Retaining Talent

Retaining Talent

 

The article relating to retaining talent, written by Allen, Bryant and Vardaman explores the various evidence-based strategies that can be used to manage talent retention. The aim of the article is to provide managers with reliable information that will help them eliminate common misconceptions about talent retention and employee turnover. Moreover, the article aims at equipping managers with knowledge understanding of employee turnover and the various factors that influence it. To communicate to the target audience, the article has evaluated the five commonly used misconceptions about employee turnover and has provided findings that can guide managers in their decision making. Three main ideas along which the article is organized are creation of shared understanding, cause-effect relationships with regard to underlying principles’ knowledge and diagnosis involving adaptation to a specific organizational context.

The claim by the article that not all employees’ turnover is bad is true and founded on extended research and findings.  This claim discredits the misconception that all turnovers are alike and harmful. The writers have been able to defend this claim through provision of various examples where turnover is beneficial to an organization such as those involving low performing employees.

To deal with the problem of retention, all stakeholders of an organization must develop a shared understanding of the importance of retention and have a consensus for turnover costing (Allen, Bryant and Vardaman, 2010). By asserting that a shared understanding is required, the writers of the article allude to the, importance of solving the problem holistically and not as a separate entity from other elements in an organization.

Understanding the cause-effect relationships among the factors that influence people to quit their jobs is crucial in eliminating misconceptions and alleviating understanding of the most crucial factors that drive employee turnover. For instance, many managers have held the misconception that people quit their jobs because of unsatisfactory pay. However, research has shown that pay is actually one of the least influential factors when employees decide to quit their jobs.  Managers who hold this misconception may concentrate all their effort in making pay packages attractive to the employees while ignoring other factors such as conducive work environment and promotion chances. Consequently, turnover rates may continues being high since the real driving factors have not been identified and taken care of.

Some employees have been found to quit their jobs despite being satisfied with it. Therefore, dissatisfaction is not the only and sure way of influencing employees to quit.  This has unearthed other factors that influence people to quit their jobs. Understanding factors that influence people to quit their jobs help managers to design solutions that are specific to the factors. General solutions may fail to tackle the problems of specific organizations. Therefore, any solutions must be specific to the context within which they are to be applied.

Understanding the complex factors that influence people to quit their jobs empower managers to make an impact in influencing employees’ decisions to quit. Therefore, the misconception that managers have little influence on these decisions is unfounded.

In conclusion, the article has been able to articulate its arguments successfully by basing it on facts from research and practical approaches. Developing shared understanding among shareholders, understanding the cause-effect analysis of factors influencing turnover and diagnosing organizations using strategies fit for specific contexts can help retain talents.

 

Reference

Allen, D.G., Bryant, P.C, &Vardaman, J.M. (2010). Retaining talent: Replacing misconceptions with evidence-based strategies.

 

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