PRESIDENTalks: Stopping the Talent Door from Revolving

I recently read an article on www.Forbes.com by Mike Myatt titled 10 Reasons Your Top Talent Will Leave You. Mike points out the 10 reasons why talent leave the organization as well as shares his insights on how to stop the “talent door from revolving”.  Below you will find the 10 reasons.

1. You Failed to Unleash Their Passions
2. You Failed to Challenge Their Intellect
3. You Failed to Engage Their Creativity
4. You Failed to Develop Their Skills
5. You Failed to Give Them A Voice
6. You Failed to Care
7. You Failed to Lead
8. You Failed to Recognize Their Contributions
9. You Failed to Increase Their Responsibility
10. You Failed to Keep Your Commitments

The question I want each of you to think about is, “How does training ensure people stay?” We all know nothing will guarantee people will stay with your organization, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying.

Although I feel each of the failures listed above can be resolved with training, I want to focus on the following three:

Increase Their Responsibility – Not everyone is set out to be the Director of this or CEO of that; however people still need to be challenged to expand. In the absence of the ability to grow vertically, help people grow horizontally. This could be a server working   on the training manual or updating steps of service. A housekeeper inspecting rooms to ensure they meet standards. You can also encourage people to become trainers as well as participate in class room facilitation. By expanding people’s responsibility, you show you value them.

Develop their skills – In the first 90 days, people leave organizations if they do not have the support and resources necessary to do their job. Just because we make it past the first 90 days doesn’t mean we are out of the woods. Continue to look for ways to further develop employees skills and when possible focus on their strengths. Examples include cross training in other departments or positions, registering them for seminars, or simply observing them and providing positive and developmental feedback.

Engage Their Creativity – Seek ways to think outside of the box with them in regards to training. Recently I tasked my team with creating a training event in the form of a haunted house. Though nervous because nothing like this had been done at The BROADMOOR, I quickly became excited when I saw the creative juices flowing from my team. After a month of planning, we had more than 750 people attend this 15 minute training event.

Though training is not always the answer, it can be a part of the solution.  Post your suggestions and thoughts on how you can ensure talented people stay with you.