Retaining ‘my people’: Part B

I lead a small and young team of officers responsible for looking after the HR and people departments. I work for a manufacturing plant, and we are a semi family-owned business. I have worked for five years, and the company has grown. The business has grown over the years, and we have team members who have developed skills and are good people. In the last year or so, I have noticed that some of our best team members are leaving, and when I speak with them before they leave, their comments rotate around “ I enjoy my work, but there seems to be no progression in my career”. I wonder what a business like ours can do to help these team members so they stay and we do not lose the skill. Hilda

Dear Hilda, now that we have defined talent for our organisation and the critical roles, we have defined the critical skills and competencies for each of the critical roles. After that, we determine the talent that we have within the organisation. Remember, for each role, you will have role and person specifications that you must have to do the job well. Identifying our talent requires us to review our performance reviews. That is very much the key document that you will use. In some organisations, the performance review is validated through 360-degree feedback, validating the information and data from the performance review. Hopefully, you have this data in your records, and you have data that enables you name the talented team members. Remember that while reviewing past performance reviews, you cross-check if any data matches defined talent.

In conducting this analysis, you will likely work and engage with the managers so they can give you context of the strengths and developmental areas of each member. You will also be able to identify areas where your current talent, i.e those “good people”, can move into, especially if it allows growth or move into areas that may be new that will likely enhance their motivation and engagement.

In identifying opportunities, you can also identify areas where you can support your good people to grow and develop. Learning and development is a critical passion for good people who want to succeed in their careers. The analysis must take place so that you can develop intentional strategies that will support your talented people to continue to grow in the business and enable them to build their respective careers, which is equally important.

In addressing the problem, you must resolve it within your current HR process; in this case, the performance management framework is critical. The other aspect of the HR function you will need to consider, which is all part of retaining your good people, is your learning and development, previously referred to as training. Learning and development is a lot broader.

Please bear in mind that the whole process above takes time; however, the benefit is tonal strategies for the business. Good Luck