There is no doubt that the world of work and the way people are attracted to and retained in work is very different to how it used to be.

“44% of ANZ (Australian and NZ) job changes who left said they might have stayed."
(LinkedIn survey: Why & How People Change Jobs (March 2015))

What was interesting in the report was the four ways they highlighted to retain your best people:

• Paving strong career paths & highlighting advancement opportunities

• Money & value

• Recognising professional accomplishments – both big and small

• Creating an inspiring culture that invests in long term relationships

These four ways are key drivers in keeping people engaged.

Paving strong career paths & highlighting achievement opportunities

One thing that I have noticed is that career paths are no longer vertical – they used to be but now are more like road maps. Not everyone wants to strive to the top and certainly less so, as it seems, to be partners. It is more like a road map where there are lots of destinations and different experiences along the way and at each destination. It is more collaborative by nature in the journey along a personalised road map. Everyone’s road map is different, however, what is needed is ‘clear expectations’ and ‘visibility’ into opportunities that help advance a career or develop new skills. Talk about careers and road maps often with your people. Look to your current team to open up new opportunities and invest in training your people in critical new skills.

Money & Value

While it would be foolish to say that money doesn’t matter, it does. What is interesting about this market from a recruiter’s perspective is that we are not getting candidates looking to move just for money or to increase their salary. By and large, it would seem that compensation is about right in the market for most candidates. What is increasingly becoming more sought after is time. The lifestyle benefits of part-time, flexible hours, 9 day fortnights and working remotely from home are seen as more desirable benefits. Time has become more valuable than money. So, a combination of a competitive salary and ‘stay worthy’ benefits such as flexibility are an ideal approach.

Recognise professional accomplishments

A ‘thank you’ goes along way. Recognise and celebrate accomplishments, big or small.

Choose the right approach as every one is different. Some like the limelight and the attention so make it public and others like a quiet more personal approach. A thank you note or an email at times is right. Other times a gift or voucher for a dinner for two is appreciated. When did you last show a sign of appreciation? Can’t remember, then it must be time!

Create an inspiring culture

The ‘Alliance’ by Hoffman, Casnochs and Yeh highlights a major shift in the world of work. Jobs were once jobs for life but not now.

”The employer-employee relationship is broken, and managers face a seemingly impossible dilemma: the old model of guaranteed long-term employment no longer works in a business environment defined by continuous change, but neither does a system in which every employee acts like a free agent. The solution? Stop thinking of employees as either family or as free agents. Think of them instead as allies.

As a manager you want your employees to help transform the company for the future. And your employees want the company to help transform their careers for the long term. But this win-win scenario will happen only if both sides trust each other enough to commit to mutual investment and mutual benefit. Sadly, trust in the business world is hovering at an all-time low.” (Book Depository summary excerpt)

The sands are shifting on a frequent basis so how do you engender loyalty and commitment in your people so they want to stay? The work needs to be mutually beneficial to you the business owner, and to the people you employ. Your people need a mission or individual missions that are mutually beneficial to both of you and can be achieved in a specific or realistic period of time. Its collaborative – that word again!

A strong road map, the right money, lifestyle benefits, recognition and a collaborative culture that is mutually beneficial is going to get you much further down the path towards a happy and stable team. I think we have a lot of those teams in law firms, which is why it is so hard to attract talent as they are happily engaged elsewhere with the right mix. I would be interested in your thoughts if you have found other ways to retain your best people or the reason why you have stayed in a position for the time that you have.

Written by Judith Eller.