How the Best Bosses Keep Great People When They Can't Pay Them More

PREACH!

Flex time, and really kick-ass health insurance

It depends on who your team is because different people require different things. When it comes to people there is no one size fits all approach. For some people it's not about the money at all but rather how the company is run or how it treats its people. Some people want to be valued or have their voice heard. Other people want a open and cooperative atmosphere free from hostility, office politics and bureaucratic obstacles. Some people on the other hand enjoy a competitive atmosphere and the challenges it brings. Retention continues to be an evolving subject matter and a lucrative deal for individuals who can teach companies how to keep their people and keep them happy.

My former employer was a small company that was bought out by a major corporation (the Berkshire-Hathaway empire). Gradually a lot of my co-workers began leaving one by one. This very question was being asked over and over at every meeting, understandably some people will always leave, but some of the best and brightest of our company was leaving too. It was a major exodus. The major complaint was the corporate atmosphere and new business model approach. They required employees to take personality surveys and read literature about team building. They also required us to watch videos about performance and how to be a better asset to the company. They also wanted us to account for every minute for every thing we worked on, so they could quantify and justify the time spent working on that particular task. It was all about efficiency and tracking performance to optimize workflow and profitability. Many of my coworkers complained they spent more time tracking their hours and tasks than actually performing them. They felt marginalized, like a piece of equipment meant only to crank out numbers and above else they felt the work they did no longer mattered.

From my point of view, there is only so much a supervisor or manager can do to keep their people happy or from leaving. The people on top and their decisions have more bearing than anything else. The sad thing is that more and more jobs are going overseas and many people feel trapped in their current jobs.