I was recently asked to share my thoughts on talent retention and responded with:

Retention of top organizational talent is essential during both good and bad economic times.
Yes, you can raid your competition’s top talent pool, but that is a two way street and can lead to a bidding war, loss of customers, and public image.

The 10 Laws of Talent Retention:

1. Know the job and hire the right person for the right job.
The smartest and brightest person will fail if hired for the wrong job
and/or the wrong reason.

2. Integrate the new hire into the organization’s culture quickly.
That high achiever cannot perform unless they assimilate into your
organization, painlessly and quickly.

3. Reward them with the right monetary incentives.
Pay them for what they are worth and allow them to grow
monetarily with the organization. Use a total rewards strategy
that uses a holistic approach to rewarding the high achiever.

4. Recognize them to the organization.
Let others in the organization know about their
achievements and often. Let them mentor others as a
form of recognition, use the organization’s informational
outlets, make them the organization’s standard.

5. Fast track them on a “sustainable” track.
Build a career track that they cannot out grow. If they out
grow their development plan in 3-5 years they are going
to be easy targets for your competition.

6. Challenge them with each next hurdle.
Make them work for that next level of achievement. Pre-position
them as the only “one” who can get that assignment done.

7. Have a customized retention plan for each high achiever.
One size does not work in shoes and it does not work in career
development plans. Allow them an opportunity to pick that next
assignment, location, office or plant.

8. Ensure a proper work-life balance.
All work and no play makes for a burned out, de-motivated under
performing Jack. A divorced Jack, a Jack with substance issues or
an over taxed Jack will be no good to you, them or the organization.

9. Provide for life long learning opportunities.
That high achiever is going to need a different set of knowledge, skills, and
abilities at each new level. The skills they brought to the original job,
may not be the skills they need in 2, 3, 4 or 5 years.

10. Measure the retention climate.
You must be able to measure whether your retention plans are doing
what they are intended to do. Gather data through performance
review feedback sessions, formal and informal, talk to their peers,
and subordinates.

Some possible books:

Managing Talent Retention: An ROI Approach by Jack J. Phillips and Lisa Edwards (Hardcover - Dec 22, 2008)

Competing for Talent: Key Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Becoming an Employer of Choice by Nancy S. Ahlrichs (Hardcover - Nov 25, 2000)

The Retention of Talent: How to Connect with Young Workers by Ken Dychtwald, Tamara J. Erickson, and Robert Morison (Digital - Mar 3, 2009)

Reinventing Talent Management: How to Maximize Performance in the New Marketplace by William A. Schiemann and Susan R. Meisinger (Hardcover - Jul 7, 2009)


Some possible websites:

Talent Management Magazine
www.talentmgt.com/recruitment_retention

The Center for TALENT SOLUTIONS (CTS)
www.centerfortalentretention.com

American Institutes for Research
www.air.org/topics/topic_talent_retention.aspx

This Special Report on Talent Retention
www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Services/additional-service...VCM100000ba42f00aRCRD.htm