Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/297333
Adding to the challenge says author Dick Finnegan, CEO of C-Suite Analytics, is "the need to keep your best people as the hiring market heats up. Why should you bump up retaining technology gurus on your 2014 priority list? The most startling reason is LinkedIn." According to Forbes magazine, Finnegan says, LinkedIn's "Recruiter" tool has become the 21 st century version of a recruiter's 'little black book,' pointing out that consulting firm Accenture has abandoned outside search firms and directs in-house recruiters to exclusively use the online networking tool to search user profiles. Recruiter enables users to search this vast international database for keywords and make direct contact with those they target. "LinkedIn's instructions for your talent to find new jobs are to (1) post a profile, (2) include the most attractive keywords for their industry, and (3) respond to your competitors' job inquiries via their keyboards … which you've paid for," said Finnegan. "And while LinkedIn doesn't require your employees to do much, there are signs employees are more active in their job searches, too. A recent salary.com study discloses that 23 percent of our employees search for new jobs every day and 18 percent update their resumes each week." "The big lesson learned is that we have a pathway issue," said Pat Gehant, project manager for both studies and herself a longtime IT director. "We have highly educated students that we have assumed know the way to get to the companies in our area and companies that don't know how to get to the students and the classrooms where they are being trained." Gehant is on a mission to get students to the companies that can employ them using simple tactics like field trips, as well as internships that she says can close the experience gap between graduate and the enterprise-level employee with three to five years under their belt. Too, she acknowledges the importance of retention. "To retain people, employers need to keep providing training – the one thing we hear over and over again is that employees want to keep learning. Many people leave because they want more of a challenge and if you train them you give them upward mobility and opportunity." In the end, offered Tampa Bay's Rogel, "What we do is all about workforce. Without a strong, well-trained, experienced workforce, no region will be competitive." Dick Finnegan www.c-suiteanalytics.com So how do you combat these constant attacks on your talent? Here are three ideas that work. RETENTION IDEA #1: Turn the tables on LinkedIn Once you've identified your best talent, have your key managers "link" with your best. Then they will be updated when your top performers update their profiles which enable them to schedule a check-in meeting to ensure everything is OK. RETENTION IDEA #2: Remove any manager on any level who employees don't trust In some ways retention is easy. The main reason employees stay or leave is their manager, not pay, and the quality they want most in a manager is someone who builds trust. Most of us know who can and cannot build trust effectively, and most of us, too, have one or two key leaders who fail that test. Try once to fix them and then remove them. RETENTION IDEA #3: Ask your CFO to put a comprehensive dollar cost on turnover for key jobs Converting turnover percentages to dollars opens eyes and directs more efforts to retention, including the hard choices of who can be a leader in your company. 3 RETENTION IDEAS THAT WORK 52 florida.HIGH.TECH 2014