How important is retaining your people to you? If deep down inside (and beyond platitudes) you aren't sure, think to yourself (or ask HR) about how easy it would be to find an equivalent hire, how long it would take to train that person, how much work time would be lost to your group and how much it would cost to find, hire, and train this person. And then ask yourself whether it would be better figuring out how to keep the good people you have?

Many people say that retaining employees is all about how much you pay them. According to a research by Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL), the people who say this are only partially correct, and the parts that they're missing may end up being more important than the money.

The truth is, retaining good employees isn't all about the money. Though a good employee could always leave if someone is wooing them away with a salary significantly higher than what he or she is currently getting, if they are happy in their job, feel appreciated by their boss and see the potential for growth both in the near- and long-term, they're going to think long and hard before making the jump to your competitor. However, if they 1) don't enjoy what they're doing, 2) don't like their boss, 3) don't think they are going to get much growth from their position in the short term, and/or 4) don't think there is much potential for growth in the long term, why would they stay? Given the circumstances and an attractive offer, would you?

However, people don't typically get perfect offers; they get offers that seem to be better than what they have currently. It is "the grass is greener on the other side of the fence" phenomenon.  So what can you do to make the grass on your side of the fence seem at least equally green?

As part of the Emerging Leaders Research Project, CCL asked employees what their organisations could do to retain them as committed employees. The respondents said that they wanted very specific things, while generally, employees from all generations wanted the same things from work:  development, more pay and respect and recognition.

Development

Even more than money, people want development and challenge in their work. They want to have their organisation support their learning with both time and money and new challenges on the job rather than just doing the same thing over and over again. Employees desire to be given the opportunity to move and grow in the organisation rather than feeling that they are going to be stuck in the same position for many years. Indeed, younger employees were more focused on moving and growing in their organisations than are older employees, but older employees said they also want it. After all, who wants to feel that they're stagnating in a job?

More pay

This includes benefits such as vacation and other company perks. Younger people responded that they wanted to be better compensated, more often than older people did because according to the CCL research, they were being paid less than older people for the same job. Although on the face of it, that may seem fair, how would you feel if there were someone sitting next to you being paid 1/3 more than you are for doing the exact same job? Though you may think it is reasonable from the organisation's perspective, it isn't likely to make you happy. While you as their manager may not have much control over their salary, you may have control over some of those perks. How about more vacation time? How about a business trip somewhere? How about an afternoon off because they're been working so hard (that shows your team you appreciate them as well). It doesn't eliminate the money issue, but it can help.

Respect and recognition

Everyone wants to be appreciated for their hard work - and this is especially true of older workers who frequently feel as if their valuable experience isn't appreciated at all. It is important to let older workers know that you respect and appreciate how much they know and contribute every day through their experience and knowledge. Younger people also need respect. Though the platitude is that good work should in large part be its own reward, that isn't the reality most people work in, so you need to think. As the manager, you have control over whether your people feel respected and recognised by you for the work they do. And that respect and recognition - along with good pay and opportunities for development - may be the difference between keeping and losing a good employee.

Dr Jennifer Deal, research scientist

Centre for Creative Leadership

www.ccl.org