How can you keep talent on your team?

Talent retention is now a business priority in Zhoushan. Margaret Mackay discusses what entices skilled people to stay.

Photo credit: Jakub Hałun CC BY-SA 3.0

A place where talent lingers

You’re a talent spotter. You know who has the skills and expertise. But can you stop them from leaving? Talent is mobile. The current shortage of specific skills and knowledge means a quality candidate is in high demand. PwC found that 74% of CEOs see talent as a business priority and seek experienced skills across borders.

Why do great employees walk away?

A Willis Towers Watson global workforce study of 32,000 employees found 70% of top performers leave their organisation to advance their careers. This was the problem faced by Chinese managers in Zhoushan. Trade links are accelerating with huge infrastructure projects to secure global deals. But top talent moves on.

A loss of skilled people menaces business growth.

The Zhoushan regional leaders invited me to lead a workshop in London on talent retention. Before we met I examined the evidence of how to attract and retain talent. Together we discussed Chinese industry experiences and relevant practice from Europe, India and the USA.

Talent development and recruitment in my experience resonates with a call for good managers: manage people well and they will stay. The Boston Consulting Group report confirms that a coherent people strategy creates a competitive advantage. People companies outperform the market average in 8 out of 10 years.

Leading companies cultivate what talent needs: a meaningful job, a good manager and a great workplace. These three features allow expertise to grow and flourish. A focus on talented people – their diverse preferences and interests – matters to business sustainability.

Trust the best on your team and they will stick with you. The directors I met wanted to discover the secrets of how to keep top talent. Their quest inspired me to write my new book Talent Retention: Strategies to Keep the Best People with Bookboon. I use real-world examples of how your company can become a magnet for talent and offer five proven methods to keep talent.

Download “Talent Retention: Strategies to keep the best people” now, written by Margaret Mackay, a recognised expert in talent management and leadership development.

Margaret is an award-winning author of numerous articles in prestigious journals. A university business academic, she is a highly experienced professional in human resources. She is passionate about improving the quality of people management and for this reason leads workshops on talent development.