2 ways of warding off any pirates in your midst

Have you ever heard of the Pirate Training Process? 

The term is partly a joke – but it’s no laughing matter for department heads who end up on the wrong side of this process.

In a nutshell, pirates “steal” job candidates right out of departments in their own companies!

Some managers say it’s a problem because other departments want employees who:

• are good with numbers
• know how to write a budget
• can manage special projects while handling normal, every-day duties
• are skilled in Excel and other programs, and
• have one or more college degrees and at the very least some college experience.

In other words, they’re looking for the kinds of people who often work in Finance.

And while pirating may be a questionable practice, who can blame supervisors for wanting the best?

Give a little more and they’ll give a lot

Here are two steps that will increase the chances of strong performers staying right where they belong – in Finance:

1. Sing their praises. It may sound counterintuitive – doesn’t bragging about your people make it more likely for others to want them on their teams?

Perhaps. But the No. 1 reason employees choose to leave a job is because of problems with their boss. “Never or rarely receiving praise” is one of the most common complaints you’ll hear from disgruntled employees in survey after survey.

Championing your own people builds loyalty. And it could have the effect of making employees in other departments want to work for you!

2. Offer off-site training. Employee satisfaction surveys also show that workers value seminars, workshops and formal training for learning new things and increasing their technical skills.

They’re making themselves more marketable, of course. But they gain trust knowing your company invests in workers’ futures.

ONE MORE THING: Let’s say you do a decent job already at both of these steps. You have a staffer who’s interested in a lateral move.

Your best bet: Let him or her go. It may be a loss for your department, but it’s likely a win-win for both your company and the other department. Small companies in particular thrive when they find “better fits” for promising employees.