How to Keep Your People from Getting Poached

Alexas_Fotos / Pixabay

Have you found yourself relying on the performance of a star employee?

It’s the sales rockstar who always crushes their goal.

It’s the marketer who creates viral blog posts in their sleep.

It’s the assistant who runs your schedule (and by proxy, your life).

They are fantastic, and their contributions can’t be overstated. There’s just one problem – what happens if they quit?

Whether you’re worried about top talent getting poached by the competition or merely getting antsy and ready to move on, keeping your best people is one of the most important things you do. It’s a hard balance to strike, because you want your employees to know they are valued – but even the idea of them leaving would create a company-wide headache.

So how do you keep your best team members around?

We’re here to help ensure you keep your best people on your team for the long game with seven data-driven strategies.

Professional development is non-negotiable

Train your people and then keep training them. As a Millenial, once I feel like I’ve hit the top of the learning curve, I know it’s time to move on. By continuing to present challenges that require additional skills, you’ll keep your people longer.

Management is vital

If employees are nervous about talking to managers, they aren’t going to feel comfortable asking for what they need in order to both perform the job well and be happy in that position.

Good managers lead from the center, partnering with employees to ensure they can accomplish great work together.

Let them work remotely

At a minimum, creating a policy that allows for more flexible hours will sway parents and other workers who have obligations that should justifiably be treated as a priority from looking elsewhere.

There’s so much data coming to the same simple conclusion – employees who work remotely work better and longer and are happier. If that’s the case, you have no reason to secretly fear someone isn’t getting the work done. (They are too busy making sure they get to keep their remote privileges.)

Of all of the ideas here, this is the one most likely to keep people around, particularly when they are starting families and are focused on more than just work.

Make the culture so good they don’t want to go

I’m not talking about a keg and a ping pong table in the break room. By focusing on essentials, like creating an environment of respect where managers listen and sharing ideas is valued, you’ll be on your way to

You have the opportunity to create a culture where risk is rewarded and failure is an opportunity for growth. And your team will love you for it.

Make room for growth

No one wants to feel like they are working a dead-end job. Create additional avenues for employees to take on new responsibilities, projects, learn new skills, and more.

Hot Tip: Training doesn’t have to be expensive to be useful. Sites like Coursera and Mogul offer great free classes that can be taken online.

Enable entrepreneurs

If you want to keep entrepreneurial talent on or team (and you do), make it clear those contributions are valued. HBR recommends funding their projects in-house, letting them take the lead on new initiatives, and allowing them to help your company innovate.

The worst that happens is it doesn’t work out, and they know you trust them to try new things.

Make sure there is meaning

Millenials make up the largest part of the workforce now (and the majority of Prialto employees for that matter). And if they don’t find meaning in what they do, they’ll leave to find it somewhere else.

HBR has recommendations here on how to best keep Millenials happy and fulfilled at work here. (Hint: It’s the same stuff the rest of the workforce wants.)

You can keep your people from getting poached – it isn’t rocket science.

By providing the kind of environment that allows humans – not just employees – to thrive, you’ll be setting your company up for success.

Source: B2C