Retaining Top Talents: 4 Effective Talent Retention Negotiation Strategies
It is no secret that talent retention, in particular, retaining top talent, is essential to the success of any organization. The cost of losing and replacing an employee can be significant, and the impact on morale and productivity can be devastating. That's why it's so important to have effective talent retention strategies in place. In some cases, you might consider offering traditional benefits like health insurance and insurance plans. In some other cases, you may want to offer changes to your work environment to suit the talents' personality.
Regardless of what you think you should offer to retain talents, keep in mind that one of the most vital aspects of talent retention is negotiation. Without a suitable negotiation strategy, what you plan to offer will often fall on deaf ears. On the other hand, if you can successfully negotiate with your top employees, you can keep them happy and prevent them from leaving. Here are 4 effective talent retention negotiation strategies that you can use to retain your best employees.
1. Be clear about what you want to achieve in the negotiation.
In a talent retention context, think about why you hope to retain a certain talent. Sometimes, organizations fail to realize that letting demotivated talents go may actually be better than keeping them. Before organizations negotiate with talents who have intentions of leaving, they should map out a clear plan about what they hope to achieve if they do successfully manage to retain talents via negotiations. Some organizations might want to keep a certain talent because that person has expertise in a particular area. Some might want to retain a certain talent simply because they can't find a replacement fast enough.
Regardless of the primary reason for retaining certain talents, organizations need to also consider at least the following before talent retention negotiations commence: the talent's value to the organization, the costs of losing the talent, the likelihood of the talent being successfully retained, and the impact of the talent leaving on the organization's morale.
Sun Tzu, the famed war strategist in Ancient China, always stressed the strategy of "Selection and Maintenance of the Aim". What this means in a talent retention context is that an organization should never lose track of the overall aim in its talent management strategy, which requires regular maintenance of its alignment with its set talent goals. This implies that organizations should not overly focus on detailed aspects of its talent strategies, but rather, focus more on creating and implementing sustainable talent strategies to ensure the maintenance of overall talent management goals.
Unfortunately, we may sometimes advise our clients to let go of certain talents to ensure that other aspects of the talent management and retention strategies are intact. The maintenance of the overall goals in talent recruitment, training and retainment should be prioritized.
Negotiation means that you wish to get something out of the other party. What do you wish to get out of talents that are persuaded to stay? Do the talents in question clearly understand what you want them to do? Before entering into any negotiations with talents who may wish to leave, make sure your goal is not to simply retain them. Talent retainment is only a tool or strategy for an organization to keep growing. Talent retainment should not be treated as the end goal, but rather, how this can benefit the organization as a whole, and how this can benefit the talent.
It is sometimes appropriate to even let the talents in question understand the logic behind your attempt at retaining them. Before and during talent retention negotiations, it is important to keep in mind that your employees are people too. They have their own goals and aspirations too. By letting them know about your intentions, trust can be created between employers and employees, which may increase your chances of retainment. Tell talents how they fit into the organization's overall goals - they will appreciate your honesty for sure.
2. Find common ground and focus on areas of agreement.
In every negotiation, there will be points of agreement and disagreement. Instead of focusing on the areas of disagreement, try to find common ground and focus on areas of agreement. This will help you build rapport and find areas of compromise with your employees.
A common mistake that HRs make is an over-focus on their organization's interests, whilst neglecting what employees actually desire. The goal of negotiation is to find mutually beneficial outcomes – exchange what each other wants. You won't be able to get everything you want but having a collaborative discussion may lead to a faster, more productive outcome.
To find common ground, HRs must first spend significant time listening to what the employee has to say and observing how they feel. When figuring out what the employee desires, ask open-ended questions that show you care about their professional growth and overall career needs. Refrain yourself from making demands first, as inappropriately raised demands at the wrong time will further decrease the employee's motivation to stay. Show an empathic and caring attitude that you are willing to listen to whatever demands the employee may raise, without showing signs of objection even if demands come across as implausible. Remember that every demand made likely contains a hidden motivation or reason, so do not overly focus on what the demands are on service level. Take the time to dig out what hidden motivations the employee might have, so that you can begin suggesting solutions that centre around a common ground.
HRs need to be realistic however. The majority of employees will always put their own interests first, whether employers like it or not, hence discussions about retaining employees should always be primarily based on the employees' perspectives and interests. Yet if demands made are unacceptable to the employer, HRs should go back to Sun Tzu's strategy of "Selection and Maintenance of the Aim" - can retaining the talent fit into the organization's long term growth?
Even though most employers have more power over employees, especially large enterprises, HRs should not walk into employee negotiations without giving themselves space to walk away where necessary. Having said this, the aim of all HRs, should they choose to go into negotiations with employees, must be to find common ground with employees first and foremost.
3. Buy Time - Keep the lines of communication open.
Negotiations are often a process, instead of a single point in time. The more time there is, the more manoeuvrable wiggle room there is for employers, and the more chances there are for employees to refrain from resigning.
When negotiating with employees with the intention of quitting, the last thing you want to do is for employees to feel desperation. When employees feel that their backs are against the wall, such as faced with a hard deadline to quit or stay, they most likely will quit, even though this may not be their original intention or in their best interests. Therefore, HRs should not expect employees to make a quick decision, but rather, expect to negotiate with employees over a series of discussions which may span across a month or two.
When I negotiate with employees thinking of quitting, I always stress about the options they have and that they are free to quit if they really want to. Humans often prefer multiple options rather than one or two. By giving employees more space to think and providing them with multiple options, rather than offering a simple "yes/no" option, employees will often feel more respected and less anxious about making a big career decision.
With more time to think, employees will often find reasons to justify themselves for not quitting, as humans tend to be more risk averse. Most people would rather not risk a career move if they can reach at least some sort of deal with their current employer. With this in mind, offering more time and options for employees to consider will increase their chances of staying.
Despite the potential benefits of allowing more time for employees to think, realistically, most employers do have a deadline in which a decision must be made to keep or let go of an employee. Therefore, adding urgency implicitly during negotiation talks with employees is useful, or even necessary for employees. The trick I often use is to keep the employee updated about what actions the employer may undertake during his/her thinking time, such as finding a replacement just in case the employee resigns. This shows the employee that he/she is not forced to make an immediate decision, but reminds him/her at the same time, that the employer also has the right to let go of employees. This shifts the power slightly back to the employer, especially in instances where the employee is taking far too long to reach a decision. Lending control whilst retaining overall control is a tactic that Sun Tzu often used, and which often works!
4. Create Uncertainty
Humans hate uncertainty. Humans tend to be risk averse. When sufficient uncertainty is created, humans will often take the less risky option, which is to refrain from quitting in a talent retention context.
When an employee has made it clear that they are already seeking new positions, it is still important that HRs remain calm and rational under pressure. There are some ways employers can take to create uncertainty for the talents in question who wish to quit, and using the advantage of uncertainty to their benefit. For example, when responding to the employee's requests, HRs do not need to respond with an outright yes or no to all requests. What HRs can do is to separate requests into two categories, a "yes" category and a "maybe" category with conditions. Even if a request is likely to be turned down by the employer, HRs do not have to decline certain requests outright, since humans do not like rejection, which can stifle negotiations with the employee. Rather, HRs should strive to say yes to a few requests to demonstrate sincerity, whilst giving the employee hope that other requests may be fulfilled. Hope is an important element in negotiations - without hope, one will likely walk away from the negotiation table.
Therefore, controlling the element of "hope", or in other words, expectation management, is vital if employers are to have a chance of retaining an employee in the long run. Giving employees a combination of certainty and uncertainty is the best way of keeping employees at the negotiation table without souring relationships. Employees are likely to stay if there is an uncertainty that they may miss out on certain future rewards due to a resignation.
