Talent Keepers

Achieve higher levels of workforce engagement and retain more employees

A strong U.S. economy with record-low unemployment rates and the shift to Millennials—now the largest generation in the workforce—are driving specific challenges for organizations to engage and retain employees. Engaged employees don't just happen, they are nurtured by organizations with great cultures and strong leadership.

Talent Keepers puts a new spin on a systematic approach to employee engagement and retention with precise tactics that have achieved proven results. This book includes research-based methods of engaging employees, beginning the moment they are hired. With six client case studies that focus on how the organization put an engagement plan into practice and achieved success, readers will come away with specific, actionable strategies they can begin implementing immediately in their organization.

• Put an engagement plan into action
• Find actionable strategies
• Implement ways to retain your best employees
• Achieve success starting today

If you're a top leader looking to engage and retain your best performers, Talent Keepers has you covered.

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction: Energizing a Changing Workplace 1

Blink, and Your Staff Has Changed 2

Embracing the Data (and Everything After) 4

The Confluence of Generations 6

“Begging Them to Stay” 7

Good Leadership Still Wins 8

Building a Winning Strategy 8

1 Engaging Your Talent Is a Business Imperative 11

The True Cost of Turnover 15

Leadership as a Market Advantage 20

Introducing the Leader Engagement Index 22

2 What Engages People at Work? 29

The Tipping Point 30

I Don’t Need No Satisfaction 33

The Four Drivers of Employee Engagement 35

The Four Drivers and the Leadership Engagement Index 42

3 Leaders and Their Impact 47

The Case for a Focus on Leadership 49

Why Focusing on Leaders Gets Results 51

Best Boss/Worst Boss 58

Leaders Underestimate Their Impact 60

Different Background, Different Response 62

Commit, Engage, Excel 67

4 Communication: The Lubricant of Change 71

Blaming Up 74

What Not to Do 76

What to Do: Sharing Down 81

5 Solving the Career Growth Dilemma 85

Recognize the Right Way 88

Trust Each Other with Your Careers 89

Shifting Career Aspirations 90

The Stay Interview 92

Career Growth and Accountability 100

Job Stratification 103

WOWs, Wet Socks, and Snorkels 103

6 New Rules for Building a Leadership Team 109

The Fish Rots … 111

Promote for More Than Just Job Skill 115

Measuring “Will Do” and “Can Do” 120

7 Creating an Engagement and Retention Culture 125

Can You Fix Culture? 130

Communication Is Still the Key 132

Creating the Culture 133

8 Building the Business Case for Engagement and Retention 145

Where’s the Money? 147

Finding the Money 148

Spreading the Impact 149

Building a Winning Strategy 152

Appendix: TalentKeepers’ Experience and Capabilities 155

About the Authors 161

Index 163

CHRISTOPHER MULLIGAN is the Chief Executive Officer of TalentKeepers. He has over 30 years of experience in the human resources industry, the majority of which has been in the employee engagement, selection, assessment and retention arena. Mulligan co-founded TalentKeepers in 2000, an organization dedicated to the issue of employee engagement and retention.

CRAIG R. TAYLOR is a former Vice President, Client Services with TalentKeepers. He joined the organization in 2002, developed and led the client services team, and retired from full-time work in 2017. Taylor is a well-known leader, speaker and writer in the areas of corporate training, organizational development and performance improvement.

Attracting and keeping the best and the brightest is an ongoing challenge for any organization. Talent Keepers offers myriad engagement strategies that meet the demands of today’s highly competitive workplace. Authors Christopher Mulligan and Craig R. Taylor—of the acclaimed TalentKeepers organization—explore the winning approaches that are designed to create the kind of engagement that produces perpetual positive energy, energizes others, and leads to commitment and loyalty. The strategies presented help organizations retain more high-level talent and give lesser employees the drive to become workers that can make a more positive and lasting impact. Talent Keepers is your guide for improving your staff’s effectiveness from top to bottom.

As the authors explain, leaders that communicate well are the most important factor for implementing an effective engagement and retention strategy. Leaders can learn to hone their communication skills in order to create a healthy and engaging workplace culture. Talent Keepers also reveals how leaders can apply workplace data to improve engagement and retention with results that will echo throughout the organization. The book draws on the results of a major study that included over thirty thousand employees. The study revealed that those employees who believed their leader took some action as a result of their feedback were more engaged on every index measured. The impact this has on business metrics can’t be understated.

In addition, Talent Keepers explores the long-term strategies leaders can use to reach across the generational barrier in order to grow an effective organization. Without taking a one-size-fits-all approach, Talent Keepers offers proven suggestions, ideas and strategies for forward-thinking leaders who want to create a vibrant workplace environment.

Talent Keepers will give leaders and managers the approaches for energizing workers, creating opportunity for growth, and building pride within an organization. Engaged employees help any organization enjoy stronger business results and achieve greater long-term success.