Retention is a key metric for most companies. Particularly when it comes to retaining the top performing people, tracking turnover can uncover problems as well as identify successful practices and managers.
But for how much longer will retention be a useful metric?
Steve Rio, the founder and CEO of the branding and marketing firm Briteweb, believes it’s already past its utility. “Retention is no longer a valid measurement. Instead, we should be focused on attraction, and passion, and affinity.”
Why does he say that? Because the nature of work and the workforce itself is changing, with an ever growing number of workers choosing to freelance, making the ability to attract talent the critical measure.
Speaking to a DisruptHR audience in Vancouver, B.C. last spring, Rio said culture is what makes a company attractive, and what makes it possible for him to manage Briteweb from a “hobby farm” on a small island, 40 minutes by ferry from urban Vancouver.
“Our culture is specifically not a fence. It’s a force field,” he said. “It’s powered by our teams’ affinity towards one another and towards our company purpose. It forms an invisible barrier that protects those within it while creating a magnetic attraction to those outside of it.”
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In another DisruptHR talk, Bryan Clifton described the implications for employers and workers of this transformation, including the critical role attraction will play in a company’s success.
In this talk, Rio outlines what it takes for an employer to have the kind of magnetic culture that will draw in the best talent. Spend the next 5 minutes learning how.
Note: In partnership with DisruptHR, TLNT presents some of the best Disrupt presentations from events across North America and now the world. Disrupt talks are modeled on the TEDx concept: Short, to the point talks on all things HR — talent, culture and technology.
