Boom or Bust Part III: 4 Ways to Retain Key Talent in a Competitive Market

In the third part of our 4-part series, we are focusing on how to retain your employees since they provide real value to your business every day. The ideas we’ve outlined below are intended to help you find ways to keep your employees fulfilled in their current positions in a tight job market.

1. Analyze Compensation Market Studies

There are industry, functional and role-specific compensation studies that are prepared by a number of recognized HR, Recruitment and Consulting Firms that you can access. These studies provide you and your management team with benchmarking of both monetary and non-monetary compensation ranges that can be functional and role-specific within different geographies. This data offers an ability to analyze where the company currently stands in the job market as well as defining where they desire to be from a competitive standpoint when defining compensation and benefit plans.

Key Takeaway: Research different benchmarking studies to find the one that best suits your business.

2. Prepare a Compensation Summary Statement

You can design a document that outlines the numeric value of each employee’s individual compensation package. Normally this is a part of annual compensation reviews. For example, base salary + incentive compensation + long-term incentive compensation + health insurance contribution + 401K match, etc.  Providing this type of information not only reminds your employee of their current compensation structure, but also improves their perception of the total value the company is providing to them in return for their work.  Benchmarking data can also be included to add additional context.

Key Takeaway: Create a document, specifically tailored to each employee, that shows their overall compensation package. Include benchmarking data, if applicable, for context.

3. Mission, Vision & Purpose as an Emotional Appeal

Focus on the “Why?”  Many employees place significant value in understanding how the company they work for makes the world a better place and how their role contributes to the mission and vision. Defining and regularly discussing these concepts can engage employees in a much deeper way, beyond their compensation and benefits package.

Key Takeaway: Regularly tie the overall mission and vision of the company back to your employee’s work so they know they are providing real value and making a difference with the work they produce.

4. Understanding the Paradigm Shift in a Millennial World

Creating promotional opportunities, in a true team-oriented environment where individual contributions are recognized and rewarded, drive today’s employee base. Fostering this type of inclusive environment with regular rewards and recognition for achievement is key for employers in cultivating strong retention in today’s business world.  Professional freedom is also demanded in today’s business environment. Investing in these practices while maintaining, appropriate levels of employee accountability, can serve to drive a strong culture and employee retention. 

Key Takeaway: Create promotional opportunities for employees, as well as, regular rewards and recognition. Freedom in the workplace is highly desired, so ensure you’re making investments in this area to drive strong employee retention.

We’ve shared several ways, but there are dozens more to retain key talent in your business. The most important focus should be on providing your employees with a safe and comfortable working environment where they feel heard and know they have a positive impact in the mission and vision of the business.