The secret to the success of a small start-up firm or a well-established MNC is hiring the right talent for the right job. To maintain this success, employers are into the most challenging spot of retaining the ‘Rockstars’.

It is an incredible skill to put together a great team that will stay with you through your toughest moments and helps your company reach a level of success. Managers play a vital role in this activity.

Here, I would like to give my 2 cents to the managers and the management team to help them retain their best employees.

Importance of communication

Effective and regular communication with your team is a must to feel the pulse of the employees. Talk to them on a one-on-one basis to understand what they like most about their job and more importantly, what is that they are most frustrated about.

Get to know what are the key activities they would like to do. Give them the opportunity or challenge that they are seeking, else they might pick up that challenge elsewhere.

Never wait for your regular appraisal cycles to schedule interview sessions with your reports. Meet informally and share and seek feedback on their activities. You don’t want to be too late and lose your key talent.

Pay them right

Always pay employees market or above as soon as you can, all the time. It is a sign that shows that you respect your employees. Money is not everything, but it is important. When you do not pay them right, even if the next high paying job is not a big name like yours, you might lose your star performer as he might opt to go for that job. A raise at that time might not work, because they are already out of the door.

Do not make pay hikes the last resort

You have to get compensation right, as best as you can all the time. Make pay hikes a regular part of the appraisal process, at least for the deserving candidates. DO NOT use that as a weapon to retain your good ones after they get a better job with an enhanced compensation outside. That will make the working with pride difficult for both of you.

Make career options ample within your organization

Doing the same kind of job over a period of time might bore even exceptional employees.
Employees might want to explore different career paths and roles. If this is lacking in your organization, there are umpteen options outside. Before they start looking outside, meet with your employees and review their career path and discuss how they can pick up these exciting roles in the organization.

Recognition at the right time goes a long way

Recognition of the talent and good work at the right time will take both you and your employee into a long-standing loyal relationship. The recognition need not be expensive. Saying a “Thank you” in the company social portal (CavinHR has a cool “Crown” feature) or praise individuals in front of their peers are powerful motivators.

Give autonomy to your top performers

People, especially top performers are likely to be happier and perform even better at work if motivation comes from within. They tend to engage more with the organization and be more committed and definitely will not want to leave as they feel the ownership of the company, which is definitely a positive note to both the employers and employees.

Do you have any pointers to share with us to retain your top talent? We would love to hear. Share with us here.