Baby - please don't go...

Before we go any further... the names of the parties involved have been omitted to preserve their identities.

So this guy I know... let's call him Tim (I know.. I just said omitted, but I didn't want to refer to 'This guy'.. for the whole post), decided to hook up with a new company. This company, for years has touted itself as one if the greatest employers going. The company hired not to fill a position, but rather to position the company. The company purposely hired people who had no experience in this particular industry, believing (correctly - as an aside) that you hire for potential, and you can train specific skills. Tim was jacked. this company made everyone feel great, they partied as hard as they worked. All was well. Tim worked hard, and within a couple of months he was promoted to management. Wow!

Just under one year later, he quit. The magic died. For the first couple of months, they told Tim that if he worked hard, he can move up to management. I believe (if I'm not mistaken) they call that type of thing a goal. Once he reached that goal, they no longer mentioned a 'next step', so, with no goal, the career became a job... apparently... a dead end...

This company worked it's tail off. The problem was, it was for the short term. Good on them to have a succession plan. Bad on them to have only planned one step. Newsflash to all the employers - this is tough stuff. This is never ending. You'd better keep your top performers engaged. If not, you're going to lose them... yes, you ARE going to lose them. If they know how good they are, they will seek, or be sought.

The bottom line is... talent management is important. We are in a 'brawl with no rules' and the 'War for Talent' is on, in a big way. Employees in today's market are behaving in a manner similar to a free agent market. They go where the money is.. As an employer, you must operate like a chess game, always be thinking 2 or three steps ahead. Move faster than your top performer(s). You will keep them, and your organization will be better off for it.