Every client I have worked with over the last 20 years (First as an independent National and International Head-hunter then as an Executive Coach) has had the same needs with regard to their workforce. Every client looked for high class candidates to employ and each client had the same problem of retaining their top performers.
Turns out that this is the same worldwide and even at the biggest and best organizations that have so much to offer.
The attached article, written by Bill Carmody, records what 11 Fortune 500 Global Companies do to retain their top talent.
Here are some of their actions:
• Dell is consciously shaping its culture and leadership in ways to engage people and give them reasons to stay on
• Airbus encourages people to grow their skill sets by working across different business units
• Microsoft believes that their talented and driven colleagues play a vital role in encouraging employees to stay longer in their company. Whereas pay and benefits are important, they believe that working alongside amazing peers enables employees to realize their own personal mission
• IBM gives employees personalized learning and guidance to support their ambitions and abilities
• Bosch says their core retention driver is meaningful jobs working on cutting-edge technology and the opportunity to work across different functional areas, industries, and organizational structures
• Bayer provides employees with a comprehensive view of their potential and readiness for future leadership roles, then helps them chart their best career path at Bayer
• Ericsson says work-life balance and employee wellness are key aspects of their retention policy and in addition their career framework allows employees to have a global career spanning countries and functions
• BASF offers employees excellent opportunities for growth and development and employees can access a comprehensive portfolio of learning opportunities such as mentoring, training programs, business simulations, project opportunities and employee resource groups
• Manulife (one of the world’s largest insurance and financial services companies) offers flexible programs like remote work and adjustable schedules and their technologies enable collaboration and facilitate instant communication no matter where the employee chooses to work
• SAP delivers a positive people experience and invests in employee learning and development. They invest 187 million euros in their learning and development, part of which is mandatory training for leaders across all levels
• Schneider Electric have “mirror group” programs for early-career employees which provides the opportunity to exchange ideas with senior leaders. This establishes an open, trust-based platform for cross generational dialogue and makes employees feel more valued and engaged and enables senior leaders to identify their best talent
The message that comes across strongly is that not only to attract Top Talent but also to retain them, a business organization needs to have a policy of INVESTING in their employees, helping them to grow and develop and to recognize that such monies spent is not to be regarded as a mere COST factor but as something vital and absolutely necessary.
HOW 11 FORTUNE 500 GLOBAL COMPANIES RETAIN THEIR TOP TALENT
One of the biggest challenges for organizations is employee retention. Finding replacement hires for outgoing employees is an expensive and time-consuming process. Here’s how 11 top companies keep their talent.
Recently, Time Doctor, a productivity SaaS company, in partnership with Peter Banerjea of SuccessIsWhat, a leadership blog, published an article on how some of the world’s best workplaces retain their talent. 39 companies across the world sent their contributions as part of the research for that article. I asked Peter Banerjea to share a few employee retention strategies of the Fortune 500 companies who contributed to his research.
Dell
Which aspects of culture and leadership will have the maximum positive impact on engagement and retention?
Jenn Saavedra, SVP, Talent & Culture, says, “I believe every aspect of a company’s culture, talent and leadership strategy should be led by rigorous analysis.” For instance, Dell has discovered through surveys and analysis that out of seven leadership principles, vision and selflessness are the two principles that currently matter most to its employees.
But knowing what truly matters to its people, Dell is consciously shaping its culture and leadership in ways that engage people and give them reasons to stay on.
Airbus
Airbus’s business model is evolving from only aircraft to big data, drones, machine learning and software development. According to CHRO Thierry Baril, the company’s innovation expansion is now a major factor in attracting as well as retaining people, who are enthusiastic about building cutting edge technology.
Airbus also encourages people to grow their skill sets by working across different business units – another key retention measure.
Microsoft
Microsoft believes that the company of talented and driven colleagues plays a vital role in encouraging people to stay longer in a company.
Kathleen Hogan, Chief People Officer, says, “While pay and benefits are table stakes to keep great talent, we believe working alongside amazing peers to realize your own personal mission is the most powerful retention strategy.”
IBM
Sam Ladah, HR VP, IBM Cloud and Talent, says, “Our recent focus has been on using our own cognitive technologies, like Watson, to deliver personalized learning and career guidance that’s based on the employee’s role, skill profile and goals.”
When employees get personalized learning and guidance to support their ambitions and abilities, they are far more likely to stay over the long term.
Bosch
Daniela Lohre, Director Personnel Marketing and Talent Relationship Management, says, “Our core retention driver is meaningful jobs.” People are excited to be part of a company that is working on cutting-edge technology such as the future of mobility and the internet of things (IoT).
Another key retention strategy is the opportunity to “effectively change jobs without changing their employer”. Bosch’s 390,000 employees have the opportunity to work across different functional areas, industries, and organizational structures.
Bayer
One key retention measure for Bayer is matching employees’ personal strengths and goals with the organization’s leadership requirements.
Richard Caldera, SVP, Human Resources says that Bayer uses Assessment and Development Centres, to evaluate employees in several situations reflective of a variety of leadership challenges. “This provides employees with a comprehensive view of their potential and readiness for future leadership roles, helping them chart their best career path at Bayer.”
Ericsson
Jennifer Hulett, Head of HR at Ericsson North America says that work-life balance and employee wellness are key aspects of the company’s retention strategy.
In addition, Ericsson’s “career framework allows our employees to have a global career spanning countries and functions.”
BASF
Luciana Amaro, VP Talent Development & Strategy, says that BASF retains people by offering them excellent opportunities for growth and development. All employees across every function can access a comprehensive portfolio of learning opportunities, such as “mentoring, training programs, business simulations, project opportunities, employee resource groups and many others.”
Manulife
Flexibility is a key retention driver for Manulife, one of the world’s largest insurance and financial services companies.
Flexible programs like remote work and adjustable schedules go a long way in helping employees achieve their personal as well as professional goals.
Lisa Butler, Chief Talent & Diversity Officer says, “We invest in technologies that enable collaboration and facilitate instant communication no matter where the employee chooses to work.”
SAP
Stefan Ries, Member of the Executive Board and CHRO points out that retention is all about making sure that employees have the right experiences. “Delivering a positive people experience is critical to attract, develop and retain talent in digital times.”
One key element of SAP’s retention strategy is to invest in employee learning and development. In 2017 SAP is investing 187 million euros in its L&D programs. Part of this is mandatory training for leaders across all levels.
Schneider Electric
One retention strategy for Schneider Electric is to have ‘mirror group’ programs for their early-career employees, which provides them with an opportunity to exchange ideas with senior leaders. Olivier Blum, CHRO, says “this establishes an open, trust-based platform for cross generational dialogue.”
These programs make employees feel more valued and engaged. Moreover, they also allow senior leaders to identify their best talent.
