There is a lot of talk about an impending exodus of talent when the economy rebounds. There are many employees unhappy with their workplace, work, pay and managers, and they intend to look for better opportunities when things improve. Using statistics from previous economic downturns, the movement of employees and the loss of talent in a rebounding economy are significant. So what is a manager to do to keep the great talent?

Connect.

Connect your employees to the right job; be sure each works in a job that plays to her strengths – they feel capable and competent.

Connect your employees to roles and responsibilities that involve their passions – they are more energized when they love what they do.

And for these to happen, you must first connect to your employees as people. Find out their talents, values and interests. Spend time with them. Share information. Challenge them to contribute in meaningful ways. Ask what they think. Put them in charge of things. Let them invent, innovate and solve. Add things they love to do to their weekly responsibilities. Show them they are important.

Time for action: Employees want to feel valued, respected, important and human. Create a workplace that provides this and your employees stay. So when others are trying to react to the outflow of employees, yours will be content, focused on performance and driving your business. Build your plan to connect to your employees today. Don’t wait.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 5:50 am and is filed under For Managers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.