take two to six-month rotations into a new role or organization. The employees return to their original roles when the fellowship is complete—they often uncover new interests they didn’t know they had, and new skills that help them take on more or different responsibility.
Even if you don’t have an official program like this one, there’s still so much you can do on your own: Bring high potential employees into your circle. Expose them to the challenges of the business and ask for their insights. Have them lead a challenging project with your guidance. When you give talent a seat at the table and give them access to the learning experiences they’re looking for, they’ll be a lot less likely to look elsewhere to make the next leap.
Talent Retention is Personal
Retention matters, not just because of the costs involved to backfill a vacated role. But because it should matter to you personally. It’s more than just free breakroom snacks, massage rooms on campus, or any other workplace perks. These are nice, but they don’t pay the bills, advance careers, or leave lasting impressions.
We want our teams to feel valued, engaged, motivated, and productive, so it only makes sense that we’d make it our personal mission to find ways to develop and retain our best people. If we’re not consistent about it, employees (my early talent employee included) will leave.
It’s in your hands to be intentional about retention—you’ll see the results and feel good about it, too.
Photo of John McGee courtesy of SAP
