Did you know that nearly 30% of high performers are considering leaving their current company? This likely includes your superstars too. Turnover is costly and time consuming and it hits even harder when one of your high performers leaves.
The good news is that you can do a number of cost effective things to ensure that they are happy working with you and are motivated to stay. Retention is the best solution to ensuring your dealership can get off of the recruitment roller coaster.
Top Performers are looking for a few key things, and here is how you can meet their needs:
1) Give them purpose- regardless of the role, high performers want to know that they are making a difference and mastering their trade. Be sure that they know the purpose of the organization (not just profits) . A clearly defined common goal will help keep them driven and motivate growth.
2) Show their meaningful- You consider them high performers, you value their contributions and you appreciate the small things like punctuality and participation- but do they know that? Many leaders work so hard at being professional that they forget to be personable. Show them that they mean more than 8 hours of labour by celebrating successes, giving support and providing a challenge when they want to grow or need a little push. Knowing that you are not a machine makes being loyal and valuing their relationship with you a key "staying factor".
3) Give them recognition-In today's labour market there is no room for leadership that ignores it's top performers. You don't need to be paying out big bucks for worldwide vacations, but you do need to invest in a simple and sincere way to mention accomplishments and say thank-you. Employees who don't feel valued simply do not stay.
4) Manage performance- Under performance that is ignored or having under performing co-workers that get too many chances ruins the morale of those that are performing. Be encouraging, but as a leader you need to be prepared to make tough decisions too, otherwise, it may be that your under performers stay and your high performers leave.
5) Help them grow- Professional development, both as part of a strong team, and individually keeps top performers engaged and challenged. Where they can participate in assignments, projects or temporary roles that contribute directly to company success, it will drive team effort and direction towards a common goal.
6) Strategize your HR- As managing people becomes increasingly complex, the HR functions in your organization becomes increasingly important. HR Administration is important but having solid HR processes, access to knowledgeable HR professionals and making strategic HR decisions will help lead the way to accomplishing the "staying factors" that top performers are demanding. These are not quick fixes but when they become embedded in your strategy and culture, those top performers will see you and your dealership as the real super-star.
As the exclusive national provider to the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, DealerPILOT HR can provide the means to manage and implement these staying factors. In addition to our automated solutions, DealerPILOT HR can provide e-training and advisory services to our clients. If you would like more information on how we can help, contact us at info@dealerpilothr.com or call 1-866-806-7315.