William J. M. Wald, CPRP IPRA Executive Director

I overheard a young superintendent talking to a co-worker about how a certain park district "stole" one of his key employees. I thought, "How unfortunate." Then I thought, "Deal with it; this happens all the time in our field."

What actions could this young leader have taken in order to retain his valued employee?

Movement is rampant in our field. Most park and recreation professionals are looking for the fastest and most effective way to reach their career goals while increasing their knowledge, sharpening their leadership skills and improving their all-around "employability."

Just as movement is rampant, so are career opportunities. We're experiencing the wave of retirements anticipated within the next 10 years. While the Generation X work force (born 1960-1979) is 40 percent smaller and much more demanding than the baby boomers (born 1940-1959), unemployment is extremely low.

To say that by taking certain actions you will absolutely, without a doubt, retain key employees is foolishness. Every district has its share of staff mobility. It seems as though the trend these days and the mindset of the up-and-coming "Generation Ys" (born 1980-1999) is that even if they really like their jobs—including the pay, benefits, co-workers, and opportunities for career growth—that there is something wrong with them if they stick with one organization for more than a couple of years. Like professional sports, loyalty is out. Free agency is in.

In my search for the "secret" to employee retention, I read several informative articles. Ultimately, I realized the key to employee retention lies in three areas no matter what size or type of organization you manage.

#1: You Must Be a Good Leader

• Establish clear organizational objectives and give your employees a clear role in helping your organization achieve its objectives. Clearly communicate goals, responsibilities and expectations. Your employees must feel like they are important and contributing to your overall success.

• Look at employee retention as an integrated process, not isolated practices. Have an overall game plan that begins at the point of hire. Make sure job expectations and workloads are reasonable and achievable. Develop a challenge plan for every employee. Ask them where they want to be in 5, 10, or 20 years by helping them create a career plan. Then assist them in reaching those goals.

• Don't miss an opportunity to ask them what you need to do to keep them at your organization in the future. Provide coaching and mentoring opportunities from someone other than their immediate supervisor. If you can, provide opportunities to explore different positions within the organization.

• Praise is important. Recognizing outstanding performance appropriately and consistently develops loyalty. Publicly recognize both large and small accomplishments, verbally and in writing—promptly, sincerely, and more often than you criticize. Always criticize in private.

• Evaluations and reviews should be held on a regular basis. Fairness has been shown to be a key determinate of job satisfaction and, ultimately, organization loyalty.

• Provide employees the freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail and try again. Don't frown on the employee who makes a mistake. Frown on those who don't take risks.

• Let's be frank about the issue of pay. People who feel well and fairly paid are less likely to leave than those who feel inadequately or unfairly paid. Take note that adequate and fair are not the same words and when an employee leaves, it's hardly ever just the money.

• Finally, if after all this, an employee still decides to leave, do a post-exit interview to find out why the employee is "really" leaving.

#2: Create a Happy, Productive Work Environment

• Again, start at the point of hire. Provide a quality orientation that lasts more than a day or even a week. Have a party for all new employees. Have your new employees' computer, business cards, and office ready before they start.

• Employees value a workplace in which their input is encouraged and appreciated. Open-door policies and all-staff meetings are effective ways to update staff and allow staff to voice their opinions and concerns.

• Establishing and maintaining good internal communication are imperative. Make your staff feel like they are

8 Illinois Parks and Recreation

"in the loop" through newsletters, bulletin boards, organization-wide e-mail, and paycheck stuffers. The key is to share information promptly, openly and clearly. Always tell the truth. It's better to over-communicate with your employees rather than not enough. One-on-one meetings to discuss projects as well as training and development plans are also very important.

• Providing your employees freedom and flexibility to balance their work and personal lives can be a huge advantage in employee retention. Instituting policies and procedures for employees such as flexible work hours, telecommuting, part-time or job-sharing provide employees with flexibility and control over their work schedule, creating an ideal work environment.

• Do a "barriers to productivity" survey. Ask your employees questions such as "What took too long today? What is just plain silly? What do you need in order to do your job better, more efficiendy, effectively?"

• Invest in your employees, not necessarily with more money but with continuing education opportunities. Create a learning organization by providing opportunities for employees to improve their skills and increase their knowledge. Encourage and provide regular training. Johnsonville Foods promotes lifelong learning through encouraging all employees to attend any training class they offer regardless of its direct applicability to their current job. At Cunningham Communications, all employees from receptionist to the president are required to read at least one hour of industry-specific material everyday.

• Have fun. There are many inexpensive ways employers can make work fun such as remembering birthdays, celebrating personal and professional accomplishments, enjoying staff outings or planning staff recognition days.

• Create an organizational culture that is open, trusting and fun and you will develop loyal employees.

#3: Manage from the Heart

This last one by far is the toughest for managers but, for many employees, the most important. It's not about practices and procedures. It's about what's in your heart. Do you sincerely care about your employees or do you see them as your loyal servants providing work for pay?

Leading companies report that retention of top talent involves more than just a high salary and a variety of perks. Creating an organizational culture that values their work is one of those intangible benefits that employees not only demand but thrive in.

• Involve employees in plans and decisions, especially decisions that affect them. Seek their ideas and opinions. Make it clear that management is interested in their input. Actively and sincerely listen to employee concerns, both work related and personal.

• Develop an atmosphere of mutual respect and an open dialogue with each of your employees. Ask "Are you challenged, listened to and recognized?" Make them feel that they are needed, wanted and valued.

• Ask people why they stay at your organization and ask them to tell you before they consider leaving. If the situation arises, ask them to stay.

• Acknowledge that life outside of work does exist. Talk to your employees on occasion about things besides their job demands.

• Practice random acts of attention and recognition. Never pass up an opportunity to thank your employees.

• Be sincere.

For any organization, it takes much more time and energy to recruit an employee than it does to retain the current ones. As we actively recruit young professionals into our field, lets not forget the valued employees we already have. The bottom line is the Golden Rule: "Treat others as you would like to be treated." It's that simple.

"The highest achievable level of service comes from the heart, so the company that reaches its people's heart will provide the very best service."

- Hal Rosenbluth, CEO of Rosenbluth Travel

Known for his sense of humor and dislike for tie-and-suit affairs, Fred Hall, 59, has been the director of the Palatine Park District since 1971. He will retire in April of 2002 with plans to "hit the road" with wife, Bunny, to "revisit the 50 United States by car or motor home" and the half of the national parks that he has yet to see.

The Last Word The second in a series of reflections from retiring park and recreation professionals A lot of water has gone under the bridge since I arrived in Palatine in 1965. I had hair on the top of my head, none under my nose, and the "V" created by my torso has been inverted. Depending on who asked me about my new position, I stated that I was the "assistant director" or — for those who knew how small our park district was — I was the number two man of a two-man organization. I was privileged as a young man to be forced to leave Palatine. I was gone from 1967 to 1971. The first two years were spent in the U.S. Army. The last year of my four-year hiatus from Palatine was notable for two reasons. First, I was making more money than I ever thought I would make. Secondly, it was the unhappiest year of my life. The privilege of these four years results from the reinforcement of my earlier learnings that hard work and talent can take a person only so far. The last year reinforced a fact that nothing else matters if you don't enjoy your job. My return to Palatine invigorated me beyond all expectations. The fun in my life returned. I learned again that I could laugh at myself. Again, I learned that I couldn't promote fun for others if I didn't have fun myself— everyday. Accordingly, I've tried to build a service organization dedicated to creating fun-filled opportunities by hiring happy people and by encouraging them to have fun at work. We work in one of the few fields where it is our duty to not feel guilty about having fun. I've succeeded in one of my principal personal goals during the past 30 years as a recreation and park director. I had fun, and I'm damn proud of it. —Fred Hall

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