Love 'em or Lose 'em: Getting Good People to Stay [Paperback]

Beverly Kaye (Author), Sharon Jordan-Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1999

Talented employees want development opportunities, meaningful work, and good bosses who communicate honestly and provide feedback. While most books on retaining employees address senior leaders and human resource professionals, this one speaks to those who can actually make a difference in keeping good workers -- managers and supervisors. Using examples, vignettes, corporate tales, and research, this book offers managers a wealth of wise suggestions. Listening carefully, fostering individual development, establishing new lines of communication, and creating positive environments are just some of the keys to keeping a company's best workers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Because finding the ideal person for every workplace position has become an increasingly difficult task, the retention of top employees has become every manager's concern. Love 'Em or Lose 'Em, by organizational-development specialists Beverly L. Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans, proposes that this "race for talent" can be effectively run only by those who adopt programs and policies that truly support their personnel. It then shows how to do so, even in organizations reluctant to participate actively.

Kaye and Jordan-Evans encourage an initial scan of their 26 alphabetically arranged chapters--such as "Information: Share It," "Mentor: Be One," and "Space: Give It"--so attention can be fully focused on the most relevant benefits and responsibilities associated with employee retention. All are bolstered with hands-on exercises and stories of others' failures and successes. The section on family-friendly conduct, for example, suggests uncovering specifics by directly asking employees what would make their lives easier. Resultant needs can be met, it continues, by allowing staffers to bring children to the office on occasion, assisting anyone who must line up care for an aging parent, giving weekday comp time to those who travel on weekends, etc. It also explains how Deloitte & Touche and DuPont addressed these issues. Any manager who dreads losing a top performer would do well to consider this book. --Howard Rothman

Review

"Companies of all sizes need new startegies to retain quality employees at all levels... Authors Kaye and Jordan-Evans provide some of the best thinking I have seen and do it in a format and sytle that make this book a must-read for any manager or supervisor." -Steve Bauman, vice president, Management Staffing & Development, Marriott International -- Steve Bauman, vice president, Management Staffing & Development, Marriott International

"Love "Em or Lose 'Em is a practical hands-on book for managers. It uses proven retention techiniques from some of the best companies in North America and real world case studies. The book's structure and easy-to-read style will make it a popular desktop reference book for managers to find ready-to-use strategies that can be implemented immediately." -- Bill Smith, Vice President, KPMG

"Love 'Em or Lose 'Em has all the elements managers are telling me they want-practical, real, fast, and easy." -- Judy Mason, Global Manager of Career Development, Dow Corning

Cute tends to bring out the worst cynic in most of us. But Love 'Em or Lose 'Em is a trove of good, short, practical advice on how to retain employees.

The premise is that a former employee, A.J. (we don't know age, gender, or race), has something to say at the beginning of each chapter about why he or she or someone else has left the company. The 26 chapters are arranged alphabetically according to their one-word titles, such as "Ask," "Jerk," and "Passion." In "Ask," for example, the authors write that one of the reasons companies don't know why they're losing employees is that they don't ask the employees themselves. That's followed by a series of to-do lists, company examples, and an "Alas" story drawn from the authors' personal experiences at the dozens of companies they've worked with. Each chapter follows a similar setup (and, yes, there is an assessment test to see if you're a jerk). Be forewarned that the content is all pretty basic stuff. There are no magic measurement tools or predictive aids. But then sometimes the best ideas are the simplest.

-- Inc. Magazine, November 1999

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1st edition (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576750736
• ISBN-13: 978-1576750735
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,145,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for managers, July 2, 2003

By 

Rick Sline (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love 'em or Lose 'em: Getting Good People to Stay (Paperback)

LOVE 'EM or LOSE `EM contains 26 steps for improving employee retention organized in an A-Z fashion. Although written during the recent boom times when retention was a challenge, information presented is quite valuable now for managers who wish to stay employed. The suggestions will promote a happier and more productive workforce. Many of the concepts can be applied to all interpersonal relationships - between co-workers, family and friends.

The book's presentation is visually appealing - section headings and key passages are in a complimentary blue font. There are various other eye-catching features that make the book interesting and exciting. Each chapter starts with a short statement from a fictitious employee referred to as A.J some key excerpts follow

Introduction:
I quit.
I'm giving you my notice.
I found another opportunity.
I've accepted another offer.
Can we talk?

Chapter 1 Ask - What Keeps You
They never asked.

Chapter 2 Buck - It Stops Here
I think my manager actually could have kept me. But I don't think he ever saw it as his job.

Chapter 5 Enrich - Energize the Job
The job just became ho-hum. I mean, I was good at it, my customers were pleased, but I was just plain bored.

Chapter 13 Mentor - Be One
I wish I'd had someone to warn me about some of the political ins and outs that were never written in any policy manual.

Chapter 18 Reward - Provide Recognition
It wasn't about the money, really. Oh, sure, a bonus would have been nice when I brought that new client in or when I finished those specs ahead of schedule. But a "thank you-I noticed" would really have been appreciated.

Generously distributed throughout are "Alas" sections - short, as the authors state, "the-fish-that-got-away" stories that actually happened. There are numerous "Business Examples" - things that really worked in large and small organizations. As references to other parts of the book there are "Go To" Icons to augment the information being presented.

If you're wondering how effective your management skills are in retaining employees, go to Chapter 26 - Zenith and take the assessment of your "Retention Probability Index".

At the end of the book is a Quick Start Guide - you might want to go there first and get an overview of the entire book.

Employee retention as well as productivity is not just about the money and the other "hygiene" factors (work space, hours, etc.), it's about listening to and respecting others. In these difficult times, it's more important than ever.

This book is clearly for everyone.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GOOD IDEAS FOR KEEPING YOUR MOST VALUABLE RESOURCEPEOPLE!, November 23, 1999

By 

Gerry Stern "Stern's Management Review Online" (Culver City, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love 'em or Lose 'em: Getting Good People to Stay (Paperback)

Based on focus group research, the authors provide extensive guidelines for managers to retain employees. The authors present 26 specific actions managers can take, using a chapter to discuss each one. Each chapter contains a 'to do' list, brief illustrative stories, examples of retention work done by the authors' for clients, excerpts from an exit interview, as well as some linkages between chapters.

The book down-plays the role of money. This is okay to the extent that too many firms think money is the 'be all and end all' of retention. Money is not, but the danger is that too many firms lull themselves into thinking that since money is not the number one factor driving turnover according to surveys, they can cut corners with compensation ( often, however, with the exception of pay packages at executive levels-consider the implicit contradiction in that). Long-term, firms that pay below competitive rates reap what they sow...marginal organizational performance. In our consulting experience we find reward systems and retention are powerfully linked. The role of compensation can work in strange and mysterious ways-and sometimes not so mysterious. People are complex.

We wished that the authors gave a bit more attention to the economics of retaining people. They do make the point of paying fairly and competitively in chapter18, but the message is muted. But since this book is addressed to managers, and most managers have little-to-no meaningful influence on compensation decision-making (despite all the empowerment talk), the treatment of pay is understandable.

This is a super book that focuses on the many highly important non-cash elements of retaining people. In doing so, it succeeds admirably. In short, this is a neatly organized, clearly written, how-to book. By way of recommendation, we will use it as a resource in our own organization/management development consulting work. This book should be read by anyone who manages people. Reviewed by Gerry Stern, Co-Founding Partner, Stern & Associates, Editor of Stern's Management Review, Stern's SourceFinder: The Master Directory to HR and Business Information and Resources, and Stern's CyberSpace SourceFinder.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engage, Motivate, Retain, July 30, 2003

By 

Don Blohowiak "Lead Well® Institute" (Charlottesville, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love 'em or Lose 'em: Getting Good People to Stay (Paperback)

In working with literally thousands of managers a year, I find very few complaining about employee turn-over. Or its more positively stated corollary, retention of great people.

That doesn't mean that attrition of great associates isn't a problem---just one that most managers overlook or choose to ignore for its embarrassing implications.

What most managers do complain about (ad nauseum) can be summed up in two words: employee motivation. Which, of course, has everything to do with causing the very costly problem of human leakage from the company payroll (as well as most of the frustrations that deny managers restful nights and peaceful days).

And so, it is such a shame that the title of this superbly helpful guide is misleading. Or at least inadequate. Instead of "Love 'Em or Lose 'Em," it should declare, more appropriately: "Keep 'Em: Engaged, Motivated to Produce, and on YOUR Payroll!" Clunkier for sure. But much more accurate. If not compelling.

This book by veteran consultants Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans is a handy advisor for pressured, task-based (and, yes, even gruff) managers who are too consumed to always remember---but who know down deep---that people, the engaged and motivated variety, really do make the difference in producing great results.

POINTS OF DISTINCTION
Unlike so many other collections of myriad motivational techniques, this book is:

* Grounded in research (current and original by the authors, as well as contemporary and classic studies by others)

* Flush with very real world examples---many of them likely will seem hauntingly familiar and hit frighteningly close to home (perhaps striking dead-on in your very own solar plexus)

* Aimed squarely at managers who ordinarily reject, refute, and yeah-but all the trite touchy-feely, overly saccharine, and unrealistically techniquey advice about motivating people. (You know, the kind spewed by the legions of naive-to-clueless consultants who manage nothing more than to pen ridiculously over-idealized management books.)

* Packed with rich, diverse, immediately actionable tactics that are practical, low-or-no-cost, and doable. No matter how uninvolved or inept your own boss or HR department, you'll find lots and lots of choices and material from which even the most casual, or cynical, skimming reader can easily draw. (As the authors note in their Preface: "'Love 'Em or Lose 'Em' does not offer a single technique or a large, complex program for keeping good people. Instead, it provides 26 strategies, each of which includes dozens of small, easy-to-implement ideas." True enough.)

Unlike far too many "management cookbooks" (some unreasonably popular), this work distinguishes itself by helping a manager to:
* Assess his or her own management style---not against the standard of an imaginary "perfect leader" but rather in specific dimensions that truly affect employee performance; and
* Accept responsibility for affecting employees' engagement, productivity, and retention. (As the Gallup Organization and others have been harping on lately, it's the individual manager, not the CEO or mythical corporate culture, who really affects the day-to-day work of individual employees.)

This book by Kaye and Jordan-Evans encourages its readers to ask themselves important questions about their OWN needs and assumptions (critical to understanding why one does what one does). And it provides a remarkable treasure trove of questions that a manager can ask employees, in comfortable conversations, to gently unveil their personal interests, wants, and needs impacting their on-the-job motivation and performance. Moreover, it provides plenty of options for managers to deploy tactics that leverage those vital insights into productivity-changing actions.

PICKING NITS
A hidden gem in the book is its Quick-Start Guide. It provides a valuable overview of the book, and is itself full of practical tactics. But it is unnecessarily and inexplicably inconspicuous. Hidden really. Buried between the last chapter and the Notes and other end matter.

Likewise, a useful self-assessment that guides the reader to the themes most helpful to a specific reader resides in the LAST chapter.

Despite these curious editorial decisions, my advice is to buy two copies of this book. One for you and one for the least people-oriented boss you know. Then, read the book. Backwards and selectively. Begin with the Quick-Start Guide on page 243, and then take the "Retention Probability Index" assessment on pages 237 & 238.

Oh, be sure to take (with a deep breath and earnest commitment to brutal honesty) the Jerk Boss self-assessment on pages 91-93. To get full value from this uniquely helpful book, it's good to know what you're really up against.

-- Don Blohowiak, Lead Well Institute, [website]