The other day, a friend shared another as-yet-unverified statistic, that 84% of American workers plan on switching companies in 2011.
Employers: nervous yet? You should be. The economy is already showing some significant signs of recovery. Companies will be hiring over the next year - finally. Your top talent is already being wooed. Pretty soon, even your second-tier talent will find it has options.
If astronomical turnover won't be crippling enough, consider this: who will opt to stay? The leftovers, that's who. Is that really who you want operating your company? The leftovers?
In case you haven't noticed this about me, I am anything but the doom-and-gloom type. I'm a man of action, and I wouldn't give you a dire prediction if I didn't also supply you with a ready way to protect yourself against it.
This, then, is part one of a five-part series on how you can protect yourself from the curse of mediocrity.
Step one: realize that pay is a threshold issue for your staff.
* Pay me adequately for my needs, and I'll stay for a while. ...Until a better offer comes along.
* Pay me fairly, and I'll stay a bit longer. I'll also put more of myself into my work.
* Pay me more than I feel I can get elsewhere, and (all other things being equal) I'll stick around for a good long time. I might even feel appreciated.
* Pay me just a bit more than I feel I deserve, and - again, all other things being equal - I will be grateful! I'll do anything to prove you invested wisely.
Pay is a threshold issue because it starts the conversation: it gets employees over the threshold of working for you, or of staying with you. Talent will find its way to the highest bidder, and there isn't much you can do to fight that. Indeed, if you don't compete on wages, you're unlikely to even get a second look from the most talented workers out there.
And who can afford to employ any but the most talented workers in our competitive landscape?!?!
...But as I said, pay is only a threshold issue. We needed to discuss it, and get it out of the way, if we're ever going to get to the heart of how you'll be building your successful team.
That conversation begins next time, in part 2 of this series.
Does this mean that if you have your ear to the ground, you're not a leftover? ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Ted,
ReplyDelete100% with you, we need to find the best talent and pay them well. In my new rola as sales manager, I found that most of sales people do not like selling....why? They do not bring new business, they do not prospect, they do not earn their business by excelling at customer service, by bringing value to their customers.
I am working to develop the best sales team in my industry and my region even if that means I have to change the whole sales team I inherited.