Engagement and retention of talent is critical for organizations today. A practical strategy is needed to identify, attract, engage, develop and retain key talent. This involves customizing initiatives to meet the needs of different talent segments through diagnostics like focus groups and interviews. The diagnostics revealed gaps between current retention initiatives and employee preferences for the future across areas like company, jobs, rewards, leaders and culture. Customizing initiatives for different segments can help close these gaps and improve engagement and retention.

1. Practical Strategies for
Engaging & Retaining Talent
Debbie Craig – MD Catalyst Consulting

2. Catalysts in creating high performance, high engagement
organisations through developing leaders, building capacity, and
leveraging talent
Experienced
team
CONSULTING SOLUTIONS
Partners in customised solutions
to people challenges
LEARNING SOLUTIONS
Break-through learning
to build capacity
REAL BUSINESS VALUE
Thought Leadership
Experienced Team
Practical Tools
Global & Local Track Record

3. Topics
The case for retention strategies
Creating the need: burning platform, vision, goals
Customising: identifying target audiences
Prioritising: choosing focus areas and activities
Implementing: planning and gaining buy-in
Challenges and lessons learnt
www.catalystconsulting.co.za @CatalystSA

4. The Case for Retention Strategies

5. The perfect talent storm
Option 05
Skills shortage
Education &
unemployment crisis
Aging workforce
Generation gap
different preferences
Making space
Need to
identify talent
Identify & develop talent
early
Global challenges
Africa, ex-pats, culture,
new dynamics
Manage
succession risk
Future talent pipelines
Retention risk
High turnover
of key talent
Local challenges
Education, employment
equity, diversity,
legislation
Need to engage
different expectations
of talent & millenials,
EVP
The PERFECT TALENT STORM
With organisations today operating under unprecedented conditions of competition and turbulence, it is
increasingly difficult to attract and retain talented employees and scarce skills positions. It is therefore
imperative that during these times, organisations develop a purposeful process for sourcing, attracting,
engaging, managing, developing and retaining key talent.
“People have become the key differentiator in today’s knowledge-based economy”.
VUCA world
Disruptive technologies,
economic uncertainty
Restructuring,
downsizing, LEAN, agile
Power shift –
customers/partners
Access to info (social media)
New breed of employee
Millennials, hyperlinked, social,
visual, self-directed, JIT, multiple
roles

6. The talent landscape is shifting
• Traditional career paths
• Work to earn a living
• Be thankful for a job
• Paternalistic career
development
• Limited access to career
opportunities and learning
• Previous generations – willing to
work hard and make sacrifices
• Wait and hope for opportunity
• Portfolio lives
• Work must be meaningful
• Attraction & engagement is king
• Individually driven career
development
• Global access to career
opportunities and learning
• Gen Y have different work and
lifestyle expectations
• Empower individuals to drive
own career and development
Power shift: from company talented individual

7. South Africa
Importance vs readiness – Global
3333 companies
Sources: Bersin Delloitte Global H Trends 2015

9. The Drive Toward High Performance
Engagement
PerformanceLeadership
Culture
+70%
#1 reason
+28%
3 x higher
Clear Vision & Strategy
Transformational Leadership
High Performance Teams
Talent Management
Right Culture
Quality of talent, skills and engagement of talent =
directly linked to ability to achieve growth and profitability targets
Sources: CLC, Delloittes, Aon-Hewitt, Watson Wyatt, Towers Perrin, Gallup, DDI, Institute of Work Psychology, PWC
Highly engaged workforce =
>3.5x more profit
2 x more likely to be top performers
87% less staff turnover
43 % less sick days
17% actively disengaged, 63%
moderately or passively engaged, 20%
highly engaged (Gallup 13%)

10. Research Findings
Towers Perrin:
• high engagement companies outperform
their competitors in terms of profitability
• engagement is a catalyst towards retention
• direct correlation between engagement and
revenue growth
Hewitt:
4 years, 2000 best employer companies, 50
countries
• 60-100% engagement = TSR 20.2%
• 49-60% engagement = TSR 5.6%
• > 40% engagement = TSR -9.6%
CLC study :
• Every 10% commitment = 6% effort =
2% perf
• employee commitment - prob of departure
87%.
The top 3 drivers of commitment
(potentially impacting commitment by
45%) are: development opportunities, job-
interests alignment, respect for employees
EVP 3 key benefits:
• Improved attractiveness - deeper pool of
talent including passive talent– up to 20%
more
• Greater commitment - 40% vs >10%
• Compensation savings - Spend 10% less on
base pay

11. The link between engagement and
retention
Engagement
“the state in which INDIVIDUALS are
emotionally and intellectually
committed to the organization or
group”
“People join organisations”
Retention
“To hold and keep in possession and
to engage the services of stars and
key players in mission critical and
priority skills positions”
“People leave bosses”

12. Retention and Engagement: myths
• Lack of Engagement always leads to employee turnover
• Lack of viable options
• Highly engaged employees rarely leave the organisation
• Engaging work but poor leadership, or leave for more engaging work
• High retention organisations are always characterized by highly engaged workforces
• poor economic conditions – disengaged but few options
• The factors and solutions relating to employee retention are identical to those of
engagement
• Similar but not identical ie. compensation typically only affects retention
Source: Human Resource Planning: the race for talent: retaining and engaging workers in the 21st century (Talent Keepers)

13. Retention factors
Top causes of disengagement:
• Feeling invisible - not measured
or recognised
• Expectations not met
• Little or no feedback or
coaching and no access to
professional development
• Over-worked and stressed out
• Lack of trust or confidence in
the senior leaders
Top reasons employees leave
early:
• Strategy/vision not clear
• Role expectations/contribution
not clear
• Coaching/support from co-
workers/management is lacking
• Socialization/integration into
the existing culture is difficult
• Opportunities for advancement
not clear
Source: Association for talent Development (ATD) 2015

14. Why retention doesn’t always “stick”
• The organisation does not understand what really motivates people
• Retention strategies are not holistic and integrated (systems approach)
• Leader’s are not focused on retention – fire-fighting
• Leaders not measured or rewarded for retention
• Retention is seen as an HR practice
• Rewards are not a differentiator
• Leaders are not trained effectively in managing engagement, enablement and
empowerment
• The culture doesn’t support retention

15. The truth about extrinsic motivation
The Carrot and Stick approach – 7 deadly flaws
• extinguish intrinsic motivation
• diminish performance
• crush creativity
• crowd out good behaviour
• encourage cheating, short cuts and unethical behaviour
• become addictive
• foster short term thinking
As long as tasks involve only mechanical skill, bonuses work exactly as expected: The
higher the pay, the better the performance. Once a task calls for “even rudimentary
cognitive skill,” a larger reward leads to poorer performance.
Daniel Pink – Drive 2011
Concentrate on building a healthy long term motivational environment that pays people fairly and fosters
autonomy, mastery and purpose.
Avoid “if-then” rewards. Consider non-contingent, unexpected “now that” rewards
Provide praise and feedback, rather than things people can touch or spend
Provide useful information rather than an attempt to control
Source: Drive – Dan Prink

16. 38 Attributes important for attraction
and retention
Rewards People
Work
Organisation
Opportunity
“The Rewards”
• Compensation
• Health benefits
• Retirement
benefits
• Vacation
• Customer reputation
• Diversity
• Empowerment
• Environmental Responsibility
• Ethics
• “Great Employer”
Recognition
• Industry
“The Opportunity”
• Development
Opportunities
• Future career
opportunities
• Org. growth rate
• Meritocracy
• Organisational Stability
“The People”
• Camaraderie
• Collegial work
environment
• Coworker quality
• Manager Quality
• People
Management
• Senior
Leadership
reputation
“The Work”
• Business Travel
• Innovation
• Job impact
• Job-interests
Alignment
• Location
• Recognition
• Work-Life
Balance
• Informal Environment
• Market position
• Product Brand Awareness
• Product Quality
• Respect
• Risk Taking
• Organisation Size
• Social Responsibility
• Tech level
“The Organisation”
Source: Corporate Leadership Council - Attracting and Retaining Critical Talent Segments

17. What has to happen to make engagement work –
4 enablers?
VISIONARY LEADERSHIP
strong strategic narrative - widespread ownership and commitment - all levels.
clearly expressed story - purpose of an organisation – why - how to contribute
clear line of sight – job to narrative – where I fit in.
strong, transparent and explicit organisational culture and way of working – values
Culture of stretch, discipline, trust and support - both tough and tender
INTEGRITY
 Behaviour throughout the organisation is consistent with stated values, leading to trust and a sense of integrity.
ENGAGING MANAGERS
heart of culture
facilitate and empower vs control or restrict
offer Clarity, Appreciation, Positive Feedback,
Coaching
Appreciation, respect, development, reward
“The line manager is the lens through which I see
the company and the company sees me.”
EMPLOYEE VOICE
effective and empowered employee voice;
views are sought out;
listened to - opinions count - make a difference;
speak out - challenge when appropriate;
strong sense of listening, responsiveness, effective
communication.
1
2 3
4
Adapted from Engaging for success: Enhancing performance through employee engagement. UK Government Report, David MacLeod
& Nita Clarke, Office of Public Sector Information

18. Creating the need: Burning
Platform, Vision, Goals

19. Catalyst Talent Framework
Effective Talent Management ensures operational continuity and sustainability by ensuring that the
right people, with the right skills, are in the right job, at the right time to ensure successful business
results –balancing demand and supply.

20. Catalyst Talent Framework
Employer of choice
Leadership & culture
Roles & careers
Reward & recognition
Alumni catch & release
Talent pool management
Accelerated programs
Deployment/mobility options
On-the job learning & resources
Coaching/mentoring
Strategic sourcing
Attraction
EVP
Talent pipelines
Recruitment & on-boarding
Levels of work
Competency standards
Segmentation
Identification of potential
Talent pools
Performance philosophy
Performance standards
Role profiles
Performance contracts
Link to reward
Strategy, philosophy & principles
Business case
Process & calendar
Workforce planning
Succession planning
Identify
Retain Review
Manage
Talent reviews
Talent decisions
Talent reporting
Accountability
Capability

21. Engagement and Retention Pillars
ENGAGEMENT AND RETENTION STRATEGY
“The Pillars”
Great
Company
Great
Culture
Great
Career
Great
Leaders
Great
Rewards &
Recognition
Company Brand
and reputation
Company Values
Culture and
behaviours
Long term
opportunities for
development and
advancement
Inspiring
leadership
and best people
Motivating
remuneration,
benefits &
recognition
Engagement, Enablement, Empowerment

22. Retention business case
Manage Risks
• Retention risk
• Cost of loss of key talent = min 1 x annual salary (>1.5 x at exec level) –
recruitment fees, on-boarding, training, alignment, impact on productivity and
performance of staff
• Succession risk
• Cost of vacancy/not ready person filling a MCP (mission critical position) =
delayed/wrong decisions, impact on sales/service/profit, impact on engagement,
productivity and performance of staff
• Transformation risk
• Cost of not meeting & BBBEE targets (EE, Skills Development, Management
Control) and not transforming Level 2 leadership to align with customer base
Realise Benefits
• Leadership & decision making
• Key talent in high leverage positions = making right decisions
• Enhanced leadership capability = >70% impact on culture, 40-60% impact on
performance
• Engagement & potential
• engaged people = >3.5 x more profit, 87% more likely to stay
• Unleash hidden potential and creativity
• Resource security
• pipeline of talent for the future
Talent Management =
• right people
• right roles
• right capabilities
• right time
• right cost
Pipeline of future
talent
To enable the Co to
deliver on its’ current
and future strategy

23. The Retention Challenge
• Global energy industry trends indicate a growing scarcity of talent
• Retirements rising (376 next8 yrs) and fewer young people attracted
• Rising demand for experienced skills and industry competition (Africa) but global skills shortage
• Engen is losing people in critical and scarce talent segments (top 20 risks)
• Knowledge transfer to younger generations not happening fast enough
• Experienced experts over-loaded and frustrated due to lack of depth and experience of technical skills
• The age profile of Engen is still skewed - more older retiring, less younger struggling to fit in
• struggling to retain talented EE candidates (revolving door syndrome) , women and PWDs
• Analysis of the reasons for leaving Engen has revealed ...
• a failure to meet the needs of employees with respect to professional development, compensation and
quality of direct supervision and management
• Recent focus group, interviews and surveys indicate significant frustration with
• lack of visible and engaging leadership and leaders not living the values
• lack of clear focus and decision making leads to initiative overload and poor follow through
• a culture that has shifted to one of fear, bureaucracy and control and displays lack of trust, empowerment,
teamwork and customer focus,
• development is often just an empty promise
23

24. Retention business case (cont..)
Monetary Non-Monetary
Staff Turnover
Cost of lost employee international benchmark = an
average of one year’s CTC salary at middle management
level (higher at senior and executive level (up to 2 x),
lower at junior levels)
Cost of loss includes::
• Recruitment and selection;
• Retraining;
• Productivity loss during vacant period;
• On-boarding and cultural assimilation.
Other
Reduced ROI on compensation spend
Tangible
Loss of MCP and scarce skills
Reduced productivity
Intangible
Impact on morale and organisational culture
Reduced employee engagement levels
Impact on team dynamics
EE and diversity objectives adversely impacted
Undermines TM strategy and achievement of
company and Human Capital vision
Unstable organisation
Impact on corporate reputation

25. Business Outcomes
25
Project Objectives
• Identify and develop critical talent
segments
• Reduce risk of voluntary turnover of
HIPOS, MCPs and critical talent
segments
• Drive implementation of the Talent
Management strategy
• Grow talent champions that engage,
enable and empower people to
perform and stay– KPI
• Create a nurturing environment
Business Outcomes
• Critical talent segments are engaged
and committed to stay
• MCPs have appropriate bench-depth of
successors
• Leaders that display the Leadership
Brand behaviours and are talent and
values champions
• Culture that encourages collaboration,
high performance, diversity and
learning
Measures
• Optmiised turnover of key segments by x%
• Improved engagement survey results
• Leadership brand assessment results

27. Customising: identifying target
audience

28. Diagnostics: Focus group and interview feedback
• In total their were 19 interviews, 11 focus groups and org wide engagement survey
• The purpose of the diagnostics were
• To test perceptions of current retention initiatives
• To test preferences for future retention initiatives
• To identify different needs per segment
• Segments were identified to test these
28
Interviews Focus Groups Org Survey

29. Attributes and Offerings for Engagement and
Retention - illustrative
Great Company Great Jobs Great Reward Great Leaders Great Culture Engagement,
Enablement,
Empowerment,
• EVP awareness
• Brand reputation
• Corporate Social
Responsibility
• Performance mgt
• Work-life balance
• Role and goal
alignment
• Recognition
programs
• L/T Incentives
• S/T incentives
• Live the
Leadership Brand
• Hold people
accountability
• Purpose driven
• Values Driven
• Coaching and
mentoring
• Decision making
• Social interaction
• Bursary scheme
• Sponsorships
• Project work
• Acting
opportunities
• Progression
routes/technical
ladders
• STIP
• Leadership
development
programs
• Coaching and
mentoring
• Values known
and lived
• Induction
program
• Talent Forums
• Career
discussions
• IDP reviews
• Flexible work
hours
• Virtual office
• HIPO exposure to
projects
• Technical
competencies
defined
• Share scheme
equivalent
• Recognition
mechnisms
• Leadership
brand defined
and measured
• Accelerated
development
• Culture of
dialogue and
honest
conversations
• Social media
strategy
• HR Capacity
building
• Review decision
rules for
empowerment)
AttributesCurrentFuture

30. Current reality: Perceptions of “5 Greats”
Great company Great leaders
Great careers Great culture
Project team – line & HR
General managers

31. The size of the gap to fix current initiatives
GREAT
COMPANY
GREAT JOBS GREAT REWARD GREAT LEADERS GREAT CULTURE
ENGAGEMENT,
ENABLEMENT,
EMPOWERMENT
1. Brand
embedding
8.Documente,
realistic career
plans
7. Short and long
term incentives
or bonuses
2. Active, visible
leaders
1. Values
embedding
4. Formal
learning and
development
11 Projects and
assignments
9. Revised
recognition
program
3. Effective
managers
5. Diversity
appreciation
6. Knowledge
transfer and
mentoring
10. Think tanks
and knowledge
forums
Large gap Medium gap Small gap
The numbers refer to the priority of the need

32. Diagnostics reveal…..
We are a company ruled by the mind, but lacking in heart….
What we are poor at
Lack of visible and engaging leadership - Invisible,
unapproachable, divided, political
Not living the values – or walking the talk
Lack of teamwork, communication and
collaboration – silos and cross-purposes
Culture has shifted to one of fear, bureaucracy
and control
We feel rule-bound, disempowered and
disengaged
Trust is gone. Fear of failure leads to inaction or
decision by committee.
Lack of agility
Lack of customer focus
Development is often just an empty promise
What we are good at
Clear vision, goal and direction.
Know how everyone can contribute
Metrics and measures to help us plan
Clear procedures to help us do our work.
Leader in industry
Learning is part of work
Consistent & predictable
We need to build team-work, collaboration and emotional connection through
inspiring a values based culture that is engaging and where people feel valued

33. EXECUTIVE
TALENT
(GM+ global
talent)
EMERGING TALENT
(Gen Y)
NEXT GENERATION
LEADERS
(Level 2&3 successors)
EXPERTS
(MCP | technical
specialists)
HIGH
POTENTIALS
Segmentation refinement
Criteria for segmentation:
• Is the segment measureable,
accessible and substantial?
• Does the segment’s preferences
vary enough to warrant
investment in a segmented EVP?
• Do the segment’s ways of
consuming information vary
enough to warrant a different
competitive approach?
• Is the segment important to the
organistional strategy and can the
organisation support the need of
this group?

34. Segment Differentiated needs Universal needs
1 Executive Talent
GM + Global talent
• Global exposure
• Empowerment to lead
• Honest, constructive conversations
CORE NEEDS
• inspirational leadership
• Clarity on vision, my contribution and feedback on
progress
• Empowerment to make decisions- less reliance
on policies
• Evidence of values and culture
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Professional development
• Coaching and mentoring
• Fair career progression and planning
• Diversity accepted and encouraged
SECONDARY
• Effective and fair reward and recognition
• Strengthening professional networks
• Appropriate remuneration
• Work | life balance and workplace flexibility
• Meaning and purpose in work
• Effective and fair management
• Openness to change and innovation
2 Next generation leaders
Level 2 and 3 successors
• Clear career path
• Accelerated development
• Be consulted - have a voice
3 High Potentials
Successors excl level 2&3
successors
• Clear career path
• Accelerated development
• Consequence management
4 Experts
Technical experts/ MCP’s
• Recognition for making a contribution
Resources and support to deliver
• Continual professional development
5 Emerging talent
Gen Y >30 yeats
• Sense of belonging to a group
• Flexible work arrangements
• Openness to change and innovation
6 Expats and Repats
External to SA & returning
to SA
• Consulted and involved in strategic decisions
• Consideration of regional differences
• Market related pay
7 Strategic
Transformation
Senior PDI, all PWD and
all women
• Genuine cultural and gender diversity
• Flexible work arrangements
Differentiated needs per segment

36. Prioritising: choosing focus areas
and activities

37. High level recommendations
HR Back to basics
Vision, values and
culture
Performance and
reward
Leadership style and
competence
Creative
options
Strategic change management
70% - fix existing 30% - new
70% 30%

38. High level recommendations (initiatives)
HR Back to basics
1. HR strategic focus and improved communication
2. HR Capacity building
3. Refresh EVP
4. Talent forum refresher & actions implemented
5. Refine talent IT system
Leadership & culture
1. Leadership brand
development
2. Values revitalisation
Performance and reward
1. Performance scorecard
cascading
2. Segmented reward
strategies
3. Recognition program
Capability Development
1. Career pathing for
HIPOs
2. Segmented talent
strategies
3. Coaching and mentoring
Creative
options
1. Flexible work
L/T incentives
2. Gen Y/women
programs
3. Innovation
initiative
4. CSI program
volunteering
5. HIPO
programs
6. Team &
diversity
programs
1 2 3

39. Implementing: planning and
gaining buy-in

40. Retention Strategy High Level Implementation Plan

41. Retention Strategy Measures (long term)
41
Element Retention - Tracked bi-annually
Objectives Indicators
Outcome based measures
MCP # ready now/later successor <1/2 yr Min 1:1:2
Voluntary turnover % of MCP and HIPOs 2% less than overall turnover
Engagement survey (internal)
- By key talent segment
% overall rating
Leadership brand/values survey (multi-rater) % on multi-rater survey
Appointments in line with succession plans Successors appointed (based on MCP no of vacancies)

42. Mobilising
for Change
Emotional impact of change
Managing culture & resistance
Communication and Mobilising Plan
Sustaining the
Change
Skills transfer
Measure progress
Consolidate the change
Capacity for
Change
Change team alignment
Change plans, roles & resources
Change agent capacity building
Stakeholder
Management
Stakeholder identification
Change influencers identification
Readiness assessment
Catalyst Strategic Change Framework
Performance
2
3
4
5
Imperatives
for Change
Business imperative
Impact of change
Leadership vision & commitment
1

43. Highlights and Lessons Learnt

44. • Business strategy adopted and prioritised the development
of the Leadership Brand, Values Revitalisation and
establishment of a Coaching and Mentorship Academy for
scorecarding requirements
• Increased weighting of Talent Management component on
BSC – 5% to 15%
• Integration of our CVP and EVP with the Values system
providing the glue to hold it all together
• Launched and implemented EVP
• Leadership Brand development and instituted 360 degree
feedback – baseline measure
• Revitalisation of the Values Programme linked to a broader
company recognition programme – values champions
• Talent management process reinvigorated and embedded-
focus now prioritising mobility to aid capacity building and
bench strength depth
Progress and Results

51. Achievement and Lessons Learnt
51
Achievements
• Buy in of HC team – integration and
collaboration
• Classification of talent segments – tested
• HC team aligning around a common EVP
• Quick wins implemented
• Holistic understanding of Retention
• Embedded Engen’s talent management
philosophy
• Aligning project priorities to business priorities
(KPIs)
• Assisted to crystalise what needed to be done
by HC
Learnings
• Careful selection of Steercom – committed
champions who will influence
• Disruptions led to delays in the project – back-up
plans
• Regular engagement with HC head and CEO
upfront – project manager and sponsor
• Greater role clarification of core team - KPIs
• Greater involvement of line to gain buy-in
• Important to summarise findings and priorities
and not get caught in the detail and data
• Careful preparation for presentations to Exco
• Don’t assume everyone has the same needs

52. Critical success factors
• Joint design and implementation team (HC and line reps)
• Committed Steering Committee (senior execs)
• Training of HC and line managers
• Strong facilitation skills of decision sessions
• HC capacity to coach and influence
• Events diarised in corporate calendar
• Consequences – no participation, affect performance review
• Quarterly Steerco reviews with accountability
• Journey map - Project and change management
• Transfer of learning – business as usual

53. Thank You
Debbie Craig: Catalyst Consulting (Pty) Ltd
Phone +27 82 8725429
Email debbie@catalystconsulting.co.za
Web www.catalystconsulting.co.za
facebook.com/Catalyst Consulting Pty Ltd
twitter.com/@CatalystSA
linkedin.com/Catalyst Consulting South Africa
Contact Details