Talent Management - October 2008 - (Page 4)

[from the editor] by Mike Prokopeak L L The Runaround et’s say you told your most valued employees to take a hike. Suppose you said, “Take a few weeks off. Take a year off. Take as much time as you need. Explore your career opportunities, talk to our competitors and check out what jobs they have to offer. No matter what, we’ll hold your job for you.” In today’s hypercompetitive talent environment, it’s not a policy many companies are likely to pursue. But hypothetically speaking, how conﬁdent would you be that they’d come back? But despite the rigid strictures of their culture, when Amish teenagers turn 16, they are allowed the freedom to explore the world outside during a period called “rumspringa.” In the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect, it translates to “running around outside the bounds.” During rumspringa, they experiment with life among the “English,” as they call anyone who is not Amish. Parents don’t expressly encourage their explorations, but they don’t expressly forbid it either. his new life this way: “If I was living at home, I couldn’t have 200 channels of DirectTV a stereo and Nintendo , and a fridge full of beer.” If enough youth made a similar decision, the Amish way of life would be at risk of extinction. But it may come as a surprise to those of us who would ﬁnd life difﬁcult without modern comforts and diversions, that the vast majority of Amish youth elect to return to the fold. According to studies by Thomas J. Meyers, a sociology professor at Goshen College, the retention rate in some communities surpasses 90 percent. What keeps them coming back? Part of it may be pressure, but it’s more likely their strong bonds with family or the comfort and the support their culture provides that brings them back. Their parents place a profound trust and freedom to choose in their hands, which deepens their commitment to their way of life. So what would happen if your employees went running around outside the bounds? Would your organizational culture be strong enough to lure them back? Does your organization regularly place the kind of trust in employees that deepens their commitment and increases retention? In today’s talent environment, organizations spend huge amounts of money and time recruiting and selecting qualiﬁed employees that are the right ﬁt and will contribute to continued growth. But it’s important to remember the key to retaining that talent is a strong organizational culture that places trust in its employees and recognizes that they have many choices. Does your organization regularly place the kind of trust in employees that deepens their commitment and increases retention? Chances are, you have a few doubts. Encouraging your high performers to explore their options — even if it means those opportunities lie elsewhere — requires a supreme level of conﬁdence in your organizational culture. And it requires a high level of trust in your employees. Even then, some might still say you’d be crazy to give your critical talent that kind of license to explore. But that’s exactly what the Amish do. Clustered in rural communities in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, traditional Amish inhabit a tightly controlled society that steadfastly refuses to adopt the trappings and practices of mainstream American life. Guided by their religious beliefs, they live much the same as their ancestors who settled in the region in the early 18th century. They occupy simple, sturdy homes with no electricity, no TV, no radio and certainly no PC or BlackBerry. They travel by horse-drawn buggy and wear simple, utilitarian clothes. For some Amish youth, this exploration of life among the English goes only so far as a trip to the local shopping mall or listening to the latest gangsta rap. For others, rumspringa involves a wide range of traditionally forbidden behaviors, including all-night parties fueled by alcohol and drugs. It would stand to reason that a culture so cloistered would do its best to shield its young people from the inﬂuences of the outside world. But the Amish take a different view. They see rumspringa as a chance for youth to explore their options before they make a conscious commitment to settle down and live a fully Amish life. It’s a high-stakes gamble. Given all the attractions and distractions of English life, there’s a good chance young people may decide not to return. In “Devil’s Playground,” a 2002 documentary about rumspringa by ﬁlmmaker Lucy Walker, one Amish boy who elected not to return described Mike Prokopeak Editorial Director mikep@talentmgt.com October 2008 4 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - October 2008

Talent Management - October 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Foundations The Three Pillars of Executive On-Boarding Role-Based Assessment: Thinking Inside the Box Who's Going to Speak Up for Health Care? Obey the Push to Automate Managing the Star Performer No One Wants to Work With Adopting a Mutual-Funds Model for Talent Management Hewlett-Packard: Simple Talent Management in a Technical World Team Effort Pays in Talent at London Business School The Employee Survey: What’s in It for Me? Why Most Managers Are Stuck Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - October 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.