The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered the latest battle in the war for talent. Hospitals, desperate for nurses, have offered $40,000 sign-on bonuses. Wall Street firms are increasing base pay for entry-level analysts to six figures. Even fast-food operators are promising retention bonuses between $500 and $1,500 to attract new talent. While these approaches may be effective for filling vacant positions, they are unlikely to yield long-term employee engagement and high performance. Worse, these approaches might actually engender the “dysfunctional retention” of reluctant talent: an employee who prefers to leave but ends up staying and performing poorly.
Are You Trying to Retain the Right Employees?
Too many companies waste time trying to keep people who want to leave. Researchers found that it’s better to identify people who are excited to stay.
October 21, 2021
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Summary.
As an extraordinary wave of resignations sweeps the business world, companies are struggling to reassessing their talent-retention strategies. The authors’ research suggests that firms should take a targeted approach and focus on employees who would not just stay but be enthusiastic about doing so. This article offers a way to identify these “enthusiastic stayers” and recommends ways to keep them.