During the past decade, employee turnover has become a very serious problem for organizations. Managing retention and keeping the turnover rate below target and industry norms is one of the most challenging issues facing business. All indications point toward the issue compounding in the future and, even as economic times change, turnover will continue to be an important issue for most job groups. Yet despite these facts employee turnover continues to be the most unappreciated and undervalued issue facing business leaders.

    There are a variety of reasons for this, for example, the true cost of employee turnover is often underestimated. The causes of turnover are not adequately identified, and solutions are often not matched with the causes, so they fail. Preventive measures are either not in place or do not target the issues properly, and therefore have little or no effect, and a method for measuring progress and identifying a monetary value (ROI) on retention does not exist in most organizations.

    'Managing Employee Retention' is a practical guide for managers to retain their talented employees. It shows how to manage and monitor turnover and how to develop the ROI of keeping your talent using innovative retention programs. The book presents a logical process of managing retention, from identifying turnover costs and causes, designing solutions that match the causes of turnover, developing tools for tracking turnover and placing alerts when action is needed, and measuring the ROI of retention programs.

    Part One, Problem, impact and costs of turnover - Impact of Turnover, definitions, turnover/retention model, how turnover rates are calculated, statistics about turnover; Why turnover is a serious problem, the issues, the problem of mismatches, the responsibilities, retention as a strategy, the payoff; Costing turnover, fully loaded, using a fully loaded cost profile, exit costs, recruiting costs, selection/employment costs, orientation costs, training costs, lost wages/salaries, supervisor/staff time, lost productivity, loss of expertise/knowledge, customer satisfaction issues, developing the total costs; Part Two, Retention solution - Uncovering retention needs, total compensation, great place to work, opportunity and growth, challenging future, converting needs to solutions; Total compensation solutions, lever one, fairness and value, definition, components, pay, benefits, incentives, rewards and recognition; Great place to work solutions, lever two, connection to the work, definition, components, recruitment, selection, contracting, placement, orientation, lever three, community and trust, definition, components, teamwork, suppport systems, follow-through, lever four, physical work environment, definition, components, safety, work environment, ergonomics, lever five, meaningful work, definition, components, work design, line of sight, empowerment, performance management; Opportunity and growth solutions, lever six, operational excellence, definition, components, enabling systems, effective communication, operational accountability, lever seven, professional development and progression, definition, components, competencies, training and development, career pathing, succession planning; Compelling future, lever eight, life balance, definition, components, individual values, supportive culture, organizational resources, lever nine, connection to the organization, definition, components, mission, vision, values, contribution, market performance, competitive advantage, products and services: Identifying specific needs, how do the retention levers help "point towards" causes of turnover, examining records/HRIS data, exploring relationships with other measures/factors, using analytical methods, using surveys and questionnaires, using interviews, using focus groups, using the nominal group technique, reaching conclusions, identifying the specific strategies for each lever; Matching needs to solutions, avoiding mis-matches, working with multiple solutions, selecting solutions for maximum return, verifying the match, communicating the match, checking the progress of the match, the utility of additional solutions; Part Three, The Pay-off - Measuring progress and determining ROI, measuring against history/goals, using benchmarking data, reporting the cost of turnover, placing a value on solutions, developing the ROI, interpreting the ROI, identifying and reporting intangible data, reporting and communication issues, using results as continuous improvement; Preventing employee turnover, selling the preventitive approach, monitoring key variables, conducting audits, observing changes, avoiding overkill with solutions, developing the payoff for prevention; Long-term payoffs of managing turnover, research on turnover and organizational success, adverse impact of low turnover, long-term benefits/costs, intangible benefits.

    Biography

    Jack J. Phillips

    "Phillips and Connell give the hungry reader great food for action to finally tackle the employee retention problem. Too many accept employee retention problems as inevitable, Phillips
    and Connell provide the techniques to solve the issues strategically and with accountability. If you're serious about managing employee retention, this book gives you both the "how to" and the "rationale" you need for success."
    - Pat Crull, Vice President and Chief Learning Officer, Toys R' Us


    "A comprehensive and valuable resource for all managers and HR professionals who want to retain critical talent in their organizations. This book
    provides applied techniques for analyzing retention issues, calculating costs of attrition and creating effective retention solutions."
    -Tamar Elkeles, Vice President, Learning and Development, QUALCOMM, Inc.

    "I would certainly recommend this book to any leader with the desire and need to reduce turnover and improve employee satisfaction and performance levels. Managing Employee Retention is a simple to follow and easy to implement strategy to guide any company toward becoming an employer of choice."
    - Harry Bond, President, Monical Pizza Corporation