4 Business Advanced English 2, SW3, OA1

Many companies throw f..... i..... at s.... e..... and star performers during times of change. There is a better and less costly solution.

Too many companies approach the r... o... k.... e.... during disruptive periods of organizational change by throwing financial incentives at senior executives

The money is rarely well spent. In our experience, many of the r.... would have s.... p... anyway; others have c.... that money alone can’t a....

Moreover, by focusing exclusively on h... f...., companies often o.... those “normal” performers who are nonetheless c.... f... the success of any c.... e....

Our work with companies in many sectors (among them, energy, financial services, health care, pharmaceuticals, and retailing) suggests there is a better and less costly approach to e... r.....—and one that will serve companies well as they m..., r...., and r.... to seize strategic opportunities as the e.... p.... u.....

It starts with identifying all k....p....., but targeting only those who are most critical and most at risk of leaving.

These people are then offered a mix of financial and n.... i... t.... t... their aspirations and concerns.

European industrial company a.... t... a.... during a recent r..... and found that it required only 25 percent of the budget that had previously been spent on a broad, cash-based scheme.

HR and line managers need to work together during times of m... o.... c.... to identify people whose retention is critical.

Few look in less obvious places for more a.... p.... whose skills or social networks may be critical—both in k... t... l..... o.... during the change effort itself as well as in delivering against its longer-term b... o....

for example, the productdevelopment manager in an acquired company’s R&D function who i.... n.... r.... a.... and no longer on the company’s list of “high potentials”—yet who i... c.... t.... ensuring a healthy product pipeline;

the k... f.... a..... responsible for consolidating the acquired company’s next f..... r....

Even if the employees’ performance and c.... p.... are unexceptional, their i..... k...., direct relationships, or t..... e.... can make their retention critical. 

certain s... s.... p.... who f.... o.... and t.... i....

they can begin to prioritize groups and individuals for
t.... r...... m....

The key is to v.... each employee t..... t.... l.....: first

a company c.... t... e....

it m.... the outputs o... a r... m....

The risk matrix r.... that another 104 people were likely to leave.

To be sure, some were traders but most were IT, finance, and a..... s.... with
unique knowledge of the unit’s systems.

When executives  looked beyond their standard retention package and f.... instead o... t... n..... o....individual employees, they found a more nuanced situation than they had a.....

The people in the other, more c.... g... didn’t mind living and working abroad but wondered, as they f... c.... in any event, whether staying or searching for another employer would best
f... t.... c....

In one-on-one conversations with the people in the family-oriented group, managers explored
specific concerns and discussed how the company could add to the measures already in place to
i.... t... l.... o... retaining these individuals.

On the menu of incentives: an increase in
b.... p... assistance in finding schools and kindergartens for their children, c.... c.... for
their spouses, language training

For people who had h.... s.... r... in their local organization, it was essential, for example, to learn about their n.... r.... and how many d.... r.... they
would have;

Also h.... o... t.. a.... was a dialogue with each individual

80 percent of the staff who r.... s.... a.... had started to work in the new location 

the unit i... i.... s.... by mor than 30% and its e.... b.... i....
a... t.... (EBIT) by more than 90 percent.

financial incentives p... a... i.... r.... i.... retention—but money alone won’t do the trick.

financial incentives play an important role in retention—but m.... a... w... d... t... t.....

P.... from one’s manager, attention from leaders, frequent promotions, opportunities to l.... p...., 

and chances t.... j.... f..... m..... p.... are often more effective than cash.

Indeed, a 2009 McKinsey Quarterly s.... f..... that executives, managers, and employees r.... t..... f.... n..... i.... a.... t.... s... m.... e..... m...... when the main objective of the exercise is retaining people.

One financial services firm u..... a r..... c..... i..... elected to use only nonfinancial measures

to r.... t... p... p.... it had i.... a.... b.... a.... r.... of departure

In a pharmaceuticals merger a.... a.... b..... the North American acquirer’s presence in Europe, some 50 m...... m...... from the acquired company accepted invitations to join trans-Atlantic teams with key roles in integrating the t.... o..... and d..... b.... s....

in many cases, people who h.... b... s..... f.... p..... before the merger
was announced—that they had a promising future in the new organization.

For the acquirer’s s.... e....., one benefit was the opportunity to assess first hand a potential n.... w.... of top management talent.

s..... the energy of the strong workforce

dependent in part on the recipients m..... d.... p.... c.... such as the successful transfer of systems from the acquired company.