F. Leigh Branham: 'Retaining good employees takes commitment'
Staff -- Building Design & Construction, 12/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
F. Leigh Branham, SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources), is founder and principal of Keeping the People, Inc., an HR consulting firm that specializes in employee retention. In cooperation with the Saratoga Institute, he wrote The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How to Recognize the Subtle Signs and Act Before It's Too Late (AMACOM Books, 2005), describing the root causes of employee turnover, based on post-exit surveys of more than 19,700 employees in 17 industries. The book was selected by www.businessbookreview.com as one of its top 30 books of 2005. Branham graduated from Vanderbilt University and has two master's degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
BD+C: What's happening at AEC firms in terms of people issues?
Leigh Branham: The overwhelming thing is that there are not enough professionals out there. Everybody's scrambling and competing for talent. [AEC firms] think about the Georgia Techs and the MITs, but they need to start thinking about some of the smaller colleges. Instead of focusing on recruiting, though, firms should have a retention policy.
BD+C: Is the problem that AEC firms don't pay enough?
LB: That's what managers think: 89% of respondents in a 1998 Harvard Management Update study said that. But there's no link between pay and performance, and no clue how a decision is made. Top performers get 4% raises, average performers get 3%. New people are paid more than some people who've been there for years.
Money may lead employees to the door, but the research I did with the Saratoga Institute with nearly 20,000 employees showed that 88% of employees said it was a reason other than money that was the root cause [for leaving].
BD+C: What “other reasons”?
LB: In AEC firms, it's three things: the lack of feedback and coaching from direct managers; the lack of perceived advancement and growth in the organization; and last, not feeling valued, not feeling listened to, or not in the loop.
BD+C: Talk about feedback and coaching.
LB: Many managers at AEC firms are not good communicators, and they're way too busy. The annual performance review doesn't get it done; even quarterly reviews are not enough. You've got young people who come into these organizations with a need for instantaneous, constant feedback, and their managers can't give it to them. If they're not getting feedback, they'll go looking for a place where they will get it.
BD+C: What about career advancement?
LB: This is the number one reason people under 35 leave. Young people want to know if they're going to have a future in the firm. Long-term employment is not really in their sights. They will stay as long as they're learning. Ironically, they will stay as long as you're making them more valuable, even to another employer.
Young people start thinking, When am I going to be a manager? And their manager says, You need more seasoning, but they don't know what to do. I've developed a Project Manager Competency Profile, which gives 25 specific competencies to go over with them—negotiating with clients, managing the team, giving presentations to clients, etc. Here's where you're good, and here's where you need to improve.
BD+C: What about employees feeling recognized?
LB: The pay part has more to do with perceived inequity and perceived lack of a link between pay and performance. If managers are too busy, they're not observing performance, so they can't measure it.
One of the biggest complaints I hear in the AEC field is a disinclination on the part of managers to say thanks. There are several excuses given for this: “If you don't hear from me, that means you're doing a good job”; “If I keep telling you how good you are, you're going to ask for a raise”; and “My manager never thanked me.”
BD+C: So, what works?
LB: “Employee of the month” is outdated. What works is what I call C-A-R: Challenge-Achievement-Reward. Give people an interesting challenge, allow them to do it, and as soon as they do it, reward them. You have a post-project evaluation, you ask the client who was particularly important to its success, and you reward those people on the spot.
The other thing about valuing employees is listening to them, and then doing something about it. Some AEC firms are having 50-50 meetings with managers and staff, and each side gets 50% of the time to talk.
BD+C: Any silver bullet to improve retention?
LB: Commitment. But if you're committed to retaining good people, you're going to pay the price. Are you under the market in pay? You need to pay more. Are you willing to stop putting so much work load on people, or to hire more staff? Are you willing to let them go to training? Are you willing to make employees take vacation? That's the price you pay to become an employer of choice. You're going to pay either way. The cost of turnover can eat you alive—for professionals, it's 100% of base pay.
VIEW ALL GALLERIES