We all know that finding, or home-breeding, top talent for your company is rare, takes a lot of time, and is expensive. There are many reasons for this to be true; for starters, top resources are commonly booked on other companies that value them and will go the extra mile to keep them around. Secondly, they [top talent] know their worth and will come with a price, and last, they are as rare as flying unicorns, that’s why they are top.
One thing is true about top talent: They are highly motivated people, with ambitious goals, a plan, and a timeline on how to achieve them; these people will typically disrupt your company and teams with new ideas, clever processes to waste less time while achieving more and will bring vibrant energy that will transform any workplace. Yeap, all those attributes are why you will go out of your own way to find them, and surely you will want to keep them around for the long term.
I’m sure there are a thousand articles out there that tell you how to keep top talent in your company. These articles will talk about career paths, growth opportunities, they will even provide tips and tricks on incentives, pay scale, bonuses, culture, and whatnot. I, on the other hand, have a very simple agenda today and it is to share with you the three main reasons why you are losing your top talent to others.
Reason #1 — Shame and Pride
Although at first look they seem opposite to each other, shame and pride serve the same purpose: keep top talent away from your company. I’ll explain why:
Placing top talent in non-challenging projects will hurt their pride. They will say “I’m too good for your company/projects, you don’t deserve me” and will walk away to find better opportunities.
Something similar is true, but in the opposite direction: placing your top talent in extremely difficult projects without guidance, resources, the right tools or at least the tiniest chance to be successful will shame them, and in turn, they will say “I’m not that good for your company/projects, you don’t deserve me” while they walk away from the doors.
Reason #2 — Unfulfilled Promises
There’s not much to say here, as I think the title says it all. When you engage with top talent you will make them promises about their career path, incredible growth opportunities, both, in the workplace and professionally, you will even talk to them about bonuses, vacation, the amazing culture your company has, and how they will manage an independent budget for their department.
Truth is, failing to keep your promises will not only cause your top talent to leave, but it will also cause top talent to give negative feedback among their peers regarding your company and, of course, you. When that happens, you will have two problems:
Reason #3 — Revoke their Freedom/Authority
Top talent wants to make decisions, we want to take the lead and make a positive impact. For that, we need the freedom and authority to change processes, buy new tools and hire other talents without having to ask for permission or, worst, apologizing for it.
If you are standing in the way of your top talent, you will likely be standing in the way of your own company’s progress. By saying “No” to every single enhancement, idea, and tool; or by procrastinating conversations, decisions, and asking us to consult and get approval from others for each step we take.
Finale
While you and your recruiting team know finding top talent is hard, turns out that keeping them is actually pretty simple.
Let me give all CEOs, entrepreneur, and C-Level executive a piece of free unsolicited advice to keep top talent in your company:
#TopTalent #CEO #Recruiting #CompanyCulture #Quitting
