EMPLOYEE RETENTION IN
TODAY’S JOB MARKET
by ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D.

She calls them "Human Capital" and advises companies on employee retention. I listen and think she is talking about moving cattle to market. This H.R. expert misses the point that it is precisely because people feel as though they are treated like capital that they move from job to job.

No number will I be. I even resent it when my medical clinic asks me what my chart number is before asking for my name. Do you think I'm alone? Hardly. None of us appreciates being treated as though we were non-entities.

Having accounting departments question $1.21 on our expense accounts; having to clock in and out as a property manager responsible for serving many communities both day and night; having to justify cell phone expenses when we are traveling on the road all day and earning the title of best salesperson of the year over and over again; having no say in the process by which we work, or in the decisions affecting our work comfort - these and many other seemingly minor "slights" are driving workers away from one job and into the arms of other employers promising to treat them better.

For no matter how much we pay employees, no matter how much we chant slogans that "people come first" it is only if we really and truly treat people with courtesy, respect, and professionalism that we stand a chance of retaining them in today's heavy worker demand environment.

While large corporations can afford stock options, high salaries, corporate gymnasiums and cafeterias, their smaller counter-parts, such as retail offices, professional practices, non-profit associations and many others, cannot compete on this level. Therefore, their biggest competitive advantage is the ability they have to treat people well and make them feel important and welcome. 

So what really works?

	Treat all people with courtesy and demand they treat each other the same way;
	Emphasis customer service as an attitude of helpfulness - towards everyone;
	Look for the good and comment accordingly;
	Create a corporate culture that honors ethics, responsibility, values, and merit - and make sure that all decisions both internally and externally measure up to these values;
	Allow people a real say in the manner in which they complete their work;
	Don't make arbitrary rules just to over-control - avoid the paranoia of non-trust;
	Learn enough about each employee to be able to motivate and reward him or her on a personal level (for example, one person might like flowers while another might like a few hours off for personal time as a reward for a job well done);
	Don't reward the results of cut-throat competition of manipulative power plays;
	Hold people accountable for the work they do - not the hours they keep;
	Hire well - look for positive personality and character traits, skills can be taught, select people you can trust and then trust them, and don't hire sullen, surly, or mean spirited people - no matter how desperate you are - you are not going to be able to change them;
	Emphasis "soft-skills" such as interpersonal relationships, team play, helping others as part of the job performance, rewards and recognitions in your company;
	Allow personal time without people having to generate phoney excuses - one need not pretend to be "sick" if one really just needs time to regenerate;

Be a role-model for the values and behavior you wish to see in others.

Why is all this more important today than it was a hundred years ago? The laws of supply and demand governing the job market are different. Today's market has a much higher need for employees with competition to "steal" them away from current positions into new ones. Years ago, when the industrial revolution was at its height, starving people came into the cities to find work. Parents and children needed to work to provide basic sustenance. Employers could get away with treating people badly, and many did. As the need for employees started to exceed the demand, employees gravitated to jobs with improved working conditions.

Not only is there far more demand for employees now, the quality of the work has changed as has the quality of what we need from workers. Management strategies as well as H.R. strategies must change accordingly. 

The United States has become a service industry with little manufacturing. We need to vie for customers, offer them top value for their dollar and treat them well. Thus we need to find, maintain, and treat our employees in a way that will encourage and empower them to provide the very best and most creative aspects of the work they do. Whips don't work. Emotional whipped cream does.