of awarding degrees than the US future demand. Key strategic positions will be harder to fill which will ever so fuel the war on talent. If that is not enough to inspire action, via your HR Team, coordinate a company-wide survey. Ask the hard hitting questions, discover your own truth and may you win the battle.

Having staff attrition challenges? Talk to our talent management & HR advisory consultancy in Singapore. Click here.