WHEN the majority of tenured employees leave an organization, it indicates changes in the management's direction. It is possible that management deems some positions redundant, there are necessary changes in organizational culture, or the organization is cost-cutting because tenured employees are more expensive to keep. But when employees who have been with the organization for more than 10 years leave the company, they bring with them the wealth of knowledge from working with different units in the company.

Losing tenured employees can spell the difference between maintaining the quality of products and services an organization provides, and new employees who might not fully appreciate the background of the processes, workflows and professional relationships built over the years. When organizations focus more on profit than preserving institutionalized knowledge and maintaining their organizational edge over their competitor, you open the door for competition to take advantage of the experience and expertise of your people.

Maintaining tenured people in the organization helps keep it grounded on the basics of why the organization was built in the first place. But keeping them can also be costly especially if there are annual salary increases and if their total compensation and benefits are way higher than industry standards. And I guess that is the price an employer pays for the years of service, specialized knowledge, and discretionary effort from these employees.

You need to carefully consider not just the cost of keeping a tenured employee but also the knowledge and relationships they have developed over the years. Replacing a tenured employee with two or more people sends a signal to others that you value profit more than their career development and professional aspirations. Getting someone in the same position with a lower salary also devalues their profession and demotivates incoming employees if they find out. But if you choose to keep tenured employees, there are several things you can do to increase their productivity and influence others to improve their performance. To help keep them aligned to the organizational changes and helping them adapt, provide refresher courses on their specialization and for them to keep abreast with emerging issues and how to address them. You can also encourage team-building activities to help them connect with new members from different parts of the organizations, as well as reconnect and strengthen partnerships with other teams. This ensures your tenured employees are attuned to the whole organization and adapt as needed to organizational changes.

The challenge in disciplining tenured employees is when they rely on their tenure as a form of job security. This is especially dangerous when they keep the knowledge to themselves and refuse to teach others what they know. But there is really some institutional knowledge which cannot be taught to others. It would be good if your organization can codify those into processes and workflows but when it is heavily dependent on a personality, you increase the risk of losing that knowledge to other organizations, or, worse, your competitor.

Tenured employees also might develop an entitlement mentality because they have been with the organization for so long, while others resist change and defend what they have been accustomed to and thwart any organizational development. This can be prevented if changes are introduced gradually and people have a way of handling new changes in a safe environment.

An example is introducing a new software for record keeping. The Information Technology group can create a testing environment where tenured employees can freely go through the software without affecting real data. This will help them get accustomed to the interface and at the same time see first-hand what happens when they use the new software. Change always comes with the risk of being rejected. But when people are provided a sandbox where they can safely interact with the change, it becomes easier for them to accept those changes.

Promote people based on proven competencies more than tenure. Organizations have the tendency to promote people based on how long they have been with them more than their skills or completed projects. Promoting performers helps people understand that tenure alone does not guarantee promotion but consistency in effort and accomplishments do. This will prevent people from slacking and relying excessively on years of service to the organization. Take note that some people stay in the organization because they have no other options outside, or they are not willing to develop their professional career. By promoting performers, you motivate those with longer tenure to perform better.

One of the effective ways we trained new leaders in a previous organization was by sending them to cross-functional internships. We assigned them to a different unit where they will shadow and co-lead with the manager. Most of my management trainees told me that they had been with the organization for a long time, but they learned a different face of the organization on account of such internship. Sending them to different units expanded their view of the entire company and helped them appreciate their role in the entire organization. They were also able to pick up best practices and adopt them in their own unit. People might have been in the company for too long that they might not know other units. But when they are exposed to other units, they will appreciate their role in the organization better and find ways to contribute meaningfully.

Tenured employees offer more than their loyalty, expertise and the network they have built within the organization. They know how to get the work done properly and efficiently while keeping the peace in the workplace. They can become instrumental in motivating other employees to perform proficiently and eagerly. When motivated well, they can become the catalysts who will influence the entire work force.

Image courtesy of Mimi Thian on Unsplash

Read full article on BusinessMirror