TOPIC: RETENTION AS A KEY BUSINESS ISSUE

There are more jobs than people and labor pools to fill them. Companies will continue to fight the war for talent for the next several years.

• Each month more than 13 percent of workers quit; this is more than one in seven workers compared to one in ten in 1995.
• The average public company loses half its employees every four years.
• Fifty five percent of US employees think often of quitting or plan to quit within a given year.
• The average time to fill jobs has increased from 41 days to 51 days.
• More than half of organizations report increasing turnover.
• Only nine percent of organizations report their retention efforts as highly successful.
• As many as 75 percent of senior executives say that employee retention is a major concern, only 15 percent have made it a strategic priority.

Many times senior managers and human resource managers believe they have put a retention strategy in place. The first step in positioning retention as a key business issue is assessing your organization. The next step is developing a strategic and comprehensive retention strategy.

TOPIC: MANAGING CHANGE

Today, it is the responsibility for leaders at all levels to know how to manage change. In fact, everyone in a leadership role must take on the challenge of helping his or her organization change in a way that ensures its future viability and competitiveness. More than anything else, managers who successfully play the role of change agent realize that they can no longer approach change in the old-fashioned way, assuming that someone else will take responsibility for managing change at my level can do to manage change.

Over the past several years, research has revealed the benefits of taking a proactive approach to change management:

• Avoid unnecessary turnover
• Minimize the impact of change on employee productivity
• Minimize the impact on employee morale
• Eliminate adverse impact on customers
• See the desired results of change implemented as soon as possible
• Build personal coping skills
• Help individuals assimilate change and minimize dysfunction

Many times senior managers and human resource managers believe they have put a retention strategy in place. The first step in positioning retention as a key business issue is assessing your organization. The next step is developing a strategic and comprehensive retention strategy.

TOPIC: COACHING

Coaching lies at the heart of management and the greater the need for stronger business performance, the greater the need for managers and supervisors to be good coaches. It is interesting that athletes and those in the performing arts receive four to five hours of coaching every day. This enables them to reach peak performance. Yet, in business, when individuals are asked whether they receive regular coaching, most of them say "no." But we also know that those who had a coach that understood their passion, goals and aspirations were able to maximize their talents and deliver outstanding results; a strong coaching relationship is also a major factor in helping retain the best employees.

Today, businesses are asking people to acquire new knowledge, master state-of-the-art skills, take risks, and try out unfamiliar behaviors. The support of a trusted coach helps individuals and organizations excel and meet competitive challenges with confidence. The outcome of coaching is that the individual can accomplish more after coaching that otherwise would have been possible. Coaching is a highly personalized process that helps individuals, teams, and ultimately, organizations move from where they are to where they want to be.

Contact the Avery Payne Group for more information.