Building a retention culture

This article originally appeared in the June 2003 issue of MHRA News, published by the Society for Human Resource Management, Alexandria, Virginia, and is reprinted with permission.

Media HR executives need to better understand?and have their managers understand?how critical the recruiting and hiring process is to finding and keeping good people, said Beverly Kaye, speaking to 14 newspaper publishers and senior media group executives in March at the Northern Va. -based American Press Institute (API).

Kaye, founder and CEO of Career Systems International, was invited to speak after an API survey identified hiring and keeping talent as top concerns of media leaders.

"The skill issue is only one-third of it, " said Kaye. "You also need to look for career fit and interest. Skills, interests and values must connect. "One of her main concerns, she said, is the disconnect between what the recruiter tells a prospective employee and the real world of the workplace once that employee joins the company.

"A leader's ability to contribute to an organization's mission, and ultimately to the bottom line, is determined by his or her ability to attract, retain and develop today's knowledge workers, " advised Kaye.

People join organizations, but leave managers, she warned.

The true "employer of choice, " said Kaye, is the individual manager. When employees feel that their manager cares about developing their talent, they also believe the organization cares.

According to a 2001 Gallup Organization study, only one quarter of employees are actively engaged on the job. An alarming 55 percent are "just putting in time. "Kaye asked executive attendees at the API session to think about the consequences of talent mismanagement. Some disengaged employees become psychological casualties, she said, and others, who actually leave the job, become physical casualties. Both situations hurt the organization's performance and drive up costs.

Even if HR executives are doing everything right, shifting demographics, entrepreneurial options, heightened competition for talent and the uncertain economy will ensure that engaging and retaining talent remains a top concern for the foreseeable future.

What Are the Problems?

Kaye, co-author of Love 'Em or Lose 'Em: Getting Good People to Stay (Berrett-Koehler, 2002) encouraged media executives attending the API session to share their wish lists. "What do you wish your managers would do " to improve retention, she asked. Many attendees said their HR leaders are working to build into the corporate culture more coaching, more consistent performance management, more sensitivity to individual needs and more willingness to take risks to keep talent on board.

Kaye also asked the group to share some of the obstacles they face in managing talent. The U. S. and Canadian news executives reported that they are working to break down such barriers as:

• The perception that companies can't retain employees unless they pay top dollar.
• Diminishing budgets that keep organizations from being competitive in career development.
• The "old-line " attitude that all employees should get the same treatment.
• Investing in people remains low on the radar screen in the jockeying for priorities.
• The deadline urgency of putting out a new product every single day.
• High turnover in some areas (copyediting, telemarketing) and the assumption that nothing can be done about it.
• Resistance to change.

First Months Critical

During the first six months of employment, said Kaye, managers and new employees need to have a series of conversations about six critical topics:

• Working relationships. Have the new employees found friends among their new colleagues?
• Job challenges. Are they learning and growing?
• Passion for the work. What are their interests and strengths and are they being used?
• Focus on achievement. Do they understand what the organization is trying to achieve and how they contribute to its success?
• Honor the balance. Employees' lives extend well beyond the office doors. Get to know what else is happening in their lives.
• Intention. Follow through on exploratory conversations. What new skills would the employee like to develop? How can the company help? Margaret Buchanan, publisher of The Cincinnati Enquirer, agreed that it's critical to keep working on retaining employees and to "invest in your stars. " She plans to make these important conversations part of the culture at her newspaper.

Best Practices of Leaders

Kaye and her partner and co-author, Sharon Jordan-Evans, run an annual "Retention Convention " at which they gather global talent leaders together to share their key findings and best practices.

These leaders work to build loyalty and commitment in the workplace and focus on fully engaging employees.

Kaye said top talent leaders have some best practices in common. They:

• Elevate retention to a core business initiative.
• Collect and present compelling data.
• Instill a talent mindset in all leaders.
• Identify targeted talent drivers.
• Educate their managers about expected new behaviors.
• Educate the staff and encourage them to ask for what they need.

Training Programs for Managers

Susan Davidson, SPHR, vice president of human resources for Cox Newspapers, noted that her organization has developed a three-day recruiting and coaching training program for its managers. Cox holds managers accountable for new behavior based on this training, Davidson said.

Cox Newspapers analyzed its retention rates and found that the biggest turnover occurred during the first three months. Davidson says HR executives realized that the company needed to do a better job of communicating information about what each job entails, especially in high turnover areas such as customer service, copyediting and mailroom positions.

To address the problem, Cox instituted a three-day training program. After managers finish the program, they develop a competencies checklist and a template with behavioral-based questions to improve the interview process.

The company plans to train all of its managers in selection, coaching and performance management. It also plans to encourage managers to talk with new employees about their preferences for communication and performance coaching. These conversations, said Davidson, will be based on an instrument used in the organization's broadcast division, Cox Communications.

The Rochester (N. Y. ) Democrat and Chronicle, a Gannett newspaper, also provides performance coaching for managers. Publisher Dave Hunke says Gannett is a leader in evaluating performance and that performance coaching is "ingrained in how managers get ahead [at the paper]. "The hours managers spend in training are carefully tracked. The company wants every employee to have a clear idea about what he/she needs to do to improve performance. For help with career development and succession planning, the company turns to the HR staff to identify opportunities for employees and match attributes and skill sets to ensure the right fit in the company.

"What do your managers need to do more of to keep people? " Kaye asked the group. Among the answers were mentoring, enriching the job, helping employees find work they love, telling the truth, sharing more information and rewarding often.

John Kirkpatrick, publisher of the Harrisburg, Pa. , Patriot-News, said "I am usually so focused on what we are doing or not doing that I don't step back " and examine where to make the investments for retention. He plans on using a self-assessment tool Kaye demonstrated to the group as an aid in focusing on his company's critical values.

For many organizations, winning the war for talent will require rebuilding the current culture. Kaye notes that once you have fair pay in place, money is not the main issue. The leading drivers for keeping talent, in ranked order, she said, include exciting work and challenge; career growth, learning and development; working with great people; fair pay; supportive management, a great boss; being recognized, valued and respected; good benefits; meaningful work, making a difference and a contribution; pride in the organization, its mission and product; and a great work environment and culture.

Publisher David White reported one way to engage employees that is being practiced by his paper, the Albany, N. Y. , Times-Union, a Hearst newspaper. The organization helps employees make a difference in their communities by encouraging volunteering, White said.

This is the kind of thing Kaye has in mind. "Compete on dollars but win on culture, " she advised, "because there will always be a higher bidder. "