Will your team still be with you in 2015?

It’s that time of year again. Christmas trees have appeared in shopping centres, Melbourne Cup sweepstakes have swept through the office, and everyone has turned their attention to the Company Christmas Party. For many, there’s a sudden urgency to get things done “before Christmas”, while others crawl to the finish line.

Few of us are thinking about 2015 – and yet – the actions we take now have a significant impact on our ability to hold onto our team in the New Year.

“Uncle Bob time”

The Christmas holiday period is filled with family, friends, good food and fun, and the inevitable question of “So how’s work going?” I call it Uncle Bob time. We’ve all got an Uncle Bob (or equivalent) who asks what we’re doing with our life and are we happy. His questions start a period of reflection which leads to New Year’s Resolutions and, along with the “I’ll eat better and exercise more,” comes “I’ll find a new job.”

January is traditionally the highest month of the year for job ads. The lack of job advertising in December, coupled with many multinationals operating a calendar financial year, means there’s pent up demand for new hires.

As they return from holiday, your team not only has a desire to move on, but choice as well. It takes 8-12 weeks on average for people to secure a new job. If you don’t act now, you can expect a series of resignations from March onwards.

Cost of employee turnover

Employee turnover is costly. While direct costs (advertising, interviewing, inducting and so on) may not seem all that high, the lost productivity during transition, the hidden cost of training, the disruption to your talent pipeline and impact on the rest of your team is significant. On average, employee turnover is estimated to cost 150% of the annual salary for each churning role. That is a significant hit to your business, which in many cases can be avoided. Improving your employee retention by 1% or 2% can have a substantial impact on raising your bottom line..

Four things you can do to reduce the risk of losing your top people

1. Say thank you

It may sound simple. Yet taking the time to thank your team for the work they’ve done this year can increase their engagement. Make it personal. During the GFC I wrote a personal thank you card to every member of my team (all 165 of them). In each note I spoke to something specific that person had done that year to make a difference. While I couldn’t pay bonuses, and salaries were frozen, taking the time to personally write to each person showed them that I valued them as individuals. If writing thank you cards isn’t your thing, then make sure you thank your team at the Christmas Party or at an end of year review meeting. Again make it personal – if not for each individual – then each team or sub-team.

2. Paint a vision for the future

Before everyone heads off for the holidays, take some time to talk about what’s in store for 2015. Paint a picture of what your team has to look forward to when they return. Share your vision of the unique challenges and opportunities that will make 2015 a year they won’t want to miss.

3. Organise a team offsite for early 2015

Plan to get your team together for a planning or team offsite in early 2015 – no later than mid-February. You want to interrupt the recruitment cycle by re-engaging your team before they either apply for a new job, or accept one. Depending on what lies ahead for you, this might be a planning workshop to prioritise activities for 2015, or maybe focus on training that enhances the team effectiveness and goal alignment. What’s important is that you get everyone together. Not only does this re-engage your team, but it ensures everyone is focused on what’s the year’s most pressing priorities.

4. Hold career conversations

Prioritise one-on-one career conversations with your team members. It doesn’t matter whether you have formal performance review discussions planned; just take the time to sit with each of your team. Ask each person how they’re feeling about their career and their aspirations for the future. Demonstrating real interest in your people will help them re-engage. It may lead to a conversation where they reveal openly that they’re considering a career change.