Leadership Institute

Retaining Talent

Learning Formats: Classroom

Skill Practice Course

Order No. IMEX118

The number one reason employees leave is their leader. Are your leaders doing all they can proactively to retain your most valuable assets -- your people?

This course helps leaders understand their critical role in retaining organizational talent. They learn to identify what it takes to keep employees happy and satisfied, and how to conduct "quick check" discussions critical for retaining valuable employees. By taking a proactive approach to retaining people, and encouraging people to openly discuss what it will take for them to stay, leaders can create an environment in which people feel valued and satisfied in their jobs.

Do You Face Any of These Issues?

  • Are your leaders doing too little, too late when an employee is ready to walk out the door?
  • Is your organization losing some of its best and brightest employees?
  • Is turnover high because employees feel they’re being under-utilized and will have greater opportunities elsewhere?
  • Do leaders know how to handle issues that come up in job satisfaction discussions?

Performance Objectives

Helps leaders:

  • Show people their value to the organization.
  • Increase the frequency and quality of discussions with people about their job satisfaction and intent to stay.
  • Uncover factors that are important to retain each individual and take action to increase satisfaction.
  • Develop a plan to reduce voluntary turnover.

Primary Competencies Developed

  • Building Trust
  • Inspiring Others

Secondary Competencies Developed

  • Developing Others
  • Leading Through Vision and Values
  • Valuing Diversity

Course Overview

  • The Business Imperative for Retention: Learners discuss the negative business impact of high turnover on the organization, work group, and leader. A video of an exit interview with flashbacks shows what contributed to an employee’s decision to leave. The proactive effort required by leaders to retain talent is discussed.
  • Retention Drivers: Learners talk about a time they initiated a job change, building a list of reasons people leave. They discuss five retention drivers -- whose presence (or absence) influences if a person stays in (or leaves) a job -- and how these drivers and their role create an environment where people want to stay. They learn an approach for prioritizing their retention efforts, using a tool to assess which drivers need to be addressed to increase an individual’s job satisfaction. Learners review specific actions to bridge gaps identified in the retention drivers assessment.
  • Quick Checks: Leaders learn the importance of having “quick check” discussions with people to uncover potential retention issues. They review the use of the Interaction Process in retention discussions, and view a positive model of a quick-check discussion. Groups explore why it’s important to ask questions to get people to reveal their true job satisfaction. Leaders learn the differences between “lines vs. signs” -- what an employee says about job satisfaction vs. his or her actions. They analyze video of a leader’s use of probing questions and the Interaction Process to uncover dissatisfaction. This quick check discussion requires a follow-up meeting.
  • Skill Practices: Learners prepare for and conduct a skill practice using their own challenging retention situations. They use the Interaction Process and probing questions to identify retention drivers that need to be addressed.
  • Retention Solutions: Leaders use a best practices job aid and identify actions they can take to address the retention driver gaps uncovered earlier for their own situations. Participants work with their partners to further develop creative solutions to unfulfilled retention drivers.
  • Workshop Close: Learners are introduced to a tool they can use to craft a retention plan. The plan includes when and how often you will meet with individuals, actions you will take to build an environment for retention, and support needed from senior management.

Video Segment Summaries

  • An exit interview reveals factors that contributed to an employee’s decision to quit.
  • A positive model shows a leader conducting a quick check retention discussion with an employee who is currently satisfied with his job.
  • A leader conducts a quick check discussion that uncovers retention drivers that are not being satisfied and plans a follow-up discussion.

Course Details

  • Target audience: Frontline leaders through mid-level managers.
  • Course length: 3 hours, 30 minutes. Course can be lengthened with optional activities.
  • Facilitator certification: DDI-certified facilitator required.
  • Prerequisites: Essentials of Leadership.
  • Series: Suitable for all environments.
  • Group size: 8 to 16 people.
  • Prework: No.

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