How to "Poach Proof" Key Employees

I learned early on as a CEO that engaged employees help to drive delighted clients, and delighted clients help to drive financial / stakeholder results and growth. We use the leading tool for measuring employee engagement - the Gallup Q12* employee engagement survey, to track our performance and find areas to celebrate and improve.

The big challenge today that I am hearing frequently from many peer CEO’s is that they are under assault from recruiters trying to poach away their key talent.

How do you “Poach Proof” your team, or at least make them “Poach Resistant?”

According to Gallup (and my own years of direct experience) engaged employees largely equal retained employees. According to the research, one of the top drivers of employee engagement (and thus retention) is the opportunity to learn and grow.

According to Gallup, 87% of Millennials said that the opportunity to learn and grow is a top factor in job selection and tenure.

Compensation, healthcare, and other benefits are also important tools for retention, but their impact on real engagement (and performance) is muted.

Here are a few suggestions to “Poach Proof” your staff with powerful opportunities to learn and grow:

• Consider a commitment to work with each team member to mutually develop an individual growth and/or leadership development plan. Although a discussion of a team member’s growth plan shows you care, a written plan shows you are serious. The plan does not need to be lengthy. The plan should look to identify and develop 2-3 strengths and 1-2 weaknesses with measurable results they can see and celebrate. Internal / external training resources can be identified to support the plan. Also consider internal opportunities / projects where the team member could practice / grow their skills. Start with low risk projects, then add tougher assignments as their confidence builds. Creating and committing to a plan like this will very likely drive employee engagement. Reply to this email and ask for my sample plan and I am happy to share.

 

• Consider an internal / external professional development program for key staff. One program with a long and stellar reputation for performance in Puget Sound is LEAP Leadership Acceleration Program. LEAP is a Fortune 500 level 12-month leadership development program that is developed for small to mid-sized businesses. After a formal assessment of strengths and weaknesses in key areas, each participant develops their own Leadership Development Plan with their boss and the cohort curriculum is tailored to support those outcomes. Disruption to workflow is minimal because the time commitment is small and the content is designed to be immediately applied into current workflows. LEAP is a highly valued benefit for employees and most certainly drives employee engagement. (The cost is $5,500 per participant for the year - a bit more if you want MBA credit hours. I am a program director for LEAP and chair several cohorts).

 

• Consider funding classic education such as an MBA program for strategic employees. Although time and energy consuming for the employee, higher education is becoming more affordable with distance learning programs.

 

• Consider a “Learning at Lunch” series. My suggestion is to be intentional about the learning objectives based on feedback from staff, known skill gaps (e.g. delegation, handling tough conversations, etc.), cross training, etc., so that these are highly valued events, not just a “nice to have.”

Would you like to schedule a few minutes to use me as a sounding board for your ideas or situation? I am always available. [email protected] or 206.779.2021.

Being a CEO is a tough job and am happy to be a resource.
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Best regards,

Tim

Tim Riley
Principal
CEO Masters Forum