man and woman shaking hands

    

   

man leaving a job

This month's newsletter is a balance between positives and negatives.  We present the Top Ten Things Top Talent Need ... or ... the Top Ten Reasons Top Talent Leave. We at The Batten Group prefer to position this information in terms of how to keep your top talent -- rather than how to lose them.

 

Either way we position it, the facts remain. Organizations will succeed at keeping their top talent when they do two things:

1.  Hire for ability and then support, hold accountable and reward employees for meeting their goals.

2.  Have an engaging purpose/vision; a clear measurement of success and consistently work together to achieve it. 

 

When organizations do these two things people stay and thrive.  When they don't it's a revolving door.  And that's true at all levels, not just for "top talent."

 

Let The Batten Group help you take the lead in finding top talent who are a perfect fit to your organization's culture.   We have decades of experience in the nonprofit industry serving health and charitable organizations coast to coast.  We're here to serve you.   

 

Call us to find out why America's nonprofit organizations hire us time after time to recruit the "A" caliber talent who know how to exceed goals and objectives and build meaningful relationships.  

  

Wishing you all the best, 

 

Jim Batten

(704) 841-2099
Top 10 Things Top Talent Want/Need 
Or to put it another way ... 
Top Ten Reasons Why Companies Fail To Keep Their Best Talent   
 

1.  Positive:  A voice in the process 

Negative: Big company bureaucracy.

No one likes rules that make no sense. But, when top talent is complaining along these lines, it's usually a sign that they didn't feel as if they had a say in these rules. They were simply told to follow along and get with the program. No voice in the process and really talented people say "check please."  

 

2. Positive:  Be a part of something big of which they are passionate

Negative: Failing to find a project for the talent that ignites their passion.

Big companies have many moving parts, by definition. Therefore, they usually don't have people going around to their best and brightest asking them if they're enjoying their current projects or if they want to work on something new that they're really interested in which would help the company. Top talent isn't driven by money and power, but by the opportunity to be a part of something huge, that will change the world, and for which they are really passionate. Big companies usually never spend the time to figure this out with those people.

 

3. Positive:  Productive feedback on an annual basis

Negative:  Poor annual performance reviews.

You would be amazed at how many companies do not do a very effective job at annual performance reviews. Or, if they have them, they are rushed through, with a form quickly filled out and sent off to HR, and back to real work. The impression this leaves with the employee is that my boss - and, therefore, the company - isn't really interested in my long-term future here. If you're talented enough, why stay? This one leads into #4....

 

4. Positive:  A plan for their future in the company

Negative:  No discussion around career development.  

Here's a secret for most bosses: most employees don't know what they'll be doing in 5 years. In our experience, about less than 5% of people could tell you if you asked. However, everyone wants to have a discussion with you about their future. Most bosses never engage with their employees about where they want to go in their careers, even the top talent. This

represents a huge opportunity for you and your organization if you do bring it up. Our best clients have separate annual discussions with their employees, apart from their annual or bi-annual performance review meetings, to discuss succession planning or career development. If your best people know that you think there's a path for them going forward, they'll be more likely to hang around.

 

5. Positive:  Their projects are vital to the strategic plan
Negative: 
Shifting whims/strategic priorities.
The challenge for most organizations is not setting up a strategic priority, like establishing an incubator, but sticking with it a year or two from now.  If you commit to a project that your top talent will be heading up, then give them enough opportunity to deliver what they've promised.
 

Tomorrow: Reasons 6 - 10 

 

Source:  Eric Jackson, Contributor to Forbes   
Testimonial
 

 

  

 

We retained The Batten Group to recruit strong talent for two critical development positions which were tough to fill.  The Batten Group was very sensitive to our needs and timing, and recruited strong, vetted talent quickly.  We were able to hire two professionals who had the right mix of talent and personality to join our team

 

Gail Roddie-Hamlin, MPH, CHES 

 

President and CEO

Alzheimer's Association
Greater Pennsylvania Chapter 

 

 

  





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