A consulting firm is only as good as its people. And as the economy continues to improve, and job opportunities emerge inside and outside the profession, voluntary attrition is becoming a paramount concern. To help firms get a better handle on this challenge, Consulting's One-on-One sat down with Dick Finnegan, president of Finnegan Mackenzie, a leading advisor on staff retention issues to professional service firms. In the last edition, we focused on the common misconceptions firm leaders have regarding voluntary attrition. In this edition we focus on specific action steps firm leaders should take.
Consulting: What's one of the first things firm leaders should do to help improve staff retention?
Finnegan: There are a series of things they should do. Starting from the most broad, I think surveys can serve as a great benchmark. It can provide a valuable snapshot of how employee attitudes are changing from year to year or quarter to quarter. But firms shouldn't stop there because surveys can't offer solutions. Because it's anonymous, benchmark surveys can only give us aggregated data. It can only point toward one-size fits all solutions—firmwide programs instead of adjustments to keep an individual motivated.
Consulting: In the last edition, you brought up the idea of stay interviews — conversations designed to uncover what would make an employee more comfortable committing long-term to the firm. What's the key to making those interviews successful?
Finnegan: In my new book ["Rethinking Retention in Good Times and Bad"], I stress the training necessary to conduct stay interviews. I believe the employee's immediate supervisor should conduct the interview, not HR or someone several steps removed. This means that line managers need to have training on the skills involved in these interviews because these can be make or break moments of trust for that employee. And trust is the number one skill someone has to have to build retention.
Consulting: Why is trust so important?
Finnegan: Trust is the basis of any relationship. Anecdotally, think about the best and worst boss you've had. At a basic level, the best boss was someone you trusted —you knew he or she had your back—and the worst boss was likely someone who you didn't trust. The best boss had shortcomings you'd easy overlook; your worst boss had strengths you couldn't see.
Consulting: How important is manager training to retention efforts?
Finnegan: It's amazing how often managers can make a bad situation worse. I'll give you an example: An employee goes to his boss and says, 'I'm worried my skills are becoming obsolete. I've found some classes that I think would be helpful and I think I could contribute more to the company if you'd be willing to pay for the classes'. Two weeks later, the manager tells the employee, 'I think you're okay, don't worry about the classes'. The result is that that veteran employee starts shopping his resume immediately. The manager's poor attempt at reassurance has only reinforced the employee's fear that he will soon be replaced by someone younger, cheaper, and with more relevant skills.
Consulting: Are exit interviews helpful?
Finnegan: They are, but I too often find that firms interview the wrong person. If you're sensing an uptick in voluntary attrition, there's a ton of data in the average firm's payroll department that is usually untapped. You want to know who is leaving, by job, department and length of service. That last piece can tell you a lot because if you have high turnover in the first 90 to 180 days of employment, it suggests that you're not choosing people very well. With that data crunched, I'd then conduct exit interviews with the managers who supervised the person that left. At my firm, I don't sign off on hiring a replacement until we have that meeting. I find that this enables me to move the responsibility and accountability for each departure from no one to the supervisor.
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