Nick Cook Essay

Abstract
There are several retention levers that can be incorporated into an organisations strategic plan to attract and retain key employees; work- life balance, workplace culture, varied job role, management style and training. Work-life balance is used within an organisation by providing flexibility within the job role and work schedule. Varying employee job roles helps build and sustain a competitive advantage in these key ways; creating a more productive workforce, making the company more resilient to change, a higher average employer skill level and through retaining knowledge in the company. Quality manager supervision is a key to retaining staff, expectations should be communicated clearly to employees and feedback should be frequently provided however not to the extent that managers become overbearing. Training is imperative to providing new employees with a set of skills required to do their job at a sufficiently productive and efficient level. Workplace culture is a dynamic concept that is always changing from workplace to workplace. It can be seen in all levels of an organisation and is a main contributing factor to the attraction and retention of employees. These retentions levers contribute strongly to a company’s ability to build and maintain a competitive advantage.

Contents

Introduction
There are a range of attributes that allow businesses to create a competitive advantage. They come in the form of access to resources, technology but most importantly skilled employees and skilled human resourcing. This paper identifies how retention levers are key to generating more experienced and multi-skilled employees and ultimately improving employee retention and the effectiveness and efficiency of a company as a whole. The aim is to apply retention techniques to a company, building and maintaining a competitive advantage over competitors within a market. Porter defines competitive advantage as an organisation acquiring or developing an attribute or combination of attributes that allows it to outperform its competitors (Michael E. P. 1999). Companies seek to invest in their employees in the hopes that they will provide a return on investment in the long term through effective and efficient work.
Key retention levers
There are several retention levers that can be incorporated into an organisations strategic plan to attract and retain key employees. McCrindle’s research in 2006 outlines the five key retention levers, these are; work- life balance, workplace culture, varied job role, management style and training.
Work- life balance (WLB)
The balance of work and everyday life is an important aspect for employees that can and will vary from person to person. These days younger individuals are more likely to place more emphasis on their personal lives as opposed to their job, they will be looking to work for the income that supports their lifestyle. Whereas an older individual may desire more work to set themself up for the later years of their life, for example saving in superannuation for retirement. This could also be the other way around; an older individual that has worked hard throughout their career may be looking to scale back on hours to enjoy the riches of life that they have worked hard for, whereas a younger individual may take on more responsibilities and hours to advance in their career.
McCrindle (2006) states that from a study of 3000 people, work-life balance is the number 1 attraction and retention lever. It was found in a survey provided by McMillan (2008) that 78% of peoples WLB was important and that only 58% were happy with their current WLB. If you were given the choice of life or work which would you choose?
WLB is used within an organisation as a retention lever by providing flexibility within the job role and work schedule. The flexibility will increase an employee’s job satisfaction dramatically, resulting in a higher level of retention.

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