The current attrition in the aerospace industry is 9.6%, and attrition in software companies is over 13%. (Linkedin, 2018). We cannot afford to lose the talented people on our teams! But there are things we can do as leaders to keep more of our talent.
Giving employees a sense of mission, actively driving development of your team members, and driving a culture of recognition are key elements in retaining the talent in your organization. Retaining talented employees calls for intentional effort.
Companies that score in the top 20% for building a “recognition-rich culture” actually had 31% lower voluntary turnover rates (Forbes, 2012). This resonates with my personal experience as well – in my current organization, we have been focusing on making our reward and recognition events Prompt, Personal, and Public, and our attrition is almost half of the industry average:
Prompt
Immediately celebrate the win, or reinforce the right leadership behaviors when you see it happen. We don’t celebrate birthdays weeks after the event! Making your reward as close to the action as possible ensures that employees feel valued for their extraordinary efforts. Don’t let your employee go home after working four weekends in a row on the most critical project in your team, without feeling appreciated for this extraordinary effort – recognizing this months later reduces the impact of the celebration.
Public
You will make a much bigger impact on your organization if everyone is made aware of the recognition. If your employees do not see the recognition, they will assume it isn’t happening in your team. You must continually reinforce the outcomes and behaviors that you expect your team to demonstrate – when I see people rewarded for something, it reorients me to focus my attention on those same outcomes if I want to be recognized!
Personal
Create a recognition experience that the employee will never forget! This takes a little more effort, but comes with a perpetual payoff! This requires you to really know your employees, and really sends a message of appreciation when the reward is targeted specifically toward them. Give them a gift certificate to a sportsman’s store if they like fishing, attendance to that one technical conference they never could attend but always wanted, or a day off with a one day car rental for that car they can’t afford but always talk about in the cafeteria.
Great leaders ensure their employees feel appreciated! As a manager, getting creative with these rewards is often the most fun part of the week!
Take a moment to review some thought-starter ideas for recognition that your employees will really appreciate: “25 Rewards That Great Employees Actually Love to Receive,” and watch this <video clip> of author Chip Heath talking about creating those moments that will have a life-long impact on your employees!
Some examples of how we recognize excellence in my team:
- A trophy and dinner to the “Power Supply Wizard,” Robert Iben, who designed an incredible power supply in our next generation radar product – to this day people walk by his desk and call him “the wizard.”
- A gift certificate to Cabella’s for Justin Amsden for winning the “Producibility Champion of the Year” a handful of activities that made it easier for our factory to produce our products. He appreciates heading out-doors whenever he gets a chance!
- Auto detailing equipment to Juan Aquino for driving our being the “Trusted Expert of the Year” and deploying our rapid prototyping “concierge service” across the organization – he loves his wheels.
Only 8% of people say their companies are very effective at creating personalized, flexible rewards (Deloitte, 2018). Ninety-three percent of employees who reported feeling valued said that they are motivated to do their best at work, and 88 percent that feel valued put in extra effort beyond regular work hours (APA, 2012). If you want an organization that gets results, be the rare company that understands how to recognize people in a way that is Prompt, Public, and Personal!