Research shows that the “Great Resignation” is far from over, and we may continue to see an employee turnover rate that’s 50-70% higher than normal. In her July 11 “Your Best Next Move” video, Bobbie LaPorte shares several leadership tips on how to retain talent even in these challenging times. By providing strength-based feedback, you can help your employees understand how they can contribute to organizational goals—and progress in their own career.
Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with my weekly leadership tip for your Best Next Move, where I help you see continuing curveballs as an opportunity. This year, I will help you actively use your personal agency to accelerate what you want to accomplish in 2022.
I know you are probably way tired of hearing about “The Great Resignation.” But… despite the economy being a bit shaky and the job market softening a little, recent evidence shows that it is far from over.
According to a recent Gartner study, the pace of employee turnover is forecast to be 50-75% higher than companies have experienced previously, and the issue is compounded by it taking 18% longer to fill roles than pre-pandemic.
That same Gartner report found that 65% of employees are now reconsidering the role of work in their lives; however, only one-third are open to internal solutions providing part of the solution.
And that’s bad news for managers who are increasingly squeezed, spending time they don’t have searching for new recruits in an expensive and competitive market.
One solution is to make career conversations with your team as meaningful as possible, focusing on career progression, not promotion. If you want to retain people, help them see where their career could take them and provide the practical support to make progress.
And one of the most effective ways to do this is through the practice of “Strength Spotting.” To put it simply, strengths- spotting is the practice of “seeing” strengths in others, connecting them to their strengths, and working with them to apply them more to achieve their goals.
Why is this important?
We know from Positive Psychology that a strengths-based approach to development is the fastest, most effective way to achieve career advancement. But individuals often struggle to see their strengths, which makes it even more challenging to figure out how those strengths could be applied across different roles and parts of an organization.
Career conversations give you the chance to not only share strengths-based feedback (“I see you at your best when…”) but also to discuss how those strengths might be useful in other teams.
They can help employees spot the value in not only what they’re delivering but how they make work happen.
Helping employees go beyond being aware of their strengths to understanding how those strengths could be applied in different situations is often the first step in increasing an individual’s confidence to start exploring career progression.
So, here’s my tip:
When you schedule these conversations with your team members (and that’s the first step), ask them these three questions:
- What motivates you most about the work you do today?
- What talents are you not using that you would like to use more often?
- What are the talents you want to build a reputation for?
This shifts the conversation to a broader one where you are both helping your team member connect to their strengths AND where they might be used elsewhere in the organization. And for you, it shows that you are taking an enterprise view of talent development and deployment, not protecting talent solely for your own team.
That’s my tip for this week.
Please also check out my “Summer Slowdown” tips on LinkedIn each Thursday… to help you make the most of this summer.
Have a great week; I’ll see you next Monday.
Related Posts:
Help Star Performers Find Meaning in Their Work – Before They Resign
A Star Performer’s Departure Provides Hidden Opportunity
Winning Strategies Against The Resignation Curveballs
Time for a Mindset Shift in How You Think About 1:1s
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