Howto keep quality people

By Marsha Lindquist

f OSING talented. quality employI-lees is always difficult for an organization. Noi only does it mean finding and training replacements, but also losing all the knowledge and understanding of the corporate culture those people take with them. While it is true that in today's environment no organization can realistically believe they will keep an employee for twenty or thirty years. companies can reasonably expect people to stay for four to six years.

Essentially, you need to keep your people as long as they fit within what your company is trying to accomplish, and as long as they add value. You want to maximize the relationship as long as employment is productive for both sides. And you certainly don't want people leaving because they become disenchanted with the job.

Many employers believe that people get seduced away by the allure of larger companies, greater benefits, more pay, or a desk with a window. But those factors are rarely the reason people choose to leave. What really causes people to change jobs is that they don't understand where they fit and how their role impacts the organization's overall goals. They may feel like they do busy work that doesn't affect the company's success, or they don't develop mutually respectful and open relationships with their bosses and managers. When employees start feeling this way, then they start shopping around for other jobs. Unfortunately, many times people are seduced away by another organization that promises all these things, but doesn't actually deliver them. Then the process begins again.

So how can you keep your quality employees for as long as possible? You must make their impact on the organization's success clear by building a corporate culture around the right mindset. Use the following process to refocus your organization so your employees don't feel compelled to changejobs so frequently:

1. f,"y the Foundation

The mindset you create in your organization will permeate everything you do. It will impact your strategies,

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