Are your best employees waiting to jump ship? A new study says they are. Are you ready?

I’ve been advising companies on this for almost two years, and now the latest employee benefits study by Met Life (as recently reported in USA Today) confirms it:

Employee loyalty is the lowest it’s been in three years, and despite what employers think, your best employees are on the hunt for a new job!

If that doesn’t scare you, maybe this will: A second study shows that more than one in three employees expect to jump ship and find a new job within the next six months.

Are you doing all you can to keep and retain your top employees?

And, if a key employee announces his or her resignation tomorrow, do you have a hiring strategy in place to respond quickly so your business doesn’t miss a beat?

Four Simple Steps for Influencing Employee Loyalty

Much has been written over the years about influencing employee loyalty. In my experience, culled from almost two decades in the recruiting and staffing industry, here are the four most important things you can do to hang on to your top employees. Some of these may seem obvious – but these are the themes I hear over and over again from top-tier managers who are currently employed but are actively searching for a new job.

1. Keep your key employees challenged and engaged.
One thing star performers all have in common is that they are always looking for that next big professional challenge. Don’t let your competition lure your top talent away with the promise of bigger and better challenges (and, consequently, bigger and better rewards). Instead, seek out meaningful “stretch opportunities” that will motivate and challenge your top performers to reach even bigger heights.

2. Recognize excellent performance.
One thing the recession has taught us is that workers at all levels of an organization will roll up their sleeves and work longer and harder for the good of the team—but the minute they feel that their efforts are being taken advantage of, they are quick to start looking for employment elsewhere. Smart employers know that a little recognition goes a very long way toward building and fostering loyalty. Recognition need not require a financial reward; in fact, one “success story” involved a boss at a large insurance company who came in on a Saturday with a team of  other company executives to wash and wax his employees’ cars by hand while they worked extra hours in the underwriting center to catch up on a backlog of files. I’m not saying that you have to start singing ‘At the car wash…’ but g oabove and beyond to recognize those who have gone above and beyond!

3. Say “thank you.”
Again, this seems obvious, doesn’t it? But you would be surprised how many employees make a move to jump ship when they feel that their efforts aren’t noticed or appreciated. A workplace culture of appreciation and civility goes a long way—especially in a time when so many companies are requiring more of their employees and expending fewer resources.

4. Find ways to help your top employees further develop their skills.
A body of research shows that the more a company invests in its employees, the more time and effort employees invest back in the company. Does your company provide skill-building and advanced learning opportunities? Do you encourage a culture of life-long learning? Do you cultivate mentoring relationships between more junior and senior leaders or provide executive coaching opportunities to help your team achieve their very best?

What If They Leave Anyway?

Of course, in today’s battle among employers to secure top echelon talent, no retention strategy is entirely bulletproof. Even if you follow the above tips to a “tee,” you may nonetheless find yourself in a situation where a key employee or two resigns for a more lucrative opportunity and you never even saw it coming.

When this happens, I can help you develop a hiring strategy and create a performance profile of your ideal candidate, and then tap into my vast network of high-achieving professional candidates who are actively seeking new career challenges or who are simply open to exploring new opportunities. We tap into this network, which we have cultivated over time and experience, to deliver a hand-picked slate of “A list” candidates for your consideration. Our work is not done, and we do not rest, until we find the right candidate for your company.  

Contact me today to discuss your company’s hiring needs—whether you are currently seeking to fill a new position or whether, like the article referenced above, you are simply wishing to be proactive in the event that a key employee opts to leave so your business won’t miss a beat.

Clean Up Your Hiring Practices: Marni Shines a Flashlight into the Dark Corners of Recruiting Practices That are Not in Your Company’s Best Interest

With the snow finally melting (hopefully!), we can say with some confidence that spring is just around the corner!

Whether you and your family head for warmer climates for a spring break trip, whether you are on a cleaning and organizing kick at home, or whether you are already mentally plotting out your garden, spring for many of us is time of “refreshing” and “renewing.”

Having made it through the first quarter of the year, many businesses also are in a mode of “refreshing” – making important decisions now in order to refresh the bottom line by introducing new initiatives, ideas and innovations for the remainder of the year and beyond.   

Selecting the right search firm is one of the most important business decisions your company will ever make. Executive Recruiters hold the key to influencing corporations and winning the war for talent. Unfortunately, many companies do not take appropriate measures to conduct due diligence when selecting a firm.

In the spirit of “spring cleaning,” I shine the flashlight into hidden and dusty corners of the search firm selection process so you can be a more enlightened consumer. Discover what’s hiding in the dark corners of recruiting processes that are not in your best interest!

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
(a.k.a., The ‘Off-Limits’ Policies) 

Most search firms profess to have unparalleled access to top talent. But…is that really true?

It depends on how strictly your search firm adheres to an industry practice called “Off-Limits.”

 

The “Off-limits Policy” is a promise that some search firms make to refrain from recruiting talent from a client company for as long as it’s a client and for a specified period of time (usually 12 to 24 months) after completing the last search assignment.

 

If you’ve ever wondered if your recruiter is able to source the best candidate available in the market, just ask them about their “Off-Limits” policy. When selecting a search firm that specializes in a certain niche or industry, ask to see their client list. There might be some companies on that list that employ talent that could be a good fit for your company, but their hands may be tied and they won’t be able to recruit them for you if they honor their “Off-Limits” policy. When a search firm specializes in a niche industry then their access to a wide talent pool can be crippled by virtue of their “Off-Limits” policy. They can’t (or shouldn’t) rob Peter to pay Paul.

 

Large national and international search firms tout their size as an asset, but actually it can be a liability because their large client list can severely limit your access to top talent. More disturbing is the practice of search firms profiting from offering “protection” – promising not to recruit out critical talent in exchange for your business. Who would want to do business with these “mob-like” ethics at play?

What if your search firm claims that its hands are not tied because they don’t have an “Off-Limits” policy? That’s concerning, isn’t it? Do you really want to pay a search fee to a recruiter, only to have him or her turn around and pluck top talent from your company? And I’ve heard of recruiters who call back into the company where they’ve recruited from, to replace the person that they took away from you. These are practices that are frowned upon by the search firms who uphold our industry behavior standards, and you should ask the hard questions of your recruiting firm to ensure that they are practicing good ethics with your best interests in mind. 

The Fox is in the Hen House
(a.k.a., “We also do Leadership Development”)

During the recession, some Executive Search firms added Executive Development and Coaching services to their portfolio as a way to generate revenue and stay afloat. And who could blame them? It sounds logical on the surface. After all, if an Executive Search firm already has a relationship with a company, wouldn’t it make sense to also coach their leaders? But let’s take a closer look at this business model.

What happens when the search firm is working on some searches where the ideal candidates might be working in the very company where they are doing the leadership coaching? Foxes do get hungry…and they might become tempted to snatch a hen or two to feed a search for another client. Some would point out that the leadership coaches would not ethically serve up tasty candidates to their executive recruiters to feed that side of the business. One would hope not. But why tempt? If your search firm offers other types of services, ask the tough questions. Or…select a firm that focuses on recruitment services and don’t tempt fate.

 

James Bond – Double 007 or Double Agent?

When it is time to select a search firm, many top executives and/or board members bring in the search firms (often the large branded ones) that they have known and worked with for a long time. That makes sense on the surface, as this is a relationship-based business. But once again, let’s dig a little deeper and ask the hard questions about possible cronyism and personal agendas.  

We often hear about top executives and board members who are repeatedly placed by the same search firm or recruiter. Dig deep and we learn that that same executive or board member repeatedly engages the same firm to conduct searches for their company when they go from company to company. Hmmm….is the search firm brought in to conduct searches because their service is outstanding, or…because the executive is simply looking out for his or her own career interests? Are they a “double agent”? Where does this person’s loyalty lie? Are they looking out for their own personal career, or do they have the best interest of their company in mind?

And, once the search firm is brought in how often does the executive actually monitor the service and results of the firm. If the search firm doesn’t meet expectations how hard is it to get rid of them and bring in another firm who will provide better and timelier results? Who checked out the firm’s “Off-Limits” policy? Definitely not the exec that brought the recruiting firm in….otherwise how would he or she get placed in a better job by the same firm?

In conclusion, my intent is not to be a Debby Downer, but rather to guide your company to select the search firm that will work tirelessly for your best interest, not theirs.