Failing to develop & retain high performers is far too common

More than half of the CFO’s I talk with don’t have a robust strategy in play to keep and progress the career paths of key finance talent within their departments. Furthermore, the vast majority of finance pro’s I meet that are currently working say that they don’t feel like upper management is doing much to retain them and provide structure and tactics with respect to their career path. Especially gen Y staffers. This is the technology generation. But it’s also a group that likes to stretch themselves and find work challenging in order for it to be rewarding.

So what? Well… financial leaders need to find out how to make the finance roles more interesting. They need to mix collaboration with reconciliation. Perhaps you have them manage a project to improve a process. To find inefficiencies. The key is exercising their brains before some other employer does.

Perhaps you don’t have time to manage this. Perhaps it’s just not your priority right now. Then you have to direct the department heads to frame things better. As I progressed through my career I wasn’t always preoccupied with the tasks I was performing, but rather, what I was learning. This is huge. The bigger picture. The things going on around me. How the business works. If a gen y employee can’t be given a promotion right away, show them the knowledge that they're taking in and how it can prepare them for success. Put together some perspective that will resonate with their worldview. Part of this might be a strong self esteem and a desire to be challenged.

Setting goals and identifying gaps is mission critical for your staff’s career success and their contribution to your organization. How often do you discuss your report’s career? Every six months? If so, that isn’t going to cut it. Uncertainty will result in questioning their career status and in many cases this means looking at opportunities outside your company. Life’s about relationships and business is a big part of life. Make sure that you are coaching often. And that your timing for giving career guidance is impeccable.

You’re still wondering if you should really do this. Well, think about how much fun it is to back fill folks. How thrilling it is to have a new analyst on board when the data shows that it takes at least one year to get up to speed and to become and a strong contributor. Or think about how annoying it is that the young talent will work for one of your competitors and take along some of the best practices you’ve painstakingly developed over the past five years. And here’s the kicker… What if you replace that person with someone who’s nowhere near as sharp as the person who just exited because you failed to challenge them and talk about their career?

My next post will shed some light on the value of creating a strategy to attract and hire "mature workers", the baby boomers who aren't ready to call it quits.