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Tribal instincts The workplace is at its best when teams are as close as tribes, but the only way to get there is to retain your talent.
R etention is a growing concern, fueled by lower unemployment rates and people seeking to improve their position or compensation. It’s worth it to explore some of the reasons people develop a loyalty to their current firm. If you want to know more about why people leave, just think of the opposite – why your best people choose to stay.
Ed Friedrichs
Gallup’s goal is to help people become “deeply engaged” in the work they do. I explore this and many other concepts about retention in my book, Long-cycle Strategies for a Short-cycle World . In it, you’ll find a list of 12 issues, that, if answered in the affirmative, will determine if someone is “deeply engaged” – in their work, with their clients, with their colleagues, and with the full array of stakeholders with whom they’re deeply involved. Engagement is particularly correlated “If you want to know more about why people leave, just think of the opposite – why your best people choose to stay.”
At Gensler, my most important focus as the firm grew was to create an environment that people didn’t want to leave. If you’re not familiar with the Glass Door website, check it out. While it looks like a job search site, it’s also a series of reviews of companies by present and past employees. Check any references about your firm, and learn from it what you need in order to make your firm a destination. Gensler was always concerned about how our firm “felt” to our employees. We did a great deal of work on the culture of the firm, making it a place people were truly attracted to and an environment they were unlikely to find elsewhere. We started with some great advice from the Gallup Organization, which they’ve clearly spelled out in their book, First Break All the Rules .
See ED FRIEDRICHS, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER May 22, 2017, ISSUE 1201
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