Retaining Talent
Transcript from Season 1 Episode 6 of the Hardly Working Podcast
Maulik
In the last episode, we spoke about the importance of culture in attracting the right talent. But that’s only half the equation. Retaining good talent within the organization is as important.
Interestingly, the attrition rate or retention rate — the way you’d like to see it — is, perhaps, one of the strongest measures to ascertain the ‘culture quotient’ in tangible terms. The numbers are more telling of the organizations where takeaways and brand names are larger. Because it shows team spirit, fulfillment and motivation go a long way in retaining talent within an organization and it is no longer just salaries, titles and company names.
The first season of Hardly Working deals with company culture, and on today’s episode, we’re going to be looking at the role culture plays in retaining talent.
In a scenario where loyalty is no longer a norm, many employers are now accepting how important culture is to the company.
Nishanth
Well, loyalty is definitely no longer a given. There was a time when loyalty was rewarded sometimes even over performance. But today systems are more transparent. And performance matters. So does satisfaction and happiness of employees. And therefore the importance of culture shoots up.
The company’s priority should be to maintain that Giver Culture, as it can both, boost productivity, and help in retaining employees. This is again so important with the growing number of job options, and because more people are searching for a fulfillment in a job, beyond just payment and titles. Also, with evolving roles within industry domains, experienced hands or expert talent and niche roles become all the more important, as they are harder to replace.
Most importantly, the views on performance rewards are changing. Good talent doesn’t just want a pat on the back, and a bonus at the end of the year. They prefer real world incentives. They want to work with better teams and do more collaborative work. They want to be respected for their opinions. They want a strong value system within the organization. They want to contribute to the company vision in a tangible way. And even basics like a productive workplace etiquette. That’s what helps build a strong culture, and a strong culture will further reinforce these ideals.
Maulik
That’s true. In fact, I am reminded of the famous quote — people don’t quit their jobs, they quit their bosses.
This statement brings to light how important a culture is in making that decision to quit. Many organizations wouldn’t want to acknowledge this, but employee to employee relationships and behaviors– whether vertical or horizontal in terms of designations — play a huge role in employees deciding to stay or move on. And it’s important for organizations to realize this, and look inward, instead of blaming market forces, or employees or things beyond their control.
Nishanth
Indeed. It is important to understand no one moves away from a company on a whim. The employee-employer relationship always starts with expectations from both sides. Most employees realize there will be un-met expectations and there will be friction in certain cases, but they make efforts to keep relationships strong, and keep work productive.
This only strengthens, in a culture that allows them to make things better for themselves and for others.
In smaller organizations, actions and feelings are visible to all. There is a high chance that direct conversations that can quickly resolve issues, especially if there is a culture of empathy or understanding. In larger organizations, it may not work in the same way. And hence, HR and other companies’ policies have to be able to quickly identify, understand and solve these issues at a human level, rather than just at a “workplace conflict” level.
Maulik
In that sense, I would say culture plays a two-fold role in talent retention — one, that works at policy level and also directly helps the business and boosts the individual professionally e.g. a culture of innovation as we call it where maybe a part of the KRA is developing at least one innovative idea in the year for every employee — a specific one so to say. That culture brings professional contentment.
Two, the possibly unwritten part and most important — how the culture manifests at the action level in midst of market realities, personal expectations, internal pressures and day-to-day activities within the organization.
Nishanth
Yeah. Most of the creative firms I’ve worked for have that kind of culture — open, anyone can communicate, and build together. There’s also a certain level of trust in the other designers, so while there may be creative differences, it is understood that everyone is working towards a common goal. And everyone understands what they’re expected to deliver as part of the goal. People are given enough room to think and create on their own. To have their own voice and creative identity. This brings about a sense of autonomy, which in turn brings about a strong sense of fulfilment. A culture that can provide that will also have engender loyalty.
Maulik
It’s interesting that you bring up trust. I feel there are two levels of trust at play here, one is the trust between the members of the team, which you’ve spoken about, but there’s also the trust between the leadership and the employees. And I feel that aspect also needs to be strong, otherwise there will again be a disconnect in expectations.
Nishanth
Yes. A leader who does not have trust, and respect for employees as people, will likely fail in any attempt to create a Giver culture. You can see this sometimes in starts-ups. When founders often push to have their ideas through, leads to a culture that is never able to deliver on its promises.
In SMEs, too, they often have experienced first generational leaders who are constantly monitoring employees, watching their moves. They often end up micro-managing situations. At the start of the company, they might have had control over all aspects of the business, but as it has grown, they’ve slowly had to employ more people to take over specific areas. But they still don’t want to cede control. So they end up surrounded by Yes-Men. But it is detrimental to the business. After all, why hire a specialist, if you’re not willing to listen to their opinions.
On the flip side, imagine the company believes in the ideas of the young talent and believes that their experienced employees should gain meaningful experiences elsewhere too. There are plenty of companies that view that as part of the culture, and embrace that churn. They allow employees to train and learn, and then move on. And in many cases, you will see that former employees might return after a few years, having gained knowledge of the industry elsewhere. The company understands their role in the lives of their employees, and they build their culture accordingly.
Maulik
That’s interesting. I guess if we re-imagine the idea of retaining talent as keeping associations intact. A strong culture will always attract back talent. It will always stay in people’s minds as an example of a good place to work. At the very least is that they carry fond memories personally and be positive influencers for the company in public fora.
In fact, when a culture is that strong, and that strongly defined, gossip in the hallway or around the water-cooler isn’t seen as a problem. The company understands that the culture will live on far beyond the current crop of employees, and these are minor fluctuations at best. It is a testament to the transparency and clarity of the organization to allow for all of this.
Nishanth
Water cooler, lunch table, chai time conversations are always interesting. The smoke break used to be big thing, it was even references on Friends, but that’s not as prevalent now. These are great because they’re a dipstick check of what is actually going on within the organization, and the culture within. That is where so many desires, expectations, missed opportunities come up. Employees communicate their issues and try to understand an empathize with their colleagues’ issues.
Here you’ll often hear discussions of trust, of management editing or watering down ideas, micromanaging small or seemingly irrelevant parts of the project. Given enough trust and leeway, most employees will strive to put in their best performance. But if you take away that trust, and give them a very short rope things will go downhill. It will start with a sense of frustration, and then quickly devolve into a apathy. And that is the root of the Taker culture.
Maulik
True. In fact, employees make judgements on the motivations of their bosses and the company as a while, and in many cases, these are not unfounded. That’s when I sometimes see this EVP or the employee value proposition. Conceptually, I think it can be such a wonderful tool to instill confidence and motivate, but it falls flat when it is cooked up. Outside PR and other communication can make it glossy, but once inside, if it isn’t real, it is a losing proposition both for the employee and the organization.
Nishanth
It’s like what we discussed with the Mission and Vision statements. The EVP can be a useful tool, but it needs to be created with the right intentions and the right inputs. It must also show the future of the organization, and how individual employees can contribute to that vision.
Most importantly, everyday behaviors within the organization need to be being aligned to the EVP.
Stresses will always be there, deadlines will be always have to be met, targets will always loom on the horizon, but building a culture of motivation and understanding is important. Bosses need to understand where their subordinates are coming from. And the reverse as well, employees need to understand why their bosses are making the decisions they are making.
Maulik
Clearly, building a culture of authenticity, hope and the one that allows employees to bloom into the best selves of themselves is ideal. And that is where organizations should focus. CEOs/MDs in the rush to resolve other pressing matters often sideline the culture building with a focus on attracting and retaining talent both. It is either a tokenism or something HR does, but it needs a clear intervention from top leadership.
Nishanth
For our listeners, the first season of Hardly Working focuses on Company Culture. We’re going to be putting out a new episode every week, so make sure you’ve subscribed.
If you enjoy the podcast, do share with anyone you think might be interested, and if you have any feedback, get in touch with us on Medium or LinkedIn.
That’s it from us, and I think it’s time to get back to work.
