Knowing Not to Lose
I happen to pick up complaints from entrepreneurs about losing employees (and they are usually the good ones). Once lost, one realizes the impact that the loss of the experience accumulated by the outgoing employee will have on the company: and it is always economically significant, both directly and indirectly.
Everyone regrets (later), but what was done (before) to prevent this from happening?
Caught up with the too many of daily commitments, time is not spent on what should be one of the priority activities: team management and maintenance. Yes, too often we forget that business is a team game and the captain, in addition to fulfilling his or her role on the field, must take time to choose,
getting to know
and helping other players.
Human resource management is a complex business, human beings are as difficult as it gets, there are no manuals or tutorials on YouTube, and not everyone has the necessary skills, empathy above all.
The 3 conditions that affect the employee
Small business generally does not have employees who are in charge of human resources; it is the direct responsibility of the entrepreneur, but the entrepreneur never has time.
Over time to assess whether and how to intervene on a strategic employee I have developed a simple method, I try to put myself in the shoes of the person in question and ask how he or she feels with respect to the 3 conditions that make up the overall “value” of the workplace (the result will be the more reliable the more I know the person):
- Professional Conditions
- Environmental Conditions
- Salary Conditions
An employee does not leave a job that meets 2 out of 3 conditions.
Normally it is the pay conditions that one thinks about when reasoning about relationships with employees. Obviously this is an important aspect, but I would like to emphasize here the other 2 factors of corporate “attraction,” because too often I see little importance attached to them.
Occupational status is the totality of the possibilities and opportunities the worker has to learn, to grow professionally, to be able to do his or her work at a good level, with adequate means, and, most important of all, to have decision-making ability, to be able to carry out his or her tasks independently.
Environmental condition covers all other aspects related to the work environment. Whether the workplace is convenient or is far from the residence; whether the hours are flexible or make personal life difficult; whether relations with superiors and colleagues are pleasant or there is a heavy climate.
How to intervene
You don’t really hustle to look for a new job until there is a really strong push.
You stay even if the job is uncomfortable and colleagues, or the boss, are obnoxious (but you make good money and are satisfied professionally), and you don’t change if the salary is not the best but the job is behind the house and colleagues are all friends.
Money is important but not the only factor: top companies such as Ferrari, Apple, etc., do not have to offer exaggerated salaries to attract, because the employee recognizes the work environment and high professional growth as “value” (of course, he or she also sees the possibility of monetizing the experience in the future).
By identifying the critical aspects, you will be able to take action to improve them, thus depowering the true source of the individual employee’s malaise.
The sense is to intervene in a targeted way, on the most deficient condition and not always and only on pay.
I’m trivializing, if an employee struggles to fulfill his family commitments because he lives far from work, perhaps it makes more sense to give him the option of working from home 1 day a week (or flexibility on his in and out times), rather than an extra 100€ a month. Or he is a person who is willing to grow, trust him a little, give him more autonomy, and you will have a satisfied person who is more connected to the company (and organizational benefits will also result).
By making it a structured, nonemergency activity (perhaps with the help of HR professionals) you could act to generally improve the other 2 conditions and have both greater retention of your employees and greater appeal in attracting new resources (…it’s a small country and people murmur).
For compensation aspects, which are still important, it is useful to identify medium-term paths, linked to personal growth and the achievement of company targets. The effort of creating a plan will be rewarded by not having to intervene in an impromptu and uncoordinated manner.
