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 talent
retention &
team building
FAQ's
with a
difference ...
Beyond
FAQ's
Unlike many FAQ sections, this one is
intended to be an interactive knowledge exchange about talent retention and team
building during stressful times. The questions below are
real-time queries that have been submitted to us, within the context of our
team-building work, our newsletter, or our websites. If you have a question or
an experience that would interest other readers about any aspect of talent
retention, please feel free to email it to:
crg@on.aibn.com
While we can't promise every
submission will be published here or in the Talent Retention & Team Building newsletter, we do promise a speedy response by email
if you request it.
Your Talent Retention & Team
Building Questions
Q. During the past 6 months, we've hired over
20 campus recruits for various business units. Several of us managers have
noticed that these younger workers are starting to come to work with outrageous
hair, tattoos, and weird clothes. How can we put a stop to this without
risking the loss of these very bright ... but very strange looking ... young
workers?
A. Dress codes have
challenged organizations for decades — from scandalously short "flapper"
dresses during the 1920s, to ironed straight hair in the 60s, to body piercing
in the 90s. It will likely be a never-ending source of generational
tension. So you might want to do your homework before launching any dress
code battles. For instance, did you know that for the first time in
organizational history, we have FOUR generations working side by side?
This has never happened before, so it's no surprise that managers are feeling
challenged by this generational mix within their teams.
Our best advice is to
objectively assess whether the "weirdness" is truly a problem for your work
environment, your safety policies or your client service. Try to find ways
to work around the issue, and avoid an all-out confrontation. You won't
win, and you probably do have the best candidates in those jobs. You'll be
losing top talent during a time when this GenerationY age group is positioned to
begin taking over the labor market, one baby boomer at a time. You might
win this battle, but definitely not the looming talent war. Our
Beyond Generations™
workshop might be a good starting point. It'll help
you understand what makes GenY (and the other 3 groups) tick, and how to value
this diversity and leverage it to your advantage. Good luck — we'd be
interested in an update from you in a few months.
Q. Our company is in the middle of a
significant organizational change. Our employees initially had a strong
negative reaction, but now seem quite OK with everything. It actually
feels a little weird that they adjusted so quickly. Is this normal, and
should we just "count our blessings" that they have quieted down?
A. Any time change hits ...
personal or organizational ... people progress through predictable stages of
responding to change. Without knowing more about the specifics of your
workforce and the change initiative, it's tricky to make a diagnosis.
However, we strongly caution you not to be lulled into any sense of security
that the employees are really "OK with everything." Our
Beyond Change™ program for employees
helps them, and their leaders, understand that we all go through natural,
normal, and healthy stages when we are hit with change. Problems arise
when people get stuck in any of the stages. My guess is that they have
progressed through the initial stage of "Shock" and may be at risk for getting
stuck in the "Denial" stage. It is one of the most difficult stages to
identify, given the very nature of the "I'm OK" behaviors. You'll know
when they, collectively or individually, move into the third stage by their
almost obsessive focus on "me" issues. Keep alert, because a workforce
stuck in Denial is one of the most difficult change management challenges that
you'll ever face. Let us know how you do.
Q. Why do you suggest that positive change needs a
talent retention or team building strategy? If it's good thing, people should be happy, so
why be concerned about talent retention or teamwork?
A. Always remember: all and any
change disrupts the status quo. Don't be lulled into a false sense of
security just because it's a good thing. Positive change in organizations
often means growth. Growth means that job functions and teamwork must change to
accommodate that expansion. Newer workers will be charging ahead, wanting to
find their "piece of the ground floor." More experienced workers will be
scrambling to catch up with the new requirements. Left unmanaged, this is
second only to downsizing for employee stress levels. Our Beyond Careers™
program provides talent retention and team building solutions for all aspects of this puzzling
career paradox. It shows employees how to be more in charge of their own
careers during any kind of organizational change that impacts team building and talent retention.
Q. How can we hang on to key people during a very bad
corporate scandal with far too much negative media coverage?
A. At the risk of sounding glib, we
actually have some "magic bullets" for this talent retention and team
building challenge.
While these kinds of organizational events are excruciatingly uncomfortable, there
are pragmatic team building solutions that you can rely on, every step of the way.
You'll need an out-of-the-box communications strategy, absolute clarity about
your critical priorities, a program for cementing employee commitment, and a
plan for how to do all this at warp speed. Our
P*U*S*H for Talent™ team building program gives leaders
talent retention guidelines for all of these strategies. Plus, they get a logical, methodical approach
to dealing with all the "squishy" stuff that always creates havoc with morale
and employee commitment.
Q. Our company has a turnover rate of over 40% for new
campus recruits in the first three years of their employment. I'm told
"new blood" is good for the business and not to be concerned. What do you
think?
A. Don't believe it for a second!
In today's world, the corporate memory is an endangered species. With the kind
of turnover you're talking about, who's going to be the depository for the
intellectual assets of your company (research says you have until 3 years to
figure this out)? Boomers are already heading out to the beach or the cottage in
droves. Generation X hasn't exactly gotten a great team-building welcome from your older,
wiser workers ... anyway, they have always been committed to a transactional
career - quid pro quo all the way. As those new hires are "voting with
their feet," your competitive advantage is becoming as endangered as your
corporate memory. Studies prove that GenX and GenY can be as loyal to your
organization as any group. Our
Beyond Generations™ program gives your team
leaders the talent retention and team building
tools to understand how to
value these new workers ― differently ― and stop the brain drain. Plus, your
leaders get talent retention ideas for bridging the generation gap between all of the unprecedented
FOUR generations causing today's new team building challenge.
Q. What do you mean by "Quit-&-Stay"?
A. This is CRG's new definition of two
categories of talent loss during change: 1) employees who
Quit-&-Leave™ and 2) employees who Quit-&-Stay.™ [By the way, this is
true of executives as well.] Quit-&-Stayers™ hunker down into "Survivor"
mode and wait for the storm to blow over. Unfortunately, the dust will never
settle, because this is it … the new reality. The best they can do now is to
look for ways to make some of the turmoil work for them. Find the opportunities
that always come with change. Otherwise, their Survivor mindset will cause a
meltdown in team productivity and team morale that will take years of recovery, which
you do not have in these days of rapid-fire change. To further magnify
the damage, Quit-&-Stayers eventually progress onward to Quit-&-Leave.™
Our Beyond Change™
program gives both leaders and team members the talent retention and team
building tools to move
beyond merely surviving, to actuallyïthrivingđduring
change. This talent retention skill set will last a lifetime, for both professional
and personal team building applications.
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