Retention

The topic I chose to research was "Employee Retention." The reason I chose this topic was because I wanted to know what keeps employees happy in today's workforce. I wanted to learn more about the reasons as to why and how employee retention started to become an issue in organizations today. Companies and/or organizations depend on their employees' individual performance to become a successful organization. Employees attribute to an organization's main strategic objectives and goals. The way employees perform their job responsibilities affects organizational productivity and performance. If it were not for an employee the job would not get done. In order for an organization to receive excellent individual performance, employees need to be physically and mentally satisfied with the people they work with and their surrounding work environment. Managers truly feel it's all about the money they pay their employees as the reason why employees stay in organizations. Now a day, money will not keep employees in a company. Managers have the power to greatly influence talented employees' decision about staying in a company, by showing them that they care about them and their needs, remembering them, noticing them, listening to them, and thanking them for their talents and efforts (Kaye & Jordan-Evans pg. 14). In order for organizations to retain the best working employees, managers need to give effective communication, rewards and recognitions, benefits, and promotions from within the company.

One way to retain employees is by providing effective communication concerning company goals, objectives, and/or conflicts about the organization. "An effective management by objective (MBO) system starts with communicating clear expectations to employees. A manager needs to set specific goals, guidelines and standards for an employee. Managers are responsible for providing resources for staff members to meet goals and to perform the work assigned. Feedback and ongoing support are important so that the relationship between the manager and the employee continues to focus on goals and expectations during the MBO cycle (Jorgensen, pg. 13)".

"Communication is the lifeblood of any organization, big or small," says Ronald Gross, head of Censeo Corp., a Maitland human-resource-consulting firm (Wessel). If information is power, then being out of the loop lacking information might leave one powerless. Research shows that people want a boss with influence and power in the organization (Kaye & Jordan-Evans pg. 69). "Employees want to be in the loop and they want and need managers to bring them in too. When managers withhold information about change in the company the following is what both management and employees think:

Senior Manager Thinks Employees Think

It's too early to tell them Silence must mean it's pretty bad.

This news is too frightening we'd better wait. They're moving the company to Panama.

I'm afraid if we tell them, productivity will drop. The company's going belly-up. Where else can I get a job?

Notice that managers are trying to protect employees and prevent all the water cooler talk that can put a huge dent in work productivity. But, ironically, the silence and protection backfires. What do you suppose happens to productivity as these employees worry about their jobs and update their resumes (Kaye & Jordan-Evans pg. 70)?" Productivity and performance goes down.

In contrast, where top leaders give information as early and honestly as possible and hold managers' accountable for passing the news down, employees actually feel important and valued and the productivity dip is minimized (Kaye & Jordan-Evans pg. 70). Another good reason to share information is that employees might be able to help by providing information and ideas.

It's not enough to have policies and mission statements, Ronald Gross says. Upward communication has to be constantly fostered and reinforced, so that "people see it's something that's valued and becomes natural in a place of business (Wessel)." Gross agrees that upward communication doesn't happen unless managers and leaders walk the walk. They must be good role models, making it clear through their behavior that they are open to information, be it positive or negative (Wessel).

In order to have effective communication in the workplace managers and supervisors need to share information face to face, especially if it is difficult to deliver or will affect employees in significant ways. Employees need to be told directly, news concerning the organization rather than having them learned via memo or from some other source (Kaye & Jordan-Evans pg. 74). Research shows that people believe it and react more favorably when the news is delivered in this manner (pg. 74). Managers need to check to be sure the message is getting through. If manager don't check to see if information is being passed along we know what happens to a story when it has been repeated several times it barely resembles the original. The more creative a message is sent, the greater the chance it will be noticed. Considering doing the unexpected, if people are used to hearing news via a memo, maybe by trying face to face or video next time will catch the employees' attention (Kaye & Jordan-Evans pg. 70).

The source I used was email to gather my benchmarking information. I emailed friends, family, and old classmates of mine to get information about their company or organizations. I benchmarked two different education organizations and three different government agencies. The question I asked for my research was, "Do you feel management? "communicates" to you information concerning company goals, objectives, and/or conflicts?" The two education organizations I benchmarked were Montgomery College and Georgetown University. The responses I got from the two individuals working for these organizations were just about the same. They both felt that management gives effective communications concerning goals, objectives, and/or conflicts. The three government organizations I benchmarked were Office of Personnel Management, Food & Nutrition Service, and U.S. Department of State. Some of the responses I received were surprising. The individual working for the Office of Personnel Management stated that the agency goals were communicated through strategic plans. Objectives and conflicts within the organizations were less likely to be communicated. The Food & Nutrition Service agency does not communicate to employees much information according to the