Happy New Year to all of you and I hope 2011 brings success and pride to all of you. As the economy slowly turns around and our organizations begin to regroup, one thing for sure will be challenging: keeping our current team in tact. All around me I keep hearing about disillusioned employees waiting to jump and seize a better work opportunity. Knowing that we have held onto outstanding performing employees due to the poor job market, should be a wake-up call to all of us. Have you asked yourself, “What will I do if my strong team members decide to go to another organization when jobs begin to open?” How well prepared are you to keep your talent?

As leaders, we don’t often take the time to reflect on how our team members are feeling about their jobs. As we begin the new year, this would be a perfect time to assess our team status.

  • Set up time to meet individually with each member of your group.
  • Ask each person how he or she perceives his or her job is going.
  • Assess whether current job responsibilities need to be adjusted due to changes in customer needs.
  • Listen to what each person sees as the biggest challenges for the coming year and how you may help them meet those concerns.
  • Establish a mentorship program for your team members where more seasoned leaders work with newer employees.
  • Train your leaders on how to mentor. These discussions should be a 2-way street, so every mentor and mentee can learn from one another. Positive language and feedback is so important for the mentees.
  • Make the necessary changes so that team members feel they are being listened to and contributing their ideas.

The most critical reason that our talent will not run off to another company is that we make them feel valued. Leadership not only involves recognizing great talent, but cultivating and nurturing the talent.

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