Will they stay or will they go in the New Year?

Up to 40% of the team will make a resolution to change jobs in the New Year.

**A successful performance management system can make sure that YOUR people are the exception!**‍

We’re well and truly into ‘resolution-season. It’s that very strange time of year when we all solemnly promise ourselves that we’re going to lose weight, get fit, take up a new hobby, take better care of our finances – and a whole host of other perennial favourites.

It’s estimated that up to 40% of the workforce will join in the process, resolving to improve their working situation over the coming year. For some, they may intend jumping ship completely, while others may simply crave a move within their organisation or a bump up in responsibility.

Equally, some of those who make resolutions about their working life may be extremely serious about leaving, while for others, it’s just a repetition of what they pledged last year and the year before, without any real prospect of turning their resolution into reality.

But why take a risk with people? Why give them the opportunity to even contemplate a move that will be costly for your business on a whole range of fronts? There’s the financial cost of replacing them, the hassle of training a new hire, and the inevitable and unsettling prospect of the ‘domino effect’ when someone decides to make a move, it often prompts others to consider the same.

To give yourself the best prospect of avoiding a talent drain in the new year, here are our top three tips.

By far your best retention tool is your company’s strong and positive culture. Company culture has always been a hugely important factor in retaining the best talent. It is a summary of how you value them, how you foster them, how you develop them, and how you reward them? It’s easily created and protected – particularly with the help of a performance management system that helps scale your culture.

In today’s climate, culture is more important than ever. There are inevitable changes afoot in the world of work, and what we once regarded as ‘the typical workforce’ is changing at an exponential rate.

And regardless of whether companies are returning to the office full-time, staying with a virtual model, or opting for a hybrid combination of the two, the very nature of work is being redesigned in a way that we haven’t seen since the industrial revolution.

If your culture doesn’t actively encourage serious levels of flexibility and choice for the team, you’re putting yourself at risk. Similarly, if you’re not prepared to treat the team as adults with trust and honesty – including those working remotely – then unrest is almost inevitable.

Your reputation is everything. The massive changes in work practices of the past eighteen months have not actually been caused by Covid. They were coming anyway, and have been accelerated by a decade or more with the arrival of the pandemic. People are no longer competing for jobs - companies are competing for people.

And one of the most obvious things that any potential employee will do before entertaining you as a prospective employer is to check you out. Platforms like Glassdoor or Indeed make this simplicity itself. It’s also super-simple to find friends who work in your company or your Industry and ask them whether they’re prepared to recommend you as a great place to work.

There’s simply no faking it these days. So if you want ‘outsiders’ to view you as an employer that excels, it starts with your ‘insiders’. With a performance management system such as Frankli, you can very easily find out how you stand with people whether via anonymous engagement surveys or as part of continuous or regular reviews. And if the answers you get are not what you hoped for, at least you’re forewarned and in a position to do something about it!

Money can’t buy you love. The Beatles were right all along! You can’t retain employees by simply offering more money, more perks or a promotion. It may work in the short term, but it’s not a long-term strategy for promoting ‘stickiness’.

Paradoxically, people who are considering a move frequently want more responsibility rather than more money, or a role in the company that lets them feel they’re making a more meaningful contribution, or perhaps they long for a boss who has a real and personal connection with them and cares for their ongoing development.

And last but not least, people value a feeling of empowerment over money. They want the autonomy and the trust to push themselves to the limits of their talent – without being micro-managed and treated as schoolchildren.

If you would like to read more on the topic of empowering your people. Then why not download our free eBook, 10 Ways To Empower Your People, right here.

For further information on how Frankli can help you to implement a performance management system, please contact Clair directly or schedule in a quick demo.