Retaining Top Performers During Change

Aditya DixitMHRM 2010-2012IIT Kharagpur

The Times They Are a-Changin‘

•“Everything changes but change.” Israel Zangwill

• ‘It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power’

Know your star player

The challenges faced

•Different people react differently to change, some are wary of it and try to fight it, while others embrace it.

•Star performers are smart, savvy, aggressive, hard-working, and innovative.

•They have more options than your other employees and are more likely to leave.

Different strokes for different folks

•You have to give them reason to stay.•Since they have proved themselves in old

system, they stand to lost the most out of change.

•Help them find an equally rewarding place within the new order.

•Sell the change to them, it’s necessity, effect and details.

The six commandments

1. Provide clear information2. Make your stars part of the planning3. Present a united front4. Approach resisters5. Pay attention to personal concerns6. Pretest details of the change

1.Provide clear information

•If you don’t tell people what is going on, they will make it up, often imagining the worst.

•Communicating the change is different from selling it.

•You must make a compelling business case for the change.

1.Provide clear information(cont..)

•They need to feel both valued and in control.

•Talk to your star players before everyone else. This will demonstrate that you value them more and gives them an immediate role in the new effort.

2. Make your stars part of the planning•They crave for the involvement from the

beginning and love it when they are given the control of things.

•Involve them in the change process ab-initio: right from the planning stage to execution stage.

2. Make your stars part of the planning•This involvement will make them feel

truly valued•This will also help you exploit their full

potential.•And above all, their fear of change is

gone. So they are more likely to stay.

3. Present a united front

•The leadership team has to sell the future to the stars.

•For that, the leaders have to be united.•Since the star performers are the

brightest, they can sense trouble from a distance.

•Any inconsistency in the messages coming to them makes them imagine things.

3. Present a united front(contd..)•The message should be uniform and

consistent. •Before the message is passed on to them,

the leaders have to know about the bullet points, the exceptions and concerns that are anticipated, along with the solution to them.

4. Approach resisters

•Not everybody will buy the change.•Star performers know about their

stardom in the old system and that they may lose the most from change.

•So they are more likely to resist the change.

•Instead of pushing aside the resistors, try talking to them.

4. Approach resisters(cont..)

•The resisters may see something that you don’t.

•It’s not the change they object to but rather a possible result of it that affects them personally.

•If they continue to resist, try to figure out what is underlying their objection.

5. Pay attention to personal concerns

•People want to know how the change will effect them personally.

•“You have to show that the organization is paying attention to their career paths and has a structure in place to handle these purposefully.”

•Different people have different expectation. •A competitive player wants another challenge

while your star researcher will want assurances that his work won’t be disrupted.

5. Pay attention to personal concerns

•Helping your stars identify their desired places in the new order is important for their long term retention

•For that you must understand what drives your top performers as individuals and actively collaborate in planning their role following the change.

6. Pretest details of the change

•After knowing the broad outline of their new roles, they will want to know how the change will affect their day-to-day activities.

•They want assurance that the change won’t transform work they enjoy into a daily grind.

•Try to simulate the new order to know how it effects them and whether some changes are required.

References

•Harvard Business Review•Wikipedia•Knowledge@Wharton•Google

Thank you!!!

Q and A?