Daily Buzz: 4 Tips for Retaining Talent

It’s natural to assume that people leave their jobs because of a bad manager or a poorly run company. The same might be said for a lost client or association partnership.

A new review of Facebook employees who have left the tech giant, however, demonstrates that day-to-day job duties could play a more prominent role in inspiring a departure.

This has big implications  (opens in a new tab) for hiring managers of all stripes, Inc. magazine notes. That’s why it’s important not only to define a job when a new employee or partnership begins but also to shift parameters—when suitable—to nurture talents and interests that could be mutually beneficial.

Here are the takeaways from Facebook:

Be strategic. Design job roles and daily functions with an employee’s passions in mind. Making work inherently meaningful helps foster long-term success and company loyalty.

Be engaged. Sit down with new hires upon arrival to learn their values, prior successes, and interests. Such “entry interviews” can help managers create engaging job paths.

Be proactive. Use those findings to identify opportunities that leverage an employee’s strengths and interests. Catalog that data as a shared resource for company managers.

Be flexible. Sustain a work-life balance that allows employees to tend to personal affairs. That, Facebook notes, can actually produce harder-working, more loyal staffers.

Smaller Cities Have Big Opportunity

Associations look to move away from capitals to second tier destinations https://t.co/e2trVis6Th  (opens in a new tab) #eventprofs  (opens in a new tab) #marketing  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/JXiwTW1MBA  (opens in a new tab)

— Venue FYI (@VenueFYI) May 23, 2019  (opens in a new tab)

When it comes to host cities, small can be mighty. That’s the takeaway from a recent meeting involving 20 international associations that found a unanimous desire to seek out second-tier, non-capital cities for their conferences and events.

Such thinking, Event Industry News  (opens in a new tab) notes  (opens in a new tab), is driven by the perception that an event will be considered more important to a lesser-populated host city, deliver a legacy that will be appreciated by the destination, and—most crucial—receive more personal and higher-quality service. Smaller markets are also seen as less corrupt and more ethical, some delegates said.

“[W]e have an incredible offering, world-leading research centers and technology, and the ability to deliver top-level events for associations of all sizes,” said Miikka Valo, a spokesman for the tourism board of Espoo, Finland, as well as a Scandinavian cities alliance that sponsored the recent meeting.

Other Links of Note

Does your association need guidance? An association management company  (opens in a new tab) could be a valuable partner, MemberClicks notes.

Meetings cater most to male extroverts, a new study finds. Smart Meetings analyzes the results  (opens in a new tab)—and offers ways to boost inclusion.

Celebrity party-planning guru Mindy Weiss gives Architectural Digest her tips for dazzling high-end clients  (opens in a new tab) such as Ellen DeGeneres and Kim Kardashian West.

(AndreyPopov/iStock/Getty Images Plus)