My book-to-be is about the things that make people want to stay in an organisation. I’ll be sharing the working title and subtitle on Linked In soon and will be asking for reactions and comments on these. The ‘big idea’ at the heart of the book? To keep your best people, you have to give them their freedom. But what does that mean in practice? How do you do that well? And how do you manage the risks associated with letting go? If you’ve got a point of view on these questions or you are instantly intrigued/bored by the sound of my book-to-be, please let me know even in just one sentence. Every bit of input at this early stage is helpful, especially the negative feedback!
I’m aiming to speak to at least 20 CEOs as part of my research for the book; might you/your CEO be interested in speaking with me? If you haven’t figured out how to keep your best people, if you’re trying to entice sought-after talent to join you, if you’re feeling caught in a tug of war with employees around work freedoms or are sweating over a solution that keeps everyone happy (when everyone wants different things), then I’d really love to talk. You/your CEO can pick my brains for free during the conversation and I’ll share what I’m hearing (anonymised) from my other conversations. Drop me a line to say ‘yes’ or ‘possibly’ and I’ll follow up with you directly.
What makes people want to stay is one side of the coin; the other is, obviously, what makes them leave. The latter isn’t necessarily the converse of the former. If you’re reading this feeling fairly relaxed about turnover, bear in mind that
90% of your employees are 'open to new job opportunities'. From my research into retention and attrition, here are a few insights into some of the factors that propel people towards the door:
Sometimes organisations are ok with people choosing to leave, even the really talented ones. Long-term-thinking employers will know that some leavers may go on to become valued clients, others may boomerang back to you with newly acquired skills and contacts that you’re keen to deploy. What matters in the short-term is taking the time to understand better why people choose to stay and why they decide to leave, knowing what you can do to influence these decisions and acting early. Don’t be a metaphorical emu and stick your head in the sand*. Speaking of flightless birds, I’m off to watch their airborne counterparts swooping across the marshes here, with a mug of cocoa by the campfire and the sun setting behind me. The grid can have me back tomorrow.
* Contrary to popular belief, emus don’t actually do this.