THE 3R CHECKLIST TO RETAIN TOP PERFORMERS

Well, why do employees quit? – It's even more frustrating when the employee is one of the top performers in your team.

It's the burning question that has been around forever and more so now after the pandemic with the attrition rate at an all-time high across all major industries. HR professionals are wrapping their brains around this to find answers and adopting all necessary measures to control attrition. However one of the reasons still remains the same. We have all heard of this saying "People quit bosses and not the organization” – which holds true even today.

When we talk of engagement and emotional connection that binds people to any company, let me break this to you – A company's logo or brand name doesn't appear in people's minds when they generate their thoughts inside their head about an organization. They don't visualize these abstracts. 

The connection is established through "People" – through their managers, through their peers and the leadership team, which comprise the organization's overall culture and work environment. They take a mental picture of all these people and build their emotions and thoughts around them. And if the bad memories they have directly or indirectly with these sets of people, outweigh the good memories, that's when they pause and think – It's not the right place for me.

Hence, enhancing employee experience is not just the job of HR but the supervisors and the leadership team as well. As a leader, as a manager; at every juncture, every decision you make, every word you utter has a value. You are watched, judged and followed.

So, here's the 3R checklist for managers to retain their top performers.

Respect – Although respect for individuals is a fundamental core value, at times when a team member commits a mistake, some managers do overreact and lose their temper. Maybe they don't mean disrespect but have less control over their tone and the language they use. Even if it happens at the spur of the moment and the manager forgets the episode, mind you – the employee remembers. Therefore, it is wise to practice calmness and use tools of assertiveness, emotional intelligence and how feedback is to be given in such situations.

Recognition – It doesn't imply the existing rewards and recognition programs. As a manager, to leave a positive imprint, it's a necessity to genuinely appreciate your team members even for small achievements and efforts in their routine job. A simple email “thank you for your efforts” would do wonders. And more importantly one should be authentic and not plastic. They say, “What gets appreciated, gets repeated”.

Remuneration – If you are waiting for the year-end performance appraisal to correct your team member's salaries, you might end up approving their resignations much ahead of time. It is foremost to keep a check on your team members financial satisfaction and motivation levels. If as a team lead you happen to come across any such red flags, build a case for HR and do your best what can be done concerning the team members remuneration if you find the reason valid. That’s how you stand up for their cause and build trust.

The 3R Checklist can be used as a tool by managers to avoid losing top performers. Its not that difficult nevertheless, its key to be aware and be more proactive.