Putting the Focus on Retention

October 20, 2021

Earlier today, Customer Success Team Member Juliana Withers hosted October’s Truvelop User Community Lunch and Learn about Putting the Focus on Retention.  With Truvelop CEO and Co-Founder, Lisa First-Willis, the women were able to explore the root of why people resign, and shared evidence-based best practices to combatting disengagement and discontentment in the workplace.   

Why Employees Resign 

In a recent Gallup article, they made the argument that the Great Resignation should really be called the Great Discontent.  Employees are feeling overworked and under-appreciated, with no clear development path forward.  Those three elements alone are enough to make someone reconsider their position within an organization.   

 

However, just because those might be the reason a lot of people are leaving today, that doesn’t mean that those are the reasons people are leaving your team.  Understanding why our Team Members are feeling disengaged is crucial to developing a strategic path forward that meets their current needs.  Using surveys, conducting employee assessments often and regular 1:1 meetings is a good place to start.   

Building Engagement 

During the Lunch and Learn, Lisa, Meryl, and Juliana highlighted a few ways that teams can foster higher engagement.   

  • Leveraging Internal Talent Mobility.  Right now, organizations everywhere are trying to fill the gaps of open positions.  This means that employees are taking on added responsibility, which can lead to burnout if they are feeling overworked and under-appreciated.  However, when employees are fulfilling these new role responsibilities, they are developing their transferable skills, determining what they like and dislike about different positions, and working with people that they may not typically have the opportunity to work with.  This is an incredible opportunity to grow and take on creative challenges.  With a growth mindset and the right support and encouragement from management, employees can become more engaged and strengthen their feelings of autonomy, relatedness, and competence.   
  • Individual Development Plans.  One of the main reasons people leave their current positions is that they don’t feel like there are enough development opportunities or they don’t see a clear progression path ahead.  To show organization and manager investment into a Team Member’s personal and professional development, employees should complete Individual Development Plans with their Managers to map out a clear and meaningful path forward.  Check out Truvelop’s Individual Developing Planning page in the Knowledge Center to learn more.   
  • Prioritize the Employee Experience.  In order to keep engagement high, it ultimately comes down to the employee’s perception of their experience.  A positive Manger and Employee relationship is essential and should be the foundation of any engagement strategy.  From there, Managers can start to support Team Member well-being, emphasizing a strong work-life balance.  This is especially important right now during periods of turnover and increased levels of stress.  Additionally, Millennials and Gen Z employees want to work for inclusive organizations.  Prioritizing and celebrating organization DE&I initiatives shows your employees that you are dedicated to a positive and welcoming environment that makes everyone feel like they belong.  

Having a tool in place that makes it easy to engage and develop Team Members is more important than ever.  Everyone is going above and beyond right now, so performance management and development needs to be just as agile.  As we enter into the last quarter of the year, it’s time to think about how Truvelop can help your team today.  

Contact us today to learn more about our modern approach to performance management and development that actually improves the manager and employee relationship. Don’t just take our word for it, see what our Customers have to say.

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