Q&A on Staff Retention

by Mike Flaherty, Organizational Consultant at the Rural Institute

As part of the Rural Institute’s Rural Independent Living Leadership Mentoring Initiative, I recently presented a national telephone conference seminar on staff retention for Independent Living Centers (ILCs). One of the best parts of the seminar was the question and answer (Q & A) portion. Below are some of the questions ILC directors from across the country asked, followed by my responses.

Who is responsible ultimately for staff retention?

Retention starts at the top. Seeking, getting, and keeping qualified, motivated employees is the responsibility of the governing board and its hired director/administrator. Getting and keeping good staff demands focused, formal agency policies that make retention a prime management outcome. Managers need to appreciate staff every day and constantly work to keep them onboard.

Why is staff retention so important anyway?

Replacing staff is expensive. An increasing number of studies demonstrate that staff retention/attrition rates impact an agency’s bottom line. The “replacement cost”of an entry-level staff position is between $5,000 and $10,000 dollars. This dollar figure includes funds spent on recruitment, hiring, training, orienting, and supporting new employees. There are also all the related costs of lost management time/energy spent replacing staff. Besides becoming a disruptive and time-consuming management task, replacing staff is very expensive, in terms of time and money as well as energy.

What are the basic elements of a sound retention policy?

Ideally, attention to retention should be a constant, ongoing process at your agency. Retaining good staff begins in the recruitment/ hiring phase. Spending the energy to find/hire the best candidate will benefit your agency and the new employee over the long-term. Recruit and hire new employees who fit the job, the agency, and the existing staff. Much like building an athletic team, recruit players (staff) who best fit the play book (agency’s mission/values). Hire for a good fit and attitude. Attitude and motivation are not easily changed; job skills can be learned later, during training. More people lose or leave jobs because they did not fit the workplace culture than from lack of work skills.

Once ideal candidates are hired, their orientation and training are paramount. Orientation is the critical fitting in phase. New hires are oriented to the workplace culture, are trained in the tasks, and learn the agency’s expected outcomes.

Nurturing staff should be ongoing, a day-to-day activity. Clear and open communication is the best foundation for nurturing staff. Nothing says respect or models empowerment more than managers who actively listen to their employees. The active listener appreciates the employee’s feelings, input, and concerns. Listening is the most cost-effective way to acknowledge people. Being heard builds self-esteem and employees with high self-esteem feel trusted and valued and are less likely to feel marginalized.

Rewards and recognition can be powerful tools. More and more agencies use informal methods of rewarding staff. Compensation and other financial benefits are becoming less the norm for recognizing employee accomplishments. Reward systems that are person-based are proving to be effective, when recognition is linked to personal desires or needs such as time off, job sharing, flex-time, office space, special tasks, public acknowledgment, news releases, etc. The most important part of any informal reward/recognition system is that it is linked to organizational values and that it is personally given from management!

How can I compete in a rural area for the best available staff?

One suggestion is for small rural agencies to analyze staffing needs, determine costs, and consider sharing an employee among multiple agencies. Job sharing has proved effective for some in-house staffing issues, and staff sharing can likewise assist directors or managers in getting/keeping valuable staff. Perhaps a half-time position in two agencies can become one job for a qualified employee. The two human service agencies may share this employee, giving adequate compensation/benefits as well as providing ongoing professional growth opportunities/challenges.

What is the cost of initiating and maintaining a retention program?

Time and commitment are the major costs. The time/energy spent to start a sound in-house retention approach is minimal. Staff appreciation is built on respectful communication and personal recognition. Money should be spent on recruiting

Is there an acceptable level of retention?

Each agency is different. People leave for a lot of reasons. All businesses experience staff attrition. And staff leaving is not always a bad thing, especially if the staff isn’t fitting in or is undermining the agency’s values.

Unacceptable levels of attrition impact the mission or service delivery to customers. High turnover has a marked negative effect on staff morale. Obviously a large agency with fifty employees that loses five employees annually will have an entirely different experience than an agency with ten employees that loses five! The small agency is greatly impacted and should examine its policy/management attitude toward retention.

Most experienced personnel managers suggest asking staff who leave why they are leaving. Exit interviews are important for monitoring the effectiveness of personnel management and agency efforts to remain responsive. Active listening to staff—old, new, and leaving—can help design and maintain effective retention strategies.

Mike Flaherty is an Organizational Consultant with the Rural Institute. You may reach him at mcf@ruralinstitute.umt.edu, (406) 243-4619, or
(877) 243-2476 toll free.