When and why not to retain top performers

It is not always wise to offer salary increments or promotions to get employees to stay on; sometimes this can be counterproductive.

The most valuable assets of any company are its people, which is why the organisations try to retain the best talent with better compensation and work. It’s a fair thing to do, but how long this strategy will successfully work is something the employers need to ponder over.

In order to create a highly engaged workforce that is committed to performance, retaining employees ‘at any cost’ seems a bad idea.
Of course, retaining employees has its own benefits —less time and energy spent in scouting for them, no time wasted in acclimatising new joinees, and shorter honeymoon period.

This is why, industry experts feel that while there is no harm in offering a better deal to an employee who is planning to quit, the strategy may not really work in case of certain employees.

Not all employees are true endorsers of your company values. Will you try to retain a top performer who does not respect the values of your company? Will you retain an employee who is a habitual offender of company ethics? Even if you do, such people will destroy your brand rather than help build it.

Abhijit Bhaduri, founder, Abhijit Bhaduri & Associates and ex-CLO, Wipro, believes that employees who are excel at work but leave a negative impact on the team, should not be retained. “Such people are destructive to the team performance. If you tend to ignore the wrongdoings of one of your employees, it will have a negative impact on the whole team.”

Not all employees are true endorsers of your company values. Will you try to retain a top performer who does not respect the values of your company? Will you retain an employee who is a habitual offender of company ethics? Even if you do, such people will destroy your brand rather than help build it.

Also, people who contradict the company values should not be retained as the integrity of the company is at stake. “There should be the same yardstick for all employees, otherwise it will create a toxic culture. Companies that have bypassed this have had to pay a heavy price for it later on,” elaborates Bhaduri.

Some employees will leave the minute they get a better offer. Can better compensation and work really stop employees from moving on? Let us look at a scenario, which will give us an answer— X, who is a promising talent in your company, has been offered 20 per cent hike by another company. You convince X to continue with you by offering him 25 per cent hike and a promotion. X stays… you breathe a sigh of relief. But can you be sure that X wouldn’t leave in the next six months if he is again made a similar offer?

Think! Think! Think! May be not! So then, what’s the point of offering a 25 per cent hike in the first place if X will anyway leave the moment he gets a better offer.

Employees who are excel at work but leave a negative impact on the team, should not be retained. Such people are destructive to the team performance. If you tend to ignore the wrongdoings of one of your employees, it will have a negative impact on the whole team.

Why waste your resources to retain such people? They will leave anyway! Let’s say there is an executive with two to three years of experience, whom you pay three lakh per annum. When he plans to quit for 3.50 lakh, you offer him a package of 3.60 lakh per annum. He stays. A month later someone offers him 5 lakh per annum. Now, what will you do? Will you again make a better offer? Is it really possible to increase the salary every time the employee gets a better offer? You can’t keep doing that, can you?

Freshers are free birds. They are meant to fly away. It’s been a Herculean task for recruiters to retain fresh graduates, across the globe. As they are not highly paid (most of the time, not even adequately paid), it’s natural and easy for them to seek out companies that are willing to double their existing salaries. But someone who is already up the ladder or at the middle level cannot expect such a massive hike from potential employers.

Top performers come with their own idiosyncrasies. It’s important to let them go for their larger good, however difficult it might be for us. 

For some employees, company, type of job or salary is not the reason for quitting or moving on. They face the problem of burn out, or need a sabbatical to reinvent themselves. Such people do not need a hike or promotion, they simply need a break to introspect.

Sahil Nayar, an HR expert, is of the opinion that impactful leadership manifests itself when we allow top talent to flourish without causing us insecurity. “It’s always wonderful to see your finest spread their wings and scale greater heights. However, when the current ecosystem can’t fulfill their dreams, it’s important to let them go for their larger good, however difficult it might be for us. On the other hand, top performers come with their own idiosyncrasies. As leaders, it’s important to monitor their behaviour, lest they become counterproductive to the core values that your enterprise embodies.”

Therefore, in order to build a strong team with less flaws—a team that has the capability of taking your brand to newer heights—it is time to look beyond mere retention, and focus on loyalty instead.