It’s Not a Program, It’s a Community!

Don’t we all too often love to make the simple, complicated, and profound!

In a bye-gone era, we did not need to consider keeping and retaining people as they had job security with pensions and benefits. Whether we blame it on COVID, generations, values, or, as Milli Vanilli sang, “Blame it on the Rain,” in a knowledge-based economy, it is about much more than these three things.

Retention can reflect the old Cheers song, “Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name.”

In the context of this theme, we would change it to “sometimes you wanna STAY where everyone knows your name, sometimes you wanna BE, where everyone knows your name”.

Imagine a hockey or soccer team that is all goalies, a baseball team of all catchers; any chance for that team to go to the finals? This is not rocket science. Yet many times, organizations spend years and thousands of dollars on training, team building, EI, EQ, and a never-ending list, without the lasting impact hoped for.

People tend to remain where they feel welcome, belong, and have a sense of community.

Some simple, implementable ideas to start:

• • First, only ask if you want to know the answer! (And that may require some changes on your part).

  • Second, if you do not like the answer, please do not get upset with them.

  • Ask yourself why someone would want to work at your organization? Then be completely honest, why do you work there?

  • Ask people why they would want to work for your organization? Not why do they, but why would someone want to? Silence is an answer as it speaks volumes.

  • At the start of a meeting, especially with leadership or colleagues, discuss your organization as a place where people would want to work.

Is the answer what you wanted to receive? When the answer and the other line up, you’ve got a place where retention will not be a challenge; everyone wants to be there.

If the response is still in the old mindset, then retaining the people you want to keep will be a challenge.

Please, do not make the simple, profound. 

Since work consumes the majority of time we spend in an average day, make it the place where you keep your best, grow the business where people want to work, and have a leadership team that people want to follow.